The re-assessment of the Albasini ruins, Kruger National Park, South Africa

Abstract

As part of the developments for the building of a new entrance gate to the Kruger National Park, Archaetnos was requested to assist with the upgrading of the site museum at the Albasini ruin. The museum and ruin is situated close to the new Phabeni gate. The first phase of the project was to do archaeological excavations on the site in order to obtain information to be used in the planned museum. The excavations indicated that the ruin was a mess due to uncontrolled restoration done since the original excavation of the site in 1978-1979. This complicated the research as these aspects had to be interpreted with the original building material of the building. When excavations are done on historical sites, it is always necessary to do basic historical research in order to understand the historical context of the site. This historical background is presented in this article. This, mostly known information is supplemented by new information obtained through the research. Aspects related to the building style and building material of the ruin is also included. Key words: bonding style, East Coast trade, Joao Albasini, Magashulaskraal, outside oven, reconstruction