Things To Do in PhalaborwaMasorini Village Museum
Cultural Sites Cultural Villages Museums Valley of the Olifants
Where? 11km from the Phalaborwa Gate, Valley of the Olifants, Limpopo.
When? Best during daylight hours
How? Call Not available
How much? Price on request
Overnight? Stay at accommodation in Phalaborwa, in Limpopo
Masorini Village is a restored village dating back to the stone-age. Restoration began in 1973, and at the time there were only grinding stones, post-herds, the remains of foundries and a few implements dating back to the stone-age. The real treasures were only revealed once excavation work began, including evidence and insight into trade and commerce within that era, and their domestic lives.
The Masorini Village offers a fascinating insight into a stone-age hunter-gathering society, long before the arrival of Europeans in South Africa, and is situated only 11 km from the Phalaborwa entrance gate on the way to Letaba Camp, within Kruger National Park.
During excavations, various implements were discovered underneath the exposed hut floors, dome-shaped furnaces which were used to smelt the ore were uncovered, and the weapons they became were unearthed. Spears, farming tools and arrowheads were traded for beads, food, ivory and animal products with other tribes and the Portuguese.
Research revealed that the village was inhabited by people belonging to the baPhalaborwa clan, and that they had advanced towards having their own developed technology, which existed before any Europeans influenced local inhabitants. The information and history of the area makes for a fascinating experience, shedding light on hunter-gatherers, aspects of the stone-age and co-existing with the environment.
