Press/News
Amazing Discovery at Kedar Country Lodge
More answers on former President Paul Kruger.
Rustenburg – Keen archaeological excavations conducted by Dr. Anton van Vollenhoven, and colleague Dr. Ceri Ashley, led to the recent discovery of historical treasures. A team of archaeologists, geared with state-of-the-art archaeology kits, headed to the Kedar Country Hotel, just outside Rustenburg, built on the historic land surrounding the farm of former South African President Paul Kruger. Generally speaking, archaeologists study past cultures through artefacts, or items which people have made, used or modified. After being exposed to the Paul Kruger Country House Museum at Kedar Country Hotel through previous studies of the site, Dr. van Vollenhoven decided to probe deeper. Dr. van Vollenhoven has published more than 70 articles in scientific and popular journals on archaeology and history, and has also been the author and co-author of nearly 300 unpublished reports on cultural resources surveys and archaeological work. With the assistance of the Paul Kruger Country House Museum and the University of Pretoria, he assembled a team of student archaeologists to carefully unearth certain areas. From 1-6 April 2012, a team of undergraduate students led by Dr. Ceri Ashley from the University of Pretoria slowly removed the soil layers of several portions on the piece
…And as if to follow the great advice of Sherlock Holmes, who would tell his assistant Watson to “keep digging”, the efforts of this team were not in vain. The excited team discovered animal bones, ceramics, glass as well as metal artefacts. Speaking to Platinum Weekly, Dr. van Vollenhoven noted that while no financial value can be placed on the findings, they do provide more niceties about the kind of life experienced by people living on the land during the late 1800s to the early 1900s. He also added that the project was commissioned by the Paul Kruger Country House Museum. “This was Paul Kruger’s farm, one of the first places where agricultural activities occured in the area. Furthermore, from carrying out excavations and studying the material stumbled upon, we learn more on how these people used to eat and drink.” He further commented, “We already know that the people settling here were Dutch/ Afrikaans. However, the porcelain discovered may give us an indication of the countries they used to buy these items from,” he said. “From the bones, we learn they were either keeping cattle or used to hunt animals for meat,” he added. Dr. van Vollenhoven said that all objects found at the site are the property of the state and the University of Pretoria’s acting curator.
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