Newcastle University

Background

Following a long career in research and museum management in South Africa, Aron Mazel moved to Newcastle University in the middle of 2002 to lead the ‘Northumberland Rock Art: Web Access to the Beckensall archive’ project (rockart.ncl.ac.uk). After the completion of this project, he took up a lecturing position at ICCHS in January 2005.

Roles and Responsibilities

Module Leader – Heritage Management 1 and 2
Module Leader – Master of Practice
To develop third-strand revenue

Qualifications

BA (1977), BA Hons (1978), MA (1981), PhD (1988). All University of Cape Town

Previous Positions

2002- 2004 Research Associate (Archaeology), School of Historical Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
2002 Head: Research & Interpretation (Social History), Iziko Museums of Cape Town
1998-2002 Director, South African Cultural History Museum
1994-1997 Assistant Director, Natal Museum
1981-1994 Museum Human Scientist (Archaeology), Natal Museum
1979-1981 Temporary Professional Officer (Archaeology), Natal Museum
1978 Tutor (Archaeology), University of Cape Town

Memberships

Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists (ASAPA)
British Rock Art Group (BRAG)
Council for British Archaeology (CBA)
Museums and Galleries History Group (MGHG)
Pan African Association for Prehistory and Related Studies
South African Archaeological Society
South African Museums Association
The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne

Honours and Awards

The 'Northumberland Rock Art: Web Access to the Beckensall Archive' website won the 2006 British Archaeological Awards Channel 4 ICT Category.

Research Interests

Aron Mazel’s research interests include:

• The management and interpretation of cultural heritage
• History of South African museums
• The construction of hunter-gatherer archaeological history, including the integration of information derived from excavations with that from rock art (research area: Thukela basin, South Africa)
• The absolute and relative dating of rock art
• Northumberland rock art
• The portrayal of San hunter-gatherer and Black farming community archaeological history in South African schools textbooks and museums since the 1970s
• Changing interpretations of hunter-gatherer history

Postgraduate Teaching

Module Leader – Heritage and Management 1
Module Leader - Heritage and Management 2
Module Leader – Master of Practice

• Giesen MJ, Mazel AD, Graham DW, Warke PA. The resilience and care of ancient stone monuments in changing environments. In: Amoêda, R; Lira, S; Pinheiro, C, ed. Heritage 2010: Heritage and Sustainable Development. Barcelos: Green Lines Institute, 2010, pp. 515-523.
• Mazel AD, Ayestaran H. Visiting Northumberland rock art virtually: the Beckensall archive analysed. In: Barnett, TF; Sharpe, KE, ed. Carving a Future for British Rock Art: New Directions for Research, Management and Presentation. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2010, pp. 140-150.
• Jerardino A, Horwitz LK, Mazel AD, Navarro R. Just before van Riebeeck: glimpses into terminal LSA lifestyle at Connies Limpet Bar, Elands Bay, West Coast of South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 2009,64 198 75-86.
• Mazel AD. Unsettled times: shaded polychrome paintings and hunter-gatherer history in the southeastern mountains of southern Africa. Southern African Humanities 2009,21 85-115.
• Mazel AD. Visitor attractions in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg: Main Caves, Kamberg and Didima. In: Mitchell, P; Smith, B, ed. The Eland’s People: New Perspectives on the Rock Art of the Maloti/Drakensberg Bushmen. Essays in Memory of Pat Vinnicombe. Johannesburg, South Africa: Wits University Press, 2009, pp. 66-67.
• Mazel AD. Presenting the San hunter-gatherer past to the public: a view from the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, South Africa. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 2008, 10(1), 41-51.
• Cramer MD, Mazel AD. The past distribution of giraffe in KwaZulu-Natal. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 2007, 37(2), 197-201.
• Mazel AD. A vulnerable cultural resource: threats facing Northumberland rock carvings. 2006, (in preparation).
• Wright JB, Mazel AD. Tracks in a mountain range: exploring the history of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 2007.
• Mazel AD, Watchman AL. Dating rock paintings in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg and the Biggarsberg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Southern African Humanities 2003, 15(1), 59-73.
• Nash G, Mazel AD, Waddington C, ed. Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock-Art of Britain. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2007.
• Mazel AD. On the fells and beyond: exploring aspects of Northumberland rock art. In: Nash, G; Mazel, AD;Waddington, C, ed. Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock-Art of Britain. Oxford: Archaeopress, 2007, pp. 231-257.
• Mazel AD. Colour in the past: shaded polychromes in the hunter-gatherer history of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, South Africa. In: Rock art in the framework of the cultural Heritageof Humankind, XXII Valcamonica Symposium. 2007, Valcamonica, Italy: CCSP.
• Mazel AD (Project Manager). Northumberland Rock Art: Web Access to the Beckensall Archive. University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2005. Available at: http://rockart.ncl.ac.uk.
• Mazel AD. Images in time: Advances in the dating of Maloti-Drakensberg rock art since the 1970s. In: Mitchell, P;Smith, B, ed. The Eland’s People: New Perspectives on the Rock Art of the Maloti-Drakensberg Bushmen. Essays in Memory of Patricia Vinnicombe. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2009, pp. 81-97.
• Waddington C, Johnson B, Mazel AD. Excavation of a rock art site at Hunterheugh Crag, Northumberland. Archaeologica Aeliana 2005, 5th Series(34), 29-54.
• Hall S, Mazel AD. The Private Performance of Events: Colonial Period Rock Art from the Swartruggens. Kronos: Journal of Cape History 2005, 31(1), 124-151.
• Mazel AD. Dating of rock art in Africa. In: Deacon, J, ed. The Future of Africa's Past: African Rock Art in the 21st Century. Nairobi, Kenya: Trust for African Rock Art, 2007, pp. 118-128.
• Mazel AD. Virtual access to the Beckensall Northumberland rock art archive.. International Newsletter on Rock Art 2005, 42, 24-27.
• Mazel AD. The last two thousand years of Thukela Basin hunter-gatherer history: new developments. In: 11th Congress of the Pan African Association for Prehistory and Related Studies. 2004, Bamoko, Mali.
• Mazel A, Galani A, Maxwell D, Sharpe K. ‘I want to be engaged’: working with the public in the development of the Northumberland ‘Rock Art on Mobile Phones’ interpretation. World Archaeology 2012. In Preparation.
• Mazel A. Apartheid’s child: the creation of the South African Cultural History Museum in the 1950s and 1960s. 2012. Submitted.
• Mazel A. Tentative title: A cultural political act in the time of Apartheid: the creation of the South African Cultural History Museum in the 1950s and 1960s. 2012. In Preparation.
• Giesen MJ, Mazel AD, Graham DW, Warke PA. Care and Management of Ancient Stone Monuments during Environmental Change. International Journal of Heritage and Sustainable Development 2011, 1(1), 60-71.
• Galani A, Maxwell D, Mazel A, Sharpe K. Situating Cultural Technologies Outdoors: Designing for Mobile Interpretation of Rock Art in Rural Britain. In: Museums and the Web. 2011, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA: Archives & Museum Informatics.
• Mazel AD. Time, Colour and Sound: Revisiting the rock art of Didima Gorge, South Africa. Time and Mind 2011, 4(3), 283-296.