Nicole Visser

My project studies the relationship between people and giraffes at Letaba. Giraffes have been an object of fascination throughout time owing to their extraordinary size, height, unique markings and autonomy. While giraffes often feature in the cosmologies and rock art of ancient societies, finding their actual bones at archaeological sites is rare. The discovery of several giraffe skeletal remains at Letaba offers a unique opportunity to investigate their interaction with people in the past. I will reconstruct how and why giraffe were hunted, butchered, and used, with the goal to understand how they were woven into the daily lives and culture of people during the Early Iron Age.