User:Pia Presha/Revil John Mason

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Revil Mason

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Archaeologist specializing in African pre-history Former head of the Archaeology Department at the University of the Witwatersrand Born in Johannesburg South Africa 10 February 1929

Summary: R.J.Mason was the first archaeologist to realize that, under apartheid, history books in South Africa denied African achievements, which preceded white colonialism by many centuries. R.J.Mason was the first to publish books and give public talks on these themes, and the first to call for an end to apartheid in South African science and education. His anti –apartheid stance was stated in a 1965 paper titled: Origin of South African Society, published in the South African Journal of Science followed by many field reports of relevant site excavations. R.J.Mason was the first archaeologist to excavate an African Settlement only 35-miles from Johannesburg, but 1400 years older than Johannesburg. Like Johannesburg, based on mining, building, farming and long distance trade. R.J.Mason designed and built a full-scale reconstruction of a traditional Tswana homestead in the Johannesburg Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve to serve as a base for public education in pre-colonial achievements of the African People. He established an archaeological reconstruction of a 500-year old iron working site in central Johannesburg to showcase African achievement before white colonization. The exhibit is visited by hundreds of people monthly.

Employment and Experience: 2002. Consultant to Johannesburg City Parks Heritage. 1996 -1999. Consultant to Midrand Council Heritage in Midrand (Transvaal, South Africa). 1992 – 1996. Archaeology Consultant to the Botswana Department of Water Affairs. 1991. Archaeology Consultant to the Department of Water Affairs, Swaziland. 1975-1989. Professor of Archaeology and Director of Archaeology Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand. 1953-1974. Archaeology Research Officer.

Areas of Interest: Origin of African Society in Central South Africa in terms of farming, settlement building, iron and copper mining, smelting and artifact making, origin of artefacts, ceramics production and long distance trade.

Fieldwork and Teaching: Practical use of scientific archaeological information to benefit all the people of South Africa. Besides tutoring University students, Professor Mason conducted field trips for marginalized African communities and supervised the post-graduate field work of Lewis Matiyela, South Africa's first Black archaeologist, who discovered a 300-year old iron spear at an archaeology excavation near Johannesburg. Professor Mason photographed Matiyela during this historic moment in 1973. Replacement of pioneer non-quantitive surface collection archaeology with quantitive excavated archaeology.

Discoveries: 1998: Excavation of Mia, late stone age hut, hunting / scavenging site. 1973: Excavation of Broederstroom early iron age settlement site, earliest Black Settlement in South Africa, AD 300-600. 1964 -1967: Excavation of 1823 Johannesburg area of the earliest multiracial settlement at Malwatse. 1963 – Excavations proving the relationship between Sterkfontein and the Vaal Basin. 1957 – Identification Sterkfontein Homo erectus stone artefacts. 1956 - Excavation disproving the Australopithecine artefact claim. 1954 – Discovery of the High Brandberg Rock Art (now a World Heritage Site) known as the Mason Cave. 1953 – 54: First excavation sequence in South African of the early-middle-late stone age-Iron age-historic Cave of Hearths. 1952 – 1963: First excavations Johannesburg Area Iron Age Pre-Colonial Copper and Iron smelting and building sites.

Research: Earliest Hominin artefacts Sterkfontein Bed 5 and related sites. Specifically: Lime works, Vaal Gravels at Klipplaatdrif, Munro, Suurkree excavations. Earliest Homo sapiens artefacts at Cave of Hearths, Kalkbank, Olieboompoort. Earliest San artifacts at Mohale (Kruger Cave), Uitkomst, Mia, Olieboompoort. San associated Rock Art at Brandberg, Nuwerib, Damaraland Namibia, and South West Africa. Earliest Iron Age ('Pre-Colonial") artefacts at Broederstroom, Olifantspoort. Johannesburg sites Klipriviersberg-Melville-Lonehill, Earliest Multiracial artefacts at 1823 Matlwase West of Johannesburg, South Africa. Origin of Earliest artefacts at Sterkfontein and earliest Vaal River sites. Origin of earliest H. sapiens artefacts at Cave of Hearths, Kalkbank, Olieboom. Origin of earliest San artefacts at Kruger Cave and Uitkomst Cave. Origin of earliest 19th century multiracial settlements near Johannesburg at Matlwase.

Education: St John's College, Johannesburg. University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Degrees: B.Com degree in Accountancy at University of the Witwatersrand (1947 – 1949). B.A. Degree in Archaeology (1951 -1952) Ph.D. Degree in Archaeology (1958) at University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Grants, Honors and Awards: 1956 – 1960. Wenner-Gren grant. 1958. Gold Medal and Class Medal, Best Archeology Student Ph.D. 1958. 1954. Wenner-Gren grant.

Publications and Presentations: 1987. Origin of the African People of Johannesburg. Skotaville Press. 1986. Origins of the Black People of Johannesburg and the Southern Western Central Transvaal AD 350-1880. University of the Witwatersrand Press. 1962 Pre-history of the Transvaal. University of the Witwatersrand Press.

Articles: http://www.joburg.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4685&Itemid=245