Archaeology, simply put, refers to the study of human history through the analysis of artefacts and physical remains, and the excavation of historical sites. Archaeology is also an experience, connecting researchers to our ancestors through spaces and artefacts that have been untouched by human hands since they were left there generations ago. In South Africa, many of the sites excavated for the purpose of archaeological research, are places of worship and ritual that link back to the earliest days of humanity and our spirituality.
It is for this reason that Dean Liprini and Sacred Sites Southern Africa, studies these miraculous places in multiple ways, using spiritual and metaphysical research to support and understand the archaeological research being conducted. By excavating historical sites, we reveal elements that may have been lost in time, allowing us to paint a far more detailed and complex picture of the human interactions that happened within a space, millenniums ago.
A good way of imagining this is to think of a cave, its walls brought to life by a story of rock paintings. The ground of the cave is coated in hardened, cracked mud that has clearly built up over many years. Archaeologists will study the painting and use a selection of tools to gently brush away the mud, being careful not to damage anything that may lie beneath it. Through this process, they may discover something that tells them more about the space, such as the remnants of a fire, or a few lost beads made from bones, teeth or Ivory. Researchers then use that information to understand our human history by combining and cross-referencing it with similar discoveries from different sites.
South Africa, home to a number of significant historical sites, plays a very important role in archaeological research. Some of the earliest traces of homo sapiens can be found along our southern coast line, that is now becoming known as the garden of Eden. Here are sacred sites that contributes in its own way to our greater understanding of our human ancestry and how these early beings first expressed their spiritual believes.