Department of Anthropology and Archaeology

Dr NJ Swanepoel

College of Human Sciences
School of Humanities
Department: Anthropology and Archaeology
Senior Lecturer
Tel: 012 429 6348
E-mail: swanenj@unisa.ac.za

Qualifications

  • BA (Hons) (Archaeology)(University of Cape Town)
  • MA; PhD (Anthropology)(Syracuse University)

Fields of academic interests

  • Historical archaeology of southern and West Africa (including the archaeology of slavery and the slave trade, the archaeology of conflict, mission archaeology and culture contact)
  • The comparative use of written, oral & archaeological sources
  • Archaeology and popular culture
  • The role of heritage in contemporary society

Field of Specialisation

  • Dr Swanepoel’s doctoral fieldwork focused on the impact of slave-raiding on northern Ghanaian communities in the nineteenth century. She is currently working on a project examining the political economies of mission stations in South Africa, through an archaeological study of the Botshabelo Mission Station in Mpumalanga.

Books

  • 2015 - Chapter 2 Small Change: Cowries, Coins, and the Currency Transition in the Northern Territoriesof Colonial Ghana in Materializing Colonial Encounters – Archaeologies of African Experience by François G Richard (Editor). P41-69. Springer, New York.
  • 2013 - Contexts of Interaction: the archaeology of European exploration and expansion in western and southern Africa in comparative perspective. In: Mitchell, P. and Lane, P. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of African Archaeology: 971-982. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • 2011 - Different Conversations about the Same Thing? Source Materials in the Recreation of a Nineteenth-Century Slave-Raiding Landscape, Northern Ghana. In Lane, P. & McDonald K. (eds) Slavery in Africa: Archaeology and Memory: 167-197. Proceedings of the British Academy 168. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • 2009 - The Practice and Substance of Historical Archaeology in Sub-Saharan Africa. In:   Majewski, T. and Gaimster, D. (eds), International Handbook of Historical Archaeology: 565-582. United States: Springer Press.
  • 2008 - (fourth author, with P. Bonner, A. Esterhuysen, M. Schoeman, and J. Wright) Introduction. In: Swanepoel, N., Esterhuysen, E. and Bonner, P. (eds). Five Hundred Years Rediscovered: Southern African Precedents and Prospects: 1-19. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. 
  • 2008 - (second author, with J. Behrens) Historical archaeologies of southern African: Precedents and Prospects. In: Swanepoel, N., Esterhuysen, E. and Bonner, P. (eds). Five Hundred Years Rediscovered: Southern African Precedents and Prospects: 23-39. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. 
  • 2008 - Archaeology. In: Darity,W. (ed.) International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2 ed. Vol. 1: 163-170. Detroit: MacMillan Reference USA.
  • 2006 - Socio-political change on a slave-raiding frontier: War, trade and ‘big men’ in nineteenth century Sisalaland, northern Ghana. In: Banks, I. and Pollard, T. (eds.) Past Tense: Studies in Conflict Archaeology: 264-293. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers.

Journal articles

  • 2016 – Past imperfect, present tense: the archaeology of Africa’s past 200 years. Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa 51(1): 3-23.
  • 2013 - [second author, with Kankpeyeng, B., Insoll, T., Nkumbaan, S., Amartey, S. and Saako, M.] Insights into past ritual practice at Yikpabongo, Koma Land, Northern Region, Ghana. African Archaeological Review 30: 475-499.
  • 2012 - At the crossroads of history: street names as monuments in the South African cityscape. Image and Text 12 (19): 80-91.
  • 2011 - The canary in the coalmine: archaeology and development in South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 66: 181-185.
  • 2011 - Comment on Catherine Cameron "Captives and Culture Change: Implications for Archaeology. Current Anthropology 52(2): 200-201.
  • 2010     Living with heritage: the potential of and pressures on the heritage landscape in Gwollu, Upper West Region, Ghana. Journal of Field Archaeology 35 (4): 400-411.
  • 2010 - (first author, with M.H. Schoeman) Mapungubwe matters [Guest editorial]. South African Archaeological Bulletin 65 (191): 1-2.
  • 2009 - Capital letters: material dissent and place name change in the ‘new’ South Africa, 2005-2006. Anthropology Southern Africa 32 (3&4): 95-105.
  • 2009 - Every periphery is its own center: Socio-political and economic interactions in nineteenth century north-western Ghana. International Journal of African Historical Studies 42 (3): 411-432.
  • 2008 - View from the village: changing settlement patterns in Sisalaland, northern Ghana. International Journal of African Historical Studies 41 (1): 1-27.
  • 2005 - Socio-political change on a slave-raiding frontier: War, trade and ‘big men’ in nineteenth century Sisalaland, northern Ghana. Journal of Conflict Archaeology 1: 264 - 293.