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WHAT ARE THE KWENENG RUINS AND HOW WERE THEY DISCOVERED?

The Kweneng ruins are one of several large settlements occupied by Tswana-speakers that dotted the northern parts of South Africa for generations.

The first European travellers encountered them in the early years of the nineteenth century. 

In the 1820s all these Tswana city states collapsed in what became known as the Difeqane civil wars.

Some had never been documented in writing and their oral histories had gone unrecorded.

Five decades ago, several ancient Tswana ruins in and around the Suikerbosrand hills, around 37 miles (60 km) south of Johannesburg, were excavated by archaeologists from the University of the Witwatersrand. 

The full extent of this settlement could not be appreciated from ground level and on aerial photos, because vegetation hid many of the ruins.

Using Lidar, a form of laser based radar, Professor Karim Sadr and his students created images of the landscape to virtually strip away the vegetation. 

This gave them unimpeded aerial views of the ancient buildings and monuments of the city.

Using these images, students then digitally recreated what they believe the settlement would have looked like in its heyday.

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