[ad_1]
Martin Prout
Source: National Library of South Africa Bulletin, Volume 70, Issue 1, June 2024
Is there any more iconic image in South African history than the bullock cart? It has appeared in paintings and drawings as early as Van Riebeeck’s time, and later on film with the advent of photography.
The carriage was an entirely local invention. “The first South African oxcart was not an import – it was a completely local product. More importantly, it resulted from a fusion of cultures – the carriage from the new white settlers and the oxen from the indigenous Khoikhoi people,” writes José Berman.
The wagons were also home to those who traveled by wagon and stayed there for months. The town was designed to accommodate these iconic modes of transportation. They even played a role in defense.
(1) Jose Berman, Towards a distant horizon: the story of the South African bullock cartMan and Rousseau, Cape Town, 1988
[ad_2]
Source link
