Madikwe is one of the largest and most beautiful wildlife reserves in South Africa. The nature, the tranquility and biodiversity attract many visitors to go on a safari in the "real Africa". But did you know that Madikwe is also a place with a historical treasure?

Archaeological surveys in the reserve have recorded several stone tool scatters and Stone Age camp sites. These scatters and camp sites range from the Earlier Stone Age (1 million to 250 000 years ago) through the Middle Stone Age (250 000 to about 25 000 years ago) to the Later Stone Age (25 000 to 500 years ago). Earlier Stone Age people were specialized scavengers who became true hunters during the Middle Stone Age. The ancestors of people like the San (or Bushmen) lived as hunter-gatherers during the Later Stone Age.

The reserve, however, is best known for Iron Age remains. The Iron Age covers the last 2000 years, bracketing the period when Bantu-speaking people dominated the landscape. In general terms, these people herded cattle, sheep and goats, and cultivated sorghums and millets as well as beans and peas. They lived in permanent settlements consisting of round houses and raised grain bins that surrounded animal pens and buried storage pits. 

As a rule, people were buried in the village, in areas associated with them in life: men in the cattle pen (the male domain), women behind their houses in-between the granaries (a female domain) and children in the courtyards between the kitchens and sleeping houses (where they used to play). Some grave goods, and artifacts found in the settlements, show that men were skilled metallurgists while women were accomplished potters. A walk in the Amphitheatre site earlier this year with Professor Tom Huffman led to a discovery of an exposed human skull in the eroded vehicle access road. As you will know, the rules of accessing this site have since been adapted to protect our heritage.

The amphitheatre site is adjacent to the Inselberg named Mabalangsweng “reading something from the stone” or another version from the Madikwe Park staff  “colourful place”. The Amphitheatre site is an Iron Age site and is one of five Historical and Iron Age sites on and around this Inselberg alone. Over 40 archaeological sites have been found on Madikwe during the initial surveys done by the Archaeological Department of the University of Witwatersrand in the early 1997. Slag from the furnaces is clearly visible and pieces of bellow pipes made from clay are lying about. These are identifiable from the pipe shape and black glass-like edging where the pipe entered the furnace. Late Stone Age tools are also found on the surface which indicates earlier human activity in this area, not unusual as humans had the same basic needs for settlements throughout the ages. Apart from access to water, shelter and game, Mabalangsweng provides a good vantage point and protection from marauding tribes in the hundreds of caves located there. Unlike the Wonderboom and Genadendal sites on Madikwe, this site has not been formally excavated of extensively researched yet. The site is highly disturbed through weathering, human and animal activities. Kappies van Rensburg a well farmer in the area remembered hunting on this farm and that the hunting camp was sited against the boulders inside the amphitheatre. Some steel structures are still visible, so also holes in the boulders probably made by geologists taking core samples of this volcanic rock called ‘Gabbro’.

The amphitheatre and surrounds is awe inspiring and a great stop over for our guests. “There is actually a possibility for a drink stop at the amphitheatre. Although not much can be seen yet, we will definitely learn more about this site and include it in our safari program for our historically interested guests”, says Sean Townsend, Field Guide at Rhulani. The site is located in the northwestern part of the reserve, so not too far from Rhulani. "It can be reached quite easily", says Sean.