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Staff Profile

Dr Aron Mazel

Associate Researcher (previous: Reader in Heritage Studies)

Background

Background


Aron worked at Newcastle University from July 2002 to October 2022, when he retired. He is now a Associate Researcher in the School of Arts and Cultures.


Aron joined the University after a 25-year career in archaeological research and heritage and museum management in South Africa. Posts he held in South Africa included Assistant Director of the Natal Museum (1994-1997) and Director of the South African Cultural History Museum (1998-2002). Between 2002 and 2004, Aron managed the Beckensall Northumberland Rock Art Website Project, which won the 2006 Channel 4 ICT British Archaeological Award. Aron's research interests include the management and interpretation of tangible and intangible heritage; museum history; the construction of the hunter-gatherer past; dating of rock art; and Northumberland rock art.

Book publications include Tracks in a Mountain Range: exploring of the history of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg (2007, with John Wright), Art as Metaphor: The Prehistoric Rock- Art of Britain (2007, edited with George Nash and Clive Waddington), uKhahlamba: Umlando wezintaba zoKhahlamba/History of the uKhahlamba (2012, with John Wright), Narratives and Journeys in Rock Art: a Reader (2018, edited with George Nash), Indigenous Heritage and Rock Art: Worldwide Research in Memory of Daniel Arsenault (2021, edited with Carole Charette and George Nash), and Signalling and Performance: Ancient Rock Art in Britain and Ireland (2022, edited with George Nash). uKhahlamba: Umlando wezintaba zoKhahlamba is unique in the South African publishing world as it is the first book on archaeology and history in the country to have been published bilingually in isiZulu and English. Aron's PhD, entitled 'People making history: the last ten thousand years of hunter-gatherer communities in the Thukela basin' was published, in 1989, as the inaugural volume of the Natal Museum Journal of Humanities (now Southern African Humanities).


In recent years, Aron has developed exhibitions, contributed images to exhibitions, and has facilitated the reshowing of a photographic exhibition: 

  • In 2014, Myra Giesen and Aron created two interpretive panels for Cockle Park Tower, a Grade I listed building, which is situated on Newcastle University's Cockle Park Farm.
  • Gerard Corsane and Aron developed an international travelling exhibition for the en-compass - an international diamond of cultural dissemination, capacity building with countries from the North, East, South and West project, which ran from 2010-2015 (http://www.en-compass.ac.uk/index.htm). The exhibition included six interpretive panels and five cases with objects. It dealt with the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage and was shown in four countries: Fort Jesus (Mombasa, Kenya, 16 September 2014-15 October 2014), Guyana National Museum (Georgetown, Guyana, 26 November 2014-13 December 2014), Great North Museum (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 9 January 2015-1 February 2015), and Hainan Provincial Museum (China), 10-21 June 2015, and Hainan Provincial Library (10-30 August 2015).
  • In 2018, Aron arranged for the reshowing of a photographic exhibition, at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg (South Africa), which photographer friends and he had created in 1989 during apartheid. As photographers, they challenged the celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Pietermaritzburg, asking what was there to celebrate. The exhibition, entitled ‘City of Contrasts’ was opened on 18 October 2018, 30 years after the pictures had been taken. The exhibition was shown until May 2019.
  • The KwaZulu-Natal Museum used some of Aron's images in their permanent exhibition about Nelson Mandela in 2018.
  • In 2019, Aron developed a temporary exhibition about the ancient rock art of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg mountains (South Africa) for the Altamira World Heritage Site museum. Called ‘Colour and Power: San hunter-gatherer rock art in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg’, the dual-language, English and Spanish, exhibition was shown between 10 September-16 August 2020. This exhibition has since been translated into Norwegian and was shown at the Alta World Heritage Site Museum in Norway (5 June-24 October 2021).
  • In March 2021, the Kwazulu-Natal Provincial Service launched an exhibition entitled, ‘The Lion of the Midlands: The Life & Times of Harry Themba Gwala’ at the Old Gaol in Pietermaritzburg. Many of Aron's images were used in the exhibition.
  • Aron worked with the KwaZulu-Natal Museum to create an exhibition of his photographs of Nelson Mandela’s visit to Pietermaritzburg on 2 and 3 April 1990 following the Seven Day War. Entitled ‘Iso loMgungundlovu’ the exhibition was launched online on 9 July 2021. It can be viewed at: https://www.nmsa.org.za/online-exhibition/online-exhibitions.html The museum also made a short support video about the exhibition: https://www.facebook.com/kwazulunatalmuseum/videos/634784577915128.
  • Most recently, Aron worked with the KwaZulu-Natal Museum to create another online exhibition of his photographs entitled 'Wa Thinta Abafazi, Wa Thinta Imbokodo: Women and the anti-apartheid struggle in Pietermaritzburg'.  It can be viewed at: https://www.nmsa.org.za/online-exhibition/women-s-month.html (Note: to read the captions on a laptop and desktop, you need to put the cursor on each image). The exhibition was launched online on 1 August 2023 to coincide with Women's Month in South Africa.


Qualifications

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


Previous Positions

2012-2015 Director: International Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies (ICCHS)

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 have included

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.


Esteem indicators (selection)

2018 - External Examiner at the University of Exeter, MA/MRes/PGCert/PGDip International Heritage Management and Consultancy 

2018- Member of the Rock Art Network (hosted by the Getty Conservation Institute)

2011–2016 Member of the International Rock-Art Research Task Group led by Professor Arsenault of the University of Montreal.

2009 Delivered an address at the UNESCO Rock Art and the World Heritage Convention meeting (South Africa)

2008-2013 External examiner at the University of Bath Spa Heritage Management undergraduate degree

2004-ongoing Committee member British Rock Art Group (BRAG)

1999-2013 Member of Editorial Board: Public Archaeology

1998-ongoing Member of Editorial Board: Southern African Humanities (KwaZulu-Natal Museum)

1995-2005 Council member of the Pan African Association of Africanists

1994-1998 Chairperson of the Southern African Association of Archaeologists (now: Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists)

Research

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, including the northern uKhahlamba-Drakensberg, 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

 

Teaching

Postgraduate Taught Teaching

I contributed widely across the Museums, Galleries and Heritage modules and led many modules.


Postgraduate Research Supervision

I am no longer taking welcome postgraduate students.

 

Postgraduate supervision since 2010

Completed PhDs

  • Arwa Badran: Archaeological Museums and Schools: Teaching Primary-Aged Children about the Past in Jordan
  • Liz Bell: Giving Up the Dead? The Impact and Effectiveness of the Human Tissue Act and the Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums in English Museums
  • Carolyn Gibbeson: Haunted Hospitals: An Actor Network Theory approach examining the role of emotional attachment in the redevelopment of Victorian Asylums.
  • Michał Ryszard Koskowski: Management of Castles in Poland in the Early 21st Century
  • Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu: A comparative analysis of rock art in southern Africa: Animals and cosmological models
  • Tony McDonald: How effectively can World Heritage in young hands support delivery of the revised National Curriculum for secondary schools in England?
  • Tori Park: Read all about it? Newspaper coverage of the archaeological excavation, retention, and reburial of human remains within the UK
  • Niki Black: Community Cultural Festivals in Northumberland: How do these events contribute to the social sustainability of their host community?
  • Katharina Massing: From ‘Theme Park’ to ecomuseum: Could the use of ecomuseum principles in Hainan Province help to safeguard the intangible heritage of its ethnic minorities?
  • Dinc Sarac: Archaeological Heritage Management in Turkey: a case study on Antalya region (SW Turkey)
  • Emma Coffield: What cultures influence the understanding and practice of learning in emergent, artist-led contemporary art institutions?
  • Yong Zhao: Safeguarding Cultural Heritage through Sustainable Cultural Heritage Tourism: A Case Study in the Historic City of Xi’an, China
  • Brian Moss: Visitors' Experiences with Smartphone-based Interpretations in Outdoor Cultural Heritage Landscapes
  • Alix Ferrer-Yulfo: ICH museums and the safeguarding of traditional performing arts expressions: the Museo del Baile Flamenco and the Museu do Fado
  • David Selnick: Assessing the Sufficiency of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols to Address the Character of Modern Conflict.

Completed MLitts

  • Jane Brantom: Aspiration and Reality: World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism at the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway World Heritage Site
  • David Brough: Consideration of factors influencing progress towards the operational establishment of Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site as a serial transnational property
  • Erin Watson: Portable art or re-used rock carving? A re-analysis of the concept of portability
  • Kate Riordan: Rock Art and Faunal Remains in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg: A Reanalysis of Species Correlation on a Site-by-Site Basis

Current PhD student

  • Marta Alberti: Volunteering for Roman Britain: understanding motivations, expectations and impact of volunteer engagement in researching Romano British archaeological heritage

       


 


       


       


 


 


Publications