Tributes for a great champion of heritage

The late Professor Revil Mason has been mourned by many residents. On behalf of the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation, chairperson Kathy Munro said they would celebrate his life and his achievements in science.

Prof Mason passed away 23 August this year at the age of 91, of old age. 

Munro described the late professor as a distinguished archaeologist and fine academic. He was the professor of African prehistory and director of the Archaeological Research Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand.  “He was the man who brought the pre-history of the Transvaal to the fore and taught us there were people on the highveld and on the ridges of the Witwatersrand before the founding of Johannesburg and the discovery of gold.

“I value his occasional paper written in 1971 on prehistoric man at Melville Koppies, Johannesburg. His field work on the iron age sites of Melville Koppies and elsewhere were path-breaking and his efforts were in no small measure responsible for the preservation and conservation of the koppies and ridges of our city and ensuring that Melville Koppies remains an open natural ridge parkland for Johannesburg citizens,” Munro said.

She added that the cause of heritage in Johannesburg was stretched, enriched and deepened by his work. Munro shared, “He made a huge contribution to education as he wanted to tell young people about the African origins of mankind.  A path-breaking educational book aimed at school children and their teachers was his Origins of the African people of the Johannesburg area, published by Skotaville in 1987.  He wanted teachers to use the local archaeological evidence found in Johannesburg, Randburg and Sandton to teach history and take children out of the classroom to visit ancient workings, examine the evidence of stone tools and more.”

In her personal capacity Flo Bird shared that Mason was one of the most interesting people she ever met. “I spent a wonderful afternoon with him excavating and old refuse dump. I had had a call about someone’s finding a human bone in the excavations at Bruma. I phoned Revil for advice and he thought it would be simply delightful to spend our Saturday afternoon digging through the buried rubbish.

“He was right, but only because as we went deeper and deeper, he could identify the ages of the different pottery pieces we were finding. He was so pleased when he found a piece he estimated had come up with the Voortrekkers, imagining what a treasure it had been to the original owner and to the descendants just an old saucer which didn’t match anything else and why on earth had their mother been so fond of it,” Bird recalled.

She added that he reminded her so much of her Dad.  “His rage when the City Council had not paid enough attention to Lonehill was stupendous and the four-letter words flew furiously. He loved Eagle’s Nest which was somehow sold to a councillor who managed to block all efforts at protecting the ridges for a good ten years. He was a great champion of our heritage.  He was fiercely independent and outspoken. My kind of hero,” Bird said.

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