Excavation of LE6 and LE7 Early Iron Age sites

LE6 and LE7 are adjacent Early Iron Age sites on the bank of the Letaba River in the Kruger National Park. Both were identified in 1977 and have not been visited by an archaeologist since 1990. A new site visit was conducted in 2021. From this it became clear that the sites has significant research potential to address research questions on early farming communities of the region. However, urgent rescue and mitigation actions are needs to be implemented due to active erosion exposing significant archaeological features. The permit request is for archaeological research by means of excavation and collection of surface material. Field research will be conducted in two phases:
- Phase 1 aim to rescue of exposed material and deposits in danger of being destroyed and/or washed away by erosion.
- Phase 2 will concentrate on conducting fine grained excavation based on clear research goals.

The sites are located in the Kruger National Park, Letaba Ranger Section, Limpopo Province.