The Spiritual Significance and Conservation of Dinkho tsa Badimo at the Ditsong National Museum of Cultural History

Abstract

There is a lot of published literature in the disciplines of Archaeology and Anthropology on ceramics that amongst others focus on their typologies, dating sequences, manufacture and trade with reference to groups of people that inhabit the Southern African region. Additionally, several studies have focussed on the use of ceramic objects including figurines in ritual practices of these societies. However, the emphasis has been differential and skewed as it has largely been focussed on certain cultures such as that of the Zulu group or linked to archaeological sites, to the exclusion of other groups. For example, there is scant literature that focuses on the description or discussion of ceramic vessels by the Basotho-Batswana people of Southern Africa, who, like the Zulu have an active ceramic tradition including the manufacture and reverence of spiritual ceramic vessels. The thrust of this dissertation is therefore to widen our understanding and knowledge of the spiritual significance of African ceramic vessels by focusing particular attention on how these Sotho-Tswana groups practice this tradition with the ultimate objective of encouraging the appropriate recognition and preservation of traditional African ceramic vessels.