DR NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA DISTRICT

Kaditshwene

Location

Take the Zeerust Gaborone road. At 26km from Zeerust, turn right at the Enselsberg turnoff. From about 510m from the turnoff you will find parts of the ruins on the farms. The king's enclosure is believed to be on the farm Bloemfontein.

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Introduction

The rugged, almost impenetrable bush of the northern Marico district conceals an archaeological wonder. Giving lie to Victorian beliefs that black people were incapable of building anything substantial, the Karechuenya ruins are mute testimony to an advanced civilisation.

History

Settled communities throughout Southern Africa, mined iron, copper, tin and, to the north, gold. They made metal tools, weapons and jewellery which they traded, together with other products across southern Africa and even as far as China via the Arab merchants of the east coast. Traces of gold mining have been found in the Limpopo system and that of tin at Rooiberg in the Northern Province. Copper was mined throughout the region, including at the Melville kopjes in Johannesburg and the North West Province. The different communities traded widely with the metals and most of them used it for manufacturing. When the Scottish missionary, Reverend John Campbell, connected to the London Missionary Society, visited some of these communities in 1820, they told him of traders from across the ocean, who had long, straight hair. (An early edition of the Campbell Diary, is now a proud possession of the Mafikeng Museum). The Iron Age people were agro-pastoralists and conservationists, had a sophisticated social system and lived in large stone-walled towns. They were the people who introduced an advanced civilised lifestyle to South Africa.

Geoffrey Philips, Director of the Mafikeng Museum, explained the concept of conservation during the Iron Age: "They were not conscious of being conservationists as such, but many taboos ensured that the environment was conserved and very well managed. If this had not been the case, then the area around a large settlement, would have been degraded in two to three years."

Early Iron Age People first moved south across the Limpopo river nearly 2000 years ago. However, there is some disagreement about the actual routes taken from the north. In South Africa each successive generation gradually moved outwards. The peak of the Late Iron Age culture was reached in the North West Province in about 1300 AD. The Ngum (Zulu and Xhosa) moved down the eastern side of South Africa. The BaTswana/Sotho group moved down the centre where there was a gradual split.

Some moved further south to the Lesotho area (South Sotho). Others settled to the east (North Sotho/Bapedi) and the BaTswana moved westwards. As the Iron Age people moved into South Africa, contact was made with the indigenous nomadic Bushmen (San/Khoisan). Aspects of their culture and languages became absorbed into the culture of the newcomers.

The first Iron Age settlements in the North West were on low ground near watercourses.

Much later, in the 16th and 17th centuries, large stonewalled towns were constructed along hilltops, to allow the surrounding fertile low ground to be fully utilised for crops. Several of these towns, planned on the Kgotla and ward system, had between 10 and 20000 inhabitants.

About 30 kilometres north of Zeerust in the magnificent Enselsberg, lie the ruins of a significant BaHurutshe (BaTswana) capital, Karechuenya. (A couple of names, including Kaditshwene, have been used when referring to the town). Karechuenya was the name the inhabitants used in 1820 even though Campbell spelled it differently, (Kurrichane) because of a pronunciation problem, as there was no written language at the time. The spelling is increasingly favoured by modern researchers- (The Mfeame Aftermath - editor Carolyn Hamilton, Wits Press). The ruins are an exceptionally important archaeological site, which cut across a couple of farms.

This was the largest of such towns with remarkably well preserved stone walling. Campbell expressed his amazement at the size of the place, describing it as being at least as big as Cape Town at the time. The town's cleanliness, artistic beauty, the high quality of products and the well-ordered society also impressed him.

"The town was well built with a population of about 16 000. Their iron was equal to Sheffield steel," wrote Campbell. Separated iron and copper 'melting' and forging areas surrounded the built up areas. Around these were vegetable gardens and crop fields. Beyond that were the grazing lands and finally, alien territory. In the town were clusters of wards, each comprising an average of 10 family enclosures, which consisted of circular walls two metres high.

Campbell wrote that the walls were very skillfully laid. Inside each enclosure was one large circular house used mainly for sleeping, as well as one or two other smaller houses. Within each enclosure would have been a clay sefedana - a grain storage bin about three metres in height -suspended above the ground on stones and with its own thatched roof. (See pictures and display at the Mafikeng Museum). Next, the family enclosures were smaller stone enclosures in which were kept a few animals tor the more immediate use of the family.

Phillips believes the remains of Karechuenya stand as a monument to a highly civilised society. It is believed that the inhabitants of Karechuenya left their capital, after the blood-thirsty Ndebele warrior, Mzilikazi, attacked the town. Some historians suspect that Mzilikazi, might have used the town as a base, before moving to his headquarters at Mosega, about 55km south. The legends and traditions of the Tswana Iron Age culture have survived, if not intact, then as common knowledge of their material culture and skills.