Melville Koppies
| Melville Koppies Nature Reserve | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | South Africa |
| Nearest city | Johannesburg |
| Coordinates | 26°10′03″S 28°00′07″E / 26.1674986°S 28.0020311°E |
| Area | 42.93 ha (106.1 acres) |
| Established | 2 September 1959 |
| Hiking trails | 3 |
| Website | Melville Koppies Nature Reserve |
Melville Koppies is a nature reserve and a Johannesburg City Heritage Site in Johannesburg, South Africa.[1] The word 'koppie' means small hill.[2]
Iron Age artefacts can still be found at the site.[3][4] Visitors can walk or hike in the Koppies, and tours are offered.[5] Neighbouring it is the Johannesburg Botanical Garden.
History
[edit]In 1963 Revil Mason, excavating at the Koppies, found an Iron Age furnace for smelting iron ore, either in a bowl or sunken furnace with carbon dating of charcoal found at varies levels at the site shows it would have been in use at various times between 1060AD and 1580AD.[3]: 48 Another more modern Iron Age furnace was found on the northern slopes dating to the 18th/19th centuries.[3]: 48
See also
[edit]External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Melville Koppies Nature Reserve". www.mk.org.za. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ "Koppies", The Free Dictionary, retrieved 11 March 2021
- ^ a b c Friede, H.; Steel, R. (1985). "Iron Age Iron Smelting Furnaces of the Western/Central Transvaal: Their Structure, Typology and Affinities". The South African Archaeological Bulletin. 40 (141): 45–49. doi:10.2307/3887993. ISSN 0038-1969.
- ^ "Revil Mason's Melville Koppies | The Heritage Portal". www.theheritageportal.co.za. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ Carstens, Wendy (2014). "The value of tours around heritage sites with Melville Koppies as an example". Yesterday and Today (12): 117–127. ISSN 2223-0386 – via Scielo.
