= 12
MUbES:, 82h gee eect thn ere, a an een ee ee a ee ee ee 11
Broken:
HPS) es 5 abe cet: She ocean 2— — 1 4 3—- —- ~—~ ~— — — 10
OUhE? oss tee sarees e JS—=— 260 2S] —]— =] = 15
Wtilized? WRG. rater sn ee es 20 — 2 — 2 = 2 = = 26
bayer totale et ae sp | 2 Wf iby Sil 5:52. Do Wiese SB 4 2 a 2 els
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 JET
Awls (Fig. 29)
These are the largest single class, accounting for 38,3 per cent of the site
total, and have the widest distribution through the layers. Layers 3 and 5 each
have an example of the slender artefacts termed ‘needle awls’ (Fig. 29A-B).
Seven of the awls, from layers 2, and 4-6, are made of bird bone, the rest being
of mammal bone.
Points
Artefacts in this class, considered to be projectile heads (e.g. Schweitzer
1979: 129-30), came from layers 1 and 5. The three artefacts are all broken and
are not illustrated (cf. Schweitzer 1979, fig. 10). Parts of broken points are
probably included among the unclassifiable broken artefacts (see below), so
that undue importance should perhaps not be attached to their apparently
restricted distribution.
Linkshafts (Fig. 30A—-H).
These pointed artefacts are also considered to be parts of composite
projectiles. In the BNK 1 sample they are represented by eight whole or almost
whole pieces from layers 4 and 5. The artefact illustrated in Figure 30H is
unusual in having a V-shaped notch at the lower end. This raises some doubt as
to its correct identification as a linkshaft as it may be the nock end of a
composite arrow. As far as is known, however, such parts made of bone have
not been recorded from other archaeological deposits. E. M. Shaw (1980 pers.
comm.) has pointed out that this piece, as well as one other (Fig. 30G), have
split tips, and has suggested that these might have been slots to take the
arrowhead. This would have been a type different from the points described
above, and the slots would apparently not have been more than 1-2 mm wide
and could thus only have accommodated a thin sliver of bone, stone or wood.
None of the linkshafts is decorated, as was the case with some from Die
Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, fig. 11).
Spatulae (Fig. 30I-K)
These were recovered only from layers 1 and 7. Those from layer 1 are
made from mammal ribs while that from layer 7 is made from hippo ivory,
probably a maxillary incisor or canine (R. G. Klein 1980 pers. comm.). The
cancellous bone of the complete spatula is worn smooth for about half the
length of the artefact and, opposed to this, the cortex bears a number of
indentations, visible in Figure 301. This wear might have resulted from the use
of these tools, inter alia, for prising Haliotis midae from the rocks. This
suggestion has been dismissed by various other workers on the grounds that the
bone would be too brittle to withstand the strain of the upward lifting
movement necessary for detaching the shellfish. Avery & Siegfried (1980: 33)
have, however, also suggested a similar use, and this hypothesis could be tested
by replication, using ‘green’ bone, since this is as likely to have been available
ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
78
he.
santiiiliilliy A I =,
%,
isi eee.
ee POPE
OOD
ee LC
wh
Bone awls. A, D, K, P, R-S. Layer 5. B—C. Layer
Fig. 29
aE:
J, N-O. Layer 1. I,
Me cavern Oo; layer:
Q. Layer 4. F. Layer 19. G-H,
b)
ie,
79
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
MOM
cm
Fig. 30. Bone artefacts. A-H. Linkshafts. I-K. Spatulae. A, C-D,
F-H. Layer 5. B, E. Layer 4. I, K. Layer 1. J. Layer 7.
80 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
as dry bone. Similar wear and indentations are evident on some of the spatulae
from Die Kelders.
‘Fish gorges’ (Fig. 31)
These artefacts, of which eight were found, in layers 13-15, are small, flat
pieces of bone tapered to sharp points at both ends. What might be the
fragment of a ninth was recovered from layer 18 but has been included with the
unclassifiable broken artefacts since the fragment represents not more than a
third of what would have been its full length if it were a ‘fish gorge’. It is worth
noting at this point, in view of the assumed function of these artefacts, that only
four fish are recorded from layers 13-15 and none for layer 18. This leaves open
the option of deciding whether these were or were not fishing aids, whether
they were largely ineffectual, or whether the bulk of the fish caught with them
were eaten away from the site.
(C D E F
Fig. 31. Bone ‘fish gorges’. A, C-D. Layer 14. B. Layer 15. E-F. Layer 13.
Largest bone = 2,7 cm.
Ornaments
Bone artefacts considered to be ornaments were recovered from five of the
layers. They are mostly broken, and most are illustrated in Figure 32G—K and
M-Q. Those from layer 1 consist of half a small bead (Fig. 321), part of a ring
(Fig. 32K) and two fragments with drilled apertures (Fig. 32N—O), of which
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 81
dad Op
Fig. 32. Bone artefacts. A. Articular end of grooved and snapped bird
bone. C-E. Bird bone tubes (D and E broken). G—Q. Ornaments. A,
C. Layer 5. B, D, F. Layer 4.-E, I, K-L, N-O. Layer 1. G. Layer 7. H,
MeiEayer 6-35 Layer, 13. Layers. O} Layer 2:
only the second appears to have reached any degree of completion, having a
finely ground edge. The fifth piece from this layer, not illustrated, is doubtfully
ascribed to this class: it is a small bone tube, 3 mm long with an outside
diameter of 5 mm and a wall thickness of about 1 mm.
From layer 2 came a partly perforated fragment which has been broken
into a roughly circular shape (Fig. 32Q), and layer 3 yielded a better-finished
version of the layer 2 artefact, except that this is squared (Fig. 32P). This layer
also yielded a small piece of bone, 8 X 4 mm, that has incised grooves on one
side and five partial perforations on the other (not illustrated). Layer 6 yielded
a broken fragment of limb bone that shows cut marks along its edges and has
been pared down from its original dimensions to a wall thickness of 1-1,5 mm
(Fig. 32H), and a roughly circular disc, finely ground down to 1 mm thickness
(Fig. 32M). From layer 7 came the tooth of a Great White shark (Carcharodon
carcharias) with an ‘hour-glass’ perforation drilled from both sides (Fig. 32G);
and from layer 13 a bead similar to that from layer 1 but larger (Fig. 32J).
Tubes
Pieces of bird bone cut into tubes were found in layers 1, 4 and 5 and are
illustrated in Figure 32A-F. Two of the pieces, from layers 1 and 5, are
82 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
articular ends that are probably discards after the tube had been detached from
the shaft by ring-grooving and snapping (Fig. 32A). The pieces illustrated in
Figure 32B and E, from layers 4 and 1, have linear decoration across the tube
while the others are plain. These artefacts might have been ornaments, or they
might have been links used in composite arrows. Their restriction to layer 5 and
above is consistent with the distribution of points and linkshafts in the deposit.
Unclassifiable broken artefacts
Twenty-five broken pieces have been listed in Table 11 under the headings
of tips and ‘other’, i.e. end or body parts. They are small pieces, usually not
more than 10 mm long, of which not enough is present to identify securely the
artefact type from which they came. The tips may be those of awls or points.
Two, both from layer 5, are unusual in having the first millimetre or so thinner
than the rest of the piece, and appear to have been used as drills. This feature
cannot be observed on any of the awls or points.
The other broken pieces are probably mostly fragments of points and
linkshafts although some of them that are more oval than round may be parts
of awls. The fact that both types are restricted to the same set of layers 1, and
4-6, may be coincidental, but it may also indicate that points and foreshafts
were in use before layer 5 was deposited.
Utilized pieces
These pieces, mostly from layer 1, are a miscellany that show marks of
damage or utilization of a type that suggests their informal use. A range of
these is illustrated in Figure 32L and Figure 33. Two horn-cores from layer 1, of
which one is illustrated (Fig. 33D), have marks from chopping or cutting, as
does the small polished piece shown in Figure 32L. Figure 33H-I illustrates two
bovid scapulae, probably sheep (R. G. Klein 1980 pers. comm.), from layer 1
and Figure 33J a comparative specimen, from a young adult sheep, to show the
extent of the wear on the archaeological specimens, of which the edges
opposite the posterior border are considerably reduced and worn smooth,
suggesting that they were used for some sort of scraping activity. The other
pieces shown in Figure 33 show varying degrees of wear or grinding and in
some cases (e.g. A and E) striations.
MARINE SHELL ARTEFACTS
Artefacts made of marine shell were recovered from layer 16 up and fall
into two major categories, ornaments and edge-damaged pieces. The inventory
of these is given in Table 12.
Ornaments
These have been divided into two classes, whole shells that are perforated
but have no other modification, and a range of modified shell fragments with or
without perforations, here informally termed ‘pendants’.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
Fig. 33. Utilized or damaged bone, all from layer 1, with a modern sheep scapula
(J) to show extent of wear on H and I.
83
84 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
?
TABLE 12
Marine shell: inventory of ornaments and edge-damaged artefacts.
Teayerie.. wetos sooo cathe eee 1 23 4 5e 6) 7S SO O12 1841S el Gre Motal
Perforated whole shells
Glycimeris queketti............... 126 —— 127
INCRE TT RSALT 550060088000500¢ 40 — 5 1—-— 71 11> —> — — 2 — — 50
WricoliaiKOchix Nees se. okey yal t = SS = eS ee 29
CONnUSISP(D) secre cea ose LoS ie Si SSS i Se D
Cypracasp(p) aes cee fe eee So = ea ee ee Se = ee ee 6
Bulligisppe xs v2cnti ce sone 1 Le ee Se ee 21
Donax serra
Whole- a8. eee a eee = =] =| =]—] 2 3 2S SS — Sa 8
brokenie. sees. 555 see — = = = 29 68 33 25 27 32> — 3:-=— 2) tf 19
Other cajensa stewee nee emo. 2 -2Y 23, 25h 1 03 SSS = SSS = 14
DOtall oP seen tea teerdte on hel SORT 191 «2. (3-189 54. 73) 36932" 32, Nae 1 Se oe eda
Pendants
perforated
Plain) 3 nets ese 4 2 3 4 6 4 4— 1—> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ — 28
decorated sree caps ocbaces eee ers 122 2 62—. 11 >—-—>— => — — — — 17
unperforated
jo) EVID Were cree er achur BESERPRCNES cious 5-55 4—- 2— 4 1 — 2 — a 13
decorated). 52sec eee —- — — — 2 — ijl (Se 8
Totalwee has eee oe > ne eeee OF 4S TOS 8rd a 4 3 Se ee 66
Edge-damaged Donax serra
WHOLE) 3.2). NP cictse carat are sa eee eee as eS ee ee SSS = 5
frasMents 2 2. iuaeace eeugaties sock 97 — — 3 1 1 3-— 6 4 3. 6— —.—-— 124
* Frequencies estimated from the mass of broken fragments showing signs of perforation.
Perforated whole shells (Fig. 34) are the simplest form of shell ornament,
requiring only the making of a hole to allow for stringing or attachment to the
person in some other way. The most common of these are the valves of Donax
serra (not illustrated) of which most in the BNK 1 sample are broken. With
very few exceptions, the perforation was made by punching out a piece of the
shell wall, almost invariably from the inside of the shell and regardless of
whether it was a gastropod or bivalve. This may well account for the high
number of broken Donax serra valves, since the holes punched in these shells
are usually large, up to 20 mm diameter.
Five Glycimeris queketti shells have apertures made by grinding away the
umbo (Fig. 34G-H) while the third shell illustrated (Fig. 341) has a punched
hole. Two Conus sp. shells (Fig. 34L—M) have V-shaped notches filed into the
outer wall opposite the aperture of the shell. At Die Kelders, this method of
making perforations was restricted to Conus shells (Schweitzer 1979: 144), and
the presence of a similarly perforated shell in BNK 1 layer 12 attests to the
continuity of the tradition over a period of at least 6 000 years.
A single, broken Perna perna valve from layer 8, not illustrated and listed
in Table 12 under ‘other’, is the only instance of a shell ornament not a
‘pendant’ that has a drilled perforation. This was drilled near the umbo and
from the inside only and has the inward-sloping sides characteristic of drilled
apertures.
Four of the Cypraea shells are broken, with the section of wall opposite the
aperture missing almost to the columella. It has not been possible to determine
whether this damage is natural or not: similarly damaged shells are to be found
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 85
M
Fig. 34. Marine shell ornaments: perforated whole shells. A. Layer 8. B—C, E-I, L. Layer 1.
D, J-K. Layer 4. M. Layer 12.
on the sea shore. It is possible, however, that these shells may have been
ground down, as seems to have been the case with the Nassa kraussiana shells
(cf. Fig. 34F). One of the Cypraea shells, from layer 1, is filled with some kind
of ochre-stained deposit, possibly organic. This suggests that it might have been
used as an ornament, since similarly stained ostrich egg-shell beads are often
found.
Layers 9-1 yielded 97,3 per cent of the total of perforated whole shells, of
which 42,6 per cent are in layer 1 alone. After the estimated total of Donax
serra valves (42,6% of the category total), the most common species are
Glycimeris queketti (28,3 %) and Nassa kraussiana (11,2 %).
‘Pendants’ made of worked shell fragments are entirely restricted to layers
9-1, and are most common in layers 5 and 6. In Table 12 they are divided into
two classes, perforated and unperforated, each with two sub-classes, plain and
decorated. Examples of all the types are illustrated in Figures 35 and 36. A
more comprehensive analysis, based on attributes such as shape, size, number
of perforations, and type of edge decoration was found not to be useful since
the degree of individualism is so great that the analysis would ultimately have
had almost as many divisions as there are artefacts, and it must suffice to say
that the greatest variety occurs in layer 5.
86 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
cm
Fig. 35. Marine shell ornaments: ‘pendants’ with plain edges. A, D-E, J—L. Layer 5. B,
G-H. Layer 6. C, I. Layer 4. F. Layer 7. M, O. Layer 1. N. Layer 2. P. Layer 8.
All but three of the pendants are made of Turbo sarmaticus. They consist
mostly of the nacreous inner shell, the periostracum having fallen away or been
removed, and in every case the perforations have been drilled from the inner
surface of the shell. The three not made of Turbo sarmaticus are two of Haliotis
midae from layers 1 and 4 (Fig. 36J—K), and one from layer 6 made from the
apex of a Patella species (Fig. 36V).
Whether or not the unperforated pendants are merely unfinished pieces is
hard to determine. A particular type with denticulate edges (Fig. 36N—Q), of
which there were 2 in layer 4, 4 in layer 5 and 1 in layer 9, has no perforations,
nor are there any like it in the sample that do. This suggests that they were
possibly not intended to be perforated. Kolb (1738: 197) observed that the
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 87
Fig. 36. Marine shell ornaments: ‘pendants’ with decorated and plain edges; perforated and
unperforated. A, C-D, F-G, N, P, S, W. Layer 5. B, J. Layer 4. E, O, Q, V. Layer 6. H,
Ky Layer 2 Re Layer Le) ayer 92M, i—U\ Layer 3:
88 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Hottentots were very fond of ornaments for the head, which they fastened to
their hair. These denticulate discs could perhaps have been tucked into the hair
but would not have been very secure. With reference to ‘pendants’ in general,
Kolb (1738: 198) mentions that the Hottentots pierced their ears with what, in
archaeological parlance, would be termed bird-bone awls and then passed brass
wire rings through the perforations. ‘To these Rings the Wealthy and Eminent
hang Bits of Mother of Pearl, to which they have the Art of giving a very
curious Shape and Polishing.’ It seems unlikely, though not impossible since we
know so little of the social systems of the Khoi(san) in the early historic period,
that such ornaments would have been restricted to those of high status, and
their presence in the BNK 1 deposits as early as layer 9 certainly antedates the
arrival of the pastoralist Khoi in the southern Cape by several thousand years.
Although the evidence of the BNK 1 deposits indicates the manufacture of
marine shell ornaments for about the last 10 000 years, it is not until layer 9,
about 6 000 years ago, that they become common and increase in sophistica-
tion. The possibility that the more fragile pendants might not have survived
cannot be discounted, but the fact that these first appear at a time when there is
evidence of change in other artefact traditions as well as a major increase in the
frequency of marine shell representing food debris cannot simply be dismissed
as coincidental. The low frequencies of shell ornaments in the layers below
layer 9 are, however, also consistent with an interpretation based on a lower
intensity of occupation prior to about 6 000 years ago, while the presence of
ornaments from layer 16 up testifies to the exploitation of marine resources
from about 10 000 years ago.
Edge-damaged Donax serra valves, mostly broken, were recovered from all
but three of the layers from layer 12 up. In view of the generally low
frequencies in the individual layers the absence of these artefacts from layers 2,
3, and 8 is probably fortuitous. On the other hand, the frequency of these
artefacts in layer 1 (78% of the site total) is higher than can be explained by
this layer having the greatest excavated volume. In this respect layer 1 re-
sembles the Holocene deposits at Die Kelders, which fall within the time range
of this layer and also contained a high frequency of these artefacts (Schweitzer
1979 stablew0)»
Despite certain initial reservations as to the validity of classifying these
pieces as artefacts, let alone ‘scrapers’, evidence from Die Kelders suggests that
they are artefacts, even if their function can only be presumed. In the tidal
wash below Die Kelders Cave, valves of Tivela compressa are commonly found,
almost invariably with damage to the periostracum of the ventral margin. This
damage takes the form of chipping of the periostracum, almost as if small flakes
had been removed in a regular and deliberate manner from the margin. This
edge damage is, however, less pronounced than, and different from that found
on the Donax serra fragments from the deposits. It is noteworthy that no
Donax serra was recovered from the deposits with edge damage similar to that
on the Tivela compressa valves from the beach, and that Tivela compressa, a
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 89
bivalve almost as big as Donax serra, was not found in the deposit. It is,
therefore, concluded that the edge damage on the Donax serra valves and
fragments recovered from the archaeological deposits is not natural and that
such damaged pieces are thus correctly called artefacts.
That Donax serra ‘scrapers’ appear in the BNK 1 deposits only from layer
12 up is somewhat problematic. If these artefacts were indeed used as scrapers
it is difficult to understand why this innovation should have occurred at a time
when there is a marked increase in the frequency of stone scrapers (Table 7). It
is certainly not explicable in terms of a shortage of suitable stone, and can only
be seen as a technological innovation for which there seems, at present at least,
no reasonable explanation. In layers 4-1 the frequency of stone scrapers
decreases but there is not, except in layer 1, any increase in the frequency of
the shell artefacts.
OSTRICH EGG-SHELL ARTEFACTS
Ostrich egg-shell, in the form of beads, ‘pendants’ and fragments, plain
and decorated, was recovered from every layer of the deposits. Table 13
provides an inventory of the various classes, and it should be noted that,
whereas frequencies for all other classes are numerical, those for plain frag-
ments are the mass, in grammes.
Beads
Beads, whole and broken as well as partly made, are the most common of
the worked material. Frequencies in the lower layers are low, with ADs of less
than 100 for layers 19-10. From layer 9 frequencies increase until layer 6, after
cm
Fig. 37. Fragments of decorated or worked ostrich egg-shell. A, G, K—-M. Layer 5.
B-C. Layer 9. D, F, N-O. Layer 4. E. Layer 16. H. Layer 1. I-J. Layer 6.
ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
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BYNESKRANSKOP 1 91
which they decline again, more noticeably in terms of ADs than of actual
numbers.
No attempt was made to determine whether there was any change in bead
size through time. Visual observation suggests that most beads fall within a size
range of 4-8 mm diameter, and in view of the low frequencies in the lower
layers any changes in size might be more statistical than real. Schweitzer
(1979: 150) has pointed out that abut 2 000 beads are required for a multi-
stranded necklace and 8 000 for an apron, and the BNK 1 site total of 3 345
completed beads is thus not impressive. It is perhaps interesting only for the
evidence it provides of the persistence of the tradition and manufacturing
technique over a period of some 12 500 years.
Decorated shell fragments
Apart from three pieces in layers 16 and 18, decorated shell fragments are
restricted to the upper layers, from layer 9 up. At least twenty-five different
types of decoration could be identified, and some of these are illustrated in
Figure 37.
Most of the decoration consists of linear incisions, but a few pieces have
decoration in which the surface of the shell has been pecked or abraded.
Quantification of the different types of decoration is not considered particularly
useful, since the number of fragments is not directly proportional to the
number of whole shells, nor is it likely that each type of decoration represents
an individual shell. A whole shell in the Museum’s collections (AA5863), taken
from a ‘Bushman’ grave at Boegoeberg, in the Gordonia district of the
northern Cape, is richly decorated over most of its surface, and at least ten
different types of decoration can be recognized (cf. J. Rudner 1971, fig. 1).
It is perhaps worth noting that layers 7-5 have the greatest variety of types
of decoration.
‘Flask’ openings
Fragments of shell with parts of ground circular apertures (Fig. 371) are,
apart from one in layer 19, restricted to layer 9 and above. As with the
decorated shell fragments from layers 16 and 18, the recovery of a ‘flask’
opening from layer 19 was cause for a certain amount of concern, if only
because worked artefacts are so rare in the lower layers.
Ground fragments
Pieces with ground edges and in some cases smoothing of the outer surface
of the shell were found in layers 5—1. These generally small fragments may be
parts of ‘pendants’ or discs, but complete examples of the particular type(s)
represented by these fragments were not found.
‘Pendants’
Fragments of four artefacts, informally termed ‘pendants’, were found in
layers 1 and 4-5. The most complete of these, from layer 1, is illustrated in
92 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Figure 37H, as well as a fragment with two holes drilled through it (Fig. 37G)
that bears some resemblance to the perforated marine shell ‘buttons’ (Fig.
35G-L).
Plain fragments
Unmodified fragments of shell are not distributed throughout the layers in
proportion to the frequencies of beads. Layers 19-16, 9-7, and 5-3 all have
mass ADs of more than 500 g, while layer 6, which has the highest frequency of
beads, actual as well as AD, has one of the lowest mass ADs of the upper
layers. Layer 19, on the other hand, has the highest frequency of beads in the
lower layers as well as the highest mass of plain fragments of all the layers.
To summarize, about 98 per cent of the site total of beads are from the
upper layers, as are 99 per cent of the decorated fragments, all but one of the
‘flask’ openings, all the ground fragments and the ‘pendants’, and almost 63 per
cent of the total mass of plain fragments. Whether the ground fragments and
‘pendants’ can be regarded as innovations during the last 4 000 years or so is
not clear from the sparse evidence provided by the BNK 1 data, but the
presence of the other classes, even if sporadically, in the lower layers suggests a
continuity in the traditions of artefact manufacture in ostrich egg-shell over a
period of at least 10 000 years. The presence of a ‘flask’ opening in layer 19 and
decorated fragments in layers 18 and 16 may be seen as problematic, since
these artefact types do not otherwise occur in the deposits before layer 9; but it
seems not improbable that people who had the technical ability to make ostrich
egg-shell beads would also have been capable of grinding smooth the openings
of perforated shells and of the simple, linear incisions required to decorate
these shell containers.
The probability cannot be discounted that some of the plain fragments may
represent food waste rather than artefactual material in the strict sense, but it
seems equally likely that even the shell used for the artefacts had its contents
extracted for food before the shell was used. This is probably true of most of
the classes of organic material and merely shows that it was not necessarily only
the edible parts of animals, plants and birds that had economic value.
POTTERY
A total of 426 potsherds was recovered from layer 1. Because of uncer-
tainty regarding the degree of disturbance of the upper sub-units of this layer,
because the front four squares were excavated in a greater number of sub-units
than the squares in the main trench, and because the number of sherds is so
small, no attempt has been made in this analysis to retain the sub-unit divisions
employed in the excavation, which might otherwise have provided information
regarding changes in style and technique. Twenty-six sherds were recovered
from the lowest sub-unit of layer 1 but are presumed to relate to the overlying
sub-unit in view of the date of 3 220+45 years B.p. obtained for the lowest
sub-unit (Table 1).
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 93
TABLE 14
Pottery: inventory of sherds.
no. % of working
total
ONC ANALG CLO EA er re ena rn. Mra a aw, cence Ms sols SuSE un 426
TONING 5 4 0 obs i eregsisia.d oa ewa tea onto etek ieee Maer ees 2a eer et ae aan ae 19
\AVORESITINS (TOG Aa cet gree an eee ee ik 2 ne a meee em eee 407
Rims:
CSS EEN WME TM Cre ie a ee ee om 20 4,9
RDO. oo a BUS BSIGUS OMe RR co Aa at ras Seeman aL 8 Rene eae an lear val 0,5
Decorated
TGA eT Te a AO oe hn Oe a hs AU garg el Pe 7 JEG
MCC KOO eee epee ee ON ee eM: A cute cade as che 2 0,5
| BY GUPRUIGI VEG! «a A Ts: GARR x i ar ok ia ne a 134 32,9
UMS He Cl gpI STOCHTC ees aesetes eevee coe tc cath Mook Showa weiss aD 5,4
WinbmGniShedimlUSOCMiC.,.. a2 cbs oie Sho
Goud 600-0 puvoia{o DIUOPOXOT
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TABLE 15
Mammals: inventory of minimum numbers of individuals.
i
nN
Ww
>
an
los)
|
co
Layer:
10
11
12
Papio urSinus.........0..00. 00. 0s
Homo sapiens .........0.0.02020.5
Canis cf. mesomelas ...............
A CIOWYX: SITIGIUS = sate cvesucs arotet « we set
Mellivora capensis.................
Aonyx CapensiS ..........6..0 000.
Herpestes ichneumon ..............
Herpestes pulverulentus ............
Atilax paludinosus ................
js
Hyaena brunnea .................. cf. — — cf.
EUS DY Cae. 222 Riels duvvxternns aia «tke
eUS\GhiGarQCaliae ee eco siecc sone
Panthera pardus ..................
Arctocephalus pusillus .............
Loxodonta africana ...............
Procavia capensis ...............-.
Diceros bicornis ..................
Rhinocerotidae gen. et sp. .........
Equus cf. quagga .................
Equus cf. capensis.................
Potamochoerus porcus......
2
ie}
-h
We Pr esha erste inact ol aly cdl nes
[pr Ss AS aire a hilar ee aN
w |
N
No
Peels hee |
i
a
Epil analog 4
Phacochoerus aethiopicus .
i Suidae, general
Hippopotamus amphibius ..........
Raphicerus melanotis ..............
Raphicerus campestris .:...........
Raphicerus spp......-..0+0+.e000e+
Oreotragus oreotragus .........+..+.
Pelea capreolus ..........0--+0+055
Redunca arundinum ...............
Redunca fulvorufula...............
Hippotragus spp........+-.0+-+0005
Damaliscus dorcas ..............+. _—
Connochaetes/Alcelaphus .......... 3
Taurotragus OrYX. 0.0... cece ee eee —
Syncerus caffer ....... ccc cece eee 6
OVS GIES ay scictete ie ests vate ib ins woe se 11
|
lelenwl] J
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ee ea eee Wee Seale das eva eee li ewpsievieredees vac
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FS
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STEM. oon ob masog dub eas po Bee 12
Lange MeGUm.... esse veces es 3
DAL DO teva) Weheponttarete sscuore ete riteares: 6
Leporidae gen. et sp............... 1
HK wWreeNH
4
Vas Clea resaletenl unloliomtatietllonss!'|) weset| ly Ay
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once li rollins
ER el | it ft
eral N+ Reece afi fool
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at
fh iy acest oF ogee? ex
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i ogt be Tak fal
Poe ole WN a oh |
Ss ees |
|
|
|
BO cco | stil pogo: Lo! “Msi,
NNNND
ePrPpRew
\rex cone en
Hystrix africae-australis ............ 1
Bathyergus suillus ............0.... 37
Total (excl. H. sapiens) ............ 90
ADD / ini ae. ra Sarge aiccabe 6 35
5 19 49 IZ 5; 4
3925) 1211
72 47 85 46 30 36
N@ODKP eee PP
|
|
we
Note. The table, with the exception of the totals and ADs, was compiled by R. G. Klein. Genus/family totals include individuals alréady listed under
species.
3)
31
30
2
17
60
2
18
32
24
53
| Sere ness
Wry
ANA
Wt
ONY WUNNHHEDWD
—
any
Pree taalarss cn Sk.
001
WAASAW NVOIdAV HLNOS AHL JO STVNNV
1 dONSNVUNSANAG
TOT
102 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
TABLE 16
Mammals: minimum numbers of individuals in adult and juvenile age groups, as represented by
fused/unfused epiphyses (see Appendix 1).
Adult Juvenile Indet. Total
ICLONVIGSULALUS ren ee ee 2 — = 2(0)
Melliv OnGNCGDERSISH anne na eee 1 — 1(1) XCD)
AON COPCNSISi, nin earns one ee if — 1 2(0)
Ja AADOUA VC MIEDWOR o0cc000000000¢008 y — 3(1) 5(1)
Jaks | QUUSGANAOWS 4 sab 95480bo0¢408 soos 3 1 6(2) 10(2)
RCLSHLIDY COS 5 on c-n ale san 024 OER Oe 1 — 8(3) 9(3)
HIN CIACAT ACO See ye nt a a tt 2 — 5 5(0)
ArclocepialusspusilitiSi nr ere eee 3 3(1) 9(6) 15(7)
[POCAVIG CADENSIST.. aoa ee a ee 4(2) 3(1) 11(6) 18(9)
Suidae—-penerall ea. oe ee — 1 22(10) 23(10)
IRADRICETUS SPDi ae nin Aen ce eee 47(10) 29(7) 20(4) 96(21)
DOU HADS OQNGOUAELS ogo050000006000¢ 3(1) 4(1) 3(1) 10(3)
Bovidae—small medium .............. 18(7) 10(4) 4 SZ (Gin)
SVS WHSCMONIN 6 02020 aacaas 19(9) 7(4) 40(37) 66(50)
Planes he eda be. cen ines eee 18(9) 5 28(9) 51(18)
Wepondae—ceneraliay tay ee 4(3) — 13(8) 17(11)
Fel SENEXAIICAC-AUSULGI IS pee ee — 1 4(2) 52)
IO OARGIS SULTS 5 cocacccvocec0secoes 75(11) 61(12) 38(9) 174(32)
MRO ballet cy oye este eee ae ha vey See ane 203(52) 125(30) 214(99) 542(181)
Note. Numbers in parentheses indicate the numbers of individuals in layers 10-19.
TABLE 17
Mammals: comparison of frequencies in size classes in upper and lower layer groups.
Layers: 1-9 10-19
no. % no. %
Very small Ictonyx, Herpestes, Atilax, Felis (libyca),
(<10 kg) Procavia, Leporidae, Bathyergus............. Wy 255) 59 27,4
Small Canis, Mellivora, Aonyx, Felis (caracal),
(10-25 kg) Raphicerus, Oreotragus, Hystrix ............. MQ) 2)! 33 Io3)
Small medium Papio, Hyaena, Panthera, Arctocephalus, Pota-
(25-100 kg) mochoerus/Suidae (excl. Phacochoerus), Pelea,
REGUNCACOVISIS ES Secsctciee ee CIR ee ee: SL ORe il 14,4
Large medium Equus (cf. quagga), Phacochoerus, Hippo-
(> 100 kg) tragus, Damaliscus, Connochaetes/Alcelaphus 17 4,4 63 ZN9).3)
Large Equus (cf. capensis), Taurotragus, Syncerus ... 33 Oro) 18 8,4
(>500 kg)
Very large Loxodonta, Diceros/Rhinocerotidae, Hippo-
> OLAIUS. si i ek ee ak eee ce eae eos) Cee : ;
(>1000kg) p 1? § 22:80). ty Baom
the smallest size class. It is perhaps worth noting that the ratio of identified
adults to juveniles is almost the same in the upper and lower layers: 1,6: 1 in
the lower layers, 1,7: 1 in the upper. There is thus less than a two per cent
increase in the relative frequency of identified juveniles in the upper layers.
The size classes for ‘Bovidae, general’ in Table 16 follow Brain (1974, table 2)
and these are the same as those used in Table 17, Ovis aries being included in
the small medium class on the basis of comparative modern data.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 103
oi “QL WT YW ize
Small medium
50-
40- dL
5 oy
30- a
20-
ayn
ix
Large medium
7
2 YY Died - :
10- 6
ce DD ee OY Porto tS TLL.
Very large
Layer eto MAS Ow Wa Onn so a tOn ail 12) Se J4e5; 6 17 18, 19
Fig. 39. Histograms of percentage frequencies, by layer, of mammal size classes. Hatched areas
indicate bovids, unhatched areas other mammals. Numbers above each column are actual
frequencies.
Arctocephalus pusillus has also been included in the small medium size
class although only three of the fifteen individuals have been identified as
juveniles. The assumption that few, if any, fully-grown individuals are repre-
sented is subjective but receives some tenuous support from the data from
Elands Bay Cave (Parkington 1972: 239-241; 1976, figs 3-4, 8). In any event,
since frequencies in the upper and lower layers are about the same (8:7), the
range of error for each group may also be about the same.
104 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
The most notable difference between the upper and lower layers is in the
large medium size class, which drops from 29,3 per cent of the layer group total
in the lower layers to 4,4 per cent in the upper. Making allowance for the fact
that both Equus species are now extinct and that Hippotragus and Conno-
chaetes/ Alcelaphus have not been identified as to species, the animals in this
size class may be described broadly as gregarious grazers with a preference for
open or lightly wooded grassland (Dorst & Dandelot 1972: 159-165, 174,
204-205, 221-222, 227-228, 230-232 for comparable species, where applicable).
Equus cf. capensis, Phacochoerus aethiopicus, and Damaliscus dorcas are
restricted to the lower layers, Equus cf. quagga is not present after layer 9, and,
although Hippotragus spp. and Connochaetes/Alcelaphus are present in the
upper layers, their frequencies are markedly reduced by comparison with the
lower layers (Table 15).
There is no significant change in the relative frequency of the large size
class, but that of the very large size class is reduced in the upper layers to about
55 per cent of the relative frequency in the lower layers, even though the actual
counts are the same. There is no significant change in the relative frequencies
of the small medium class (a 7% reduction in the upper layers) but, whereas
the combined frequency of the small and very small size classes in the lower
layers is 42,7 per cent of the total for these layers, in the upper layers the very
small size class alone accounts for 45,5 per cent of the total and the two size
classes combined make up 70,9 per cent.
The indications are, then, that in the upper layers there was a marked shift
away from the procurement patterns of the lower layers, with more animals in
the smaller size classes and fewer in the larger being obtained in the upper
layers than was the case in the lower. An approximate calculation of the total
live mass of the individuals, excluding the very large size class, suggests that
there was a marked reduction in the total mass procured in the upper layers,
especially when comparisons are made on an AD basis. The estimated total live
mass for the upper layers, 31 972 kg, is only about 10 per cent higher than that
for the lower layers, 29 154 kg, but the AD for layers 9-1 is 3 625 while that for
layers 19-10 is 4 827, 33 per cent higher than the AD for the upper layers.
Allowance should also be made for a higher proportion of inedible residue in
small animals than in large, relative to their total mass.
Although no great confidence can be attached to such calculations, based
as they are on approximations and imponderables, they do allow the suggestion
that the increase in the number of animals procured during the second half of
the occupation of the cave was not sufficient to provide the same amount of
meat as had been procured during the first half.
Although most of the layer totals are so small as to make it of dubious
value to convert them to percentage frequencies, especially when they are
divided among the six size classes, to do so can have some use in indicating
change on a smaller scale than the bipartite division into lower and upper
layers. Figure 39 presents in histogram form the percentage frequencies of each
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 105
of the six size classes in the individual layers and, while this shows that there is
some justification for the bipartite division, it also shows that there are
variations that transcend this division. As is general in this report, however, the
emphasis is on the study of trends rather than of layer-by-layer variation.
In the very small size class two major trends are discernible, a decline in
relative frequencies from layer 19 to layer 10 and an increase in the overlying
layers, at least up to layer 4. The decline in layer 3, followed by increases in
layers 2 and 1, is not easy to interpret on the basis of the mammalian fauna
alone. It may in some way be related to the marked increase in the frequency
of marine shell in this layer, which is discussed in the following section.
The small size class shows a generally increasing trend from layer 19 to
layer 5, followed by relatively similar frequencies in layers 4-2 and a decline in
layer 1.
The pattern of variation in the small medium size class is more complex
than those of the two preceding size classes. It is possibly most simply
interpreted as showing lower relative frequencies in layers 19-15 than in layers
14-10, an erratically declining trend in layers 9-5 and an increasing trend in
layers 4-1.
The large medium size class also varies erratically in the lower layers but
the trends may be interpreted broadly as increasing to layer 13 then decreasing
to layer 8, after which frequencies are stable but low. The cyclic trend in layers
19-9 is a factor that would have been overlooked had the simple bipartite
division been the only method of comparing the content of the layers.
The large size class, which consists entirely of bovids, shows a mildly
declining trend in layers 19-13, an increasing trend to layer 9 and thereafter
minor fluctuations to the end of the sequence.
The very large size class has very low frequencies, both actual and relative,
and such fluctuations as are evident in Figure 39 are not considered significant.
Perhaps the most important trends are the increase in the relative fre-
quency of large medium animals up to layer 13, that is, until the early
Holocene, after which they decline until by layer 9, some 6 000 years ago, they
are no longer an important factor. The consistent increase in the relative
frequency of small animals is one that transcends the bipartite division. This
and the declining trend in the very small size class up to layer 10 serve to warn
against perhaps too simplistic interpretations based on broad groups of layers.
The ratio of bovids to other animals is equal in layer 19, higher in layers
18, 14-9, and 7 but lower in layers 17-15, 8, and 6-1. This indicates that there
was only one main period, from about 10 000-6 000 B.p., when bovids were
more common than all other animals brought back to the site. With the
exception of Oreotragus oreotragus and Taurotragus oryx, which are browsers,
and Raphicerus spp. and Redunca fulvorufula, which are mixed grazers—brow-
sers, the bulk of the indigenous bovids are primarily grazers (Dorst & Dandelot
1972). Including the equids, there are more grazers in layers 19-9 than
browsers or mixed feeders, except in layer 16, in which the ratio is equal,
106 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
as is the case in layer 8. In layers 7-1 there are more browsers and mixed
feeders than grazers.
SHELLFISH
Remains of close on 25 000 identifiable individual shellfish were recovered.
As the inventory in Table 18 indicates, shell was recovered from every layer,
but the increase in frequency from layer 9 up is in the range of at least one
order of magnitude. As is usual in this report, the marked difference in the
frequencies of the lower and upper layers causes them to be treated as separate
units, with the major emphasis inevitably given to the upper layers. In the case
of the shellfish, layers 9-1 contain 98,6 per cent of the total of identifiable
individuals.
As mentioned in the discussion of the stratigraphy, layer 3 is virtually a
shell midden deposit and was, by virtue of the high density of shell, one of the
few clearly definable stratigraphic units. The AD of 12 120 for this layer is
more than three times that for layer 2, which has the next highest AD, and ten
times that for layer 9. Apart from the anomaly of layer 3, however, the ADs
given in Table 18 indicate a gradual increase in the frequency of shell through-
out the deposit.
The numerical frequencies given in Table 18 represent the minimum
numbers of identifiable individuals. The bulk of the shell is fragmented and
counts were based on diagnostic features such as head or tail valves for
Dinoplax gigas, umbones for bivalves, and apices for gastropods, as well as
opercula in the case of Turbo spp. Where there was more than one diagnostic
part, counts were based on the higher frequency of either part.
In several cases counts were made only at genus level, either because of
difficulty of identification at species level, or because some genera are repre-
sented by a principal species, with only few individuals of other species. The
principal Haliotis species is H. midae, and difficulty was experienced in identify-
ing some of the smaller individuals, which may be either H. (sanguineum)
spadicea or immature H. midae. The Patella species are detailed in Table 19
and are discussed later in this section. At least two species of Burnupena could
be identified, B. delalandii and B. (papyracea) cincta, but identification of most
individuals was not possible at species level due to poor preservation. Because
of fragmentation or loss of specific diagnostic features, about three per cent of
the mussels, Choromytilus meridionalis and Perna perna, and about five per
cent of the limpets, Patella spp. could not be identified at genus and species
level respectively.
Turbo sarmaticus, with 31,4 per cent of the site total, is the most com-
monly represented shellfish at the site and, except for layer 3, dominant in all
the upper layers. As indicated in Figure 40, there is a clear secular trend, with
frequencies increasing in layers 9-7, then decreasing to layer 3. This is comp-
lemented by a reverse trend in the frequencies of Oxystele sinensis which
decrease in layers 9-7 then increase to layer 3 in which the frequency, 38,8 per
107
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
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114 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
and 1. Layer 3 again has the lowest mean of all the layer samples though this is
still somewhat higher than that for the larger modern population.
P. longicosta is in general the only species with individual layer samples
that are large enough to be statistically reliable. The mean length in layers 9-5
is closer to that of the larger modern population but in layers 4-1 it is
intermediate between this and the mean for the total modern population. The
mean length declines in layers 8-3 but increases again in layers 2 and 1, and it is
again layer 3 that has the lowest mean of all the layers.
P. oculus has mean lengths greater than those of the modern population.
These show a gradually declining trend in layers 8—2 while the mean length for
layer 1 is the same as that for layer 3. This species, lik P. argenvillei, has the
lowest mean in layer 2 rather than in layer 3.
Branch’s population data indicate that almost 70 per cent of the P. coch-
lear population is less than 30 mm long. The P. granatina population distribu-
tion, on the other hand, is bimodal, with a distinct falling-off in frequency
between about 35-55 mm. About 58 per cent of the population is smaller than
35 mm and about 32 per cent larger than 55 mm. In the case of P. longicosta
almost half the population is less than 20 mm long and only 25 per cent is
longer than 50 mm. Less than 15 per cent of the P. oculus population is less
than 30 mm long and just over 60 per cent is in the 40-60 mm range.
The indications of the BNK 1 samples are, therefore, that collecting was
generally directed at the larger-sized individuals, although in the case of
P. cochlear it appears that, except in layers 2 and 1, it was the whole
population that was being exploited. That layer 3, which has the highest
relative frequency of shell, also has the lowest mean lengths for three of the five
species may be indicative of heavy human predation, although the low frequen-
cies of all the species except P. longicosta suggest that such an inference be
treated with caution.
Unless preservation factors are involved, the virtual absence of individuals
under 20 mm long can probably be explained by their being too small to be
worth the effort of collecting. Moreover, Branch (1971) points out that the
juveniles of several species make their homes on the shells of larger individuals
of the same or other species, also on Oxystele sinensis or Pyura (red-bait). The
small individuals drop off almost immediately if the host is inverted. A
probable explanation of the scarcity of the largest individuals is that they are
comparatively scarce in the population structure (cf. Branch 19745, figs 13-17).
In many cases, too, the larger individuals tend to occupy zones of deeper water,
though this is species-dependent (Branch 1971). In this connection, it is worth
noting that the species most common in the BNK 1 samples, P. granatina,
P. longicosta, and P. oculus, are those that occupy the higher littoral zones
(Branch 1971, figs 3-4). The virtual absence of P. granularis, described by
Branch 1971: 7) as ‘probably the most widespread as regards vertical and
horizontal distribution’, can possibly be explained by the fact that the bulk of
the modern population is less than 30 mm long (Branch 19745, fig. 15) and
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 138)
might not have been worth the effort of collecting in an area in which larger
individuals of other species were readily available. The bulk of the P. cochlear
population is, however, also mostly under 30 mm long and is much less
accessible than P. granularis, which occupies the highest littoral zone of all the
Patella species (Branch 1971, figs 3-4).
Branch (19746: 182) names P. longicosta as one of several Patella species
in which the size decreases as the mean sea temperature increases. Given the
relatively long period of time, almost 2 500 years, spanned by layers 8-3, it is
possible that the decreasing length of this species in these layers may reflect a
gradually increasing sea temperature rather than the effects of human preda-
tion. On the other hand, in layers 6-4 the minimum length of the samples
measured increases while the maximum length remains constant. This appears
contrary to any indication that the overall length of the population was, for
whatever reason, diminishing.
Stephenson (1944: 316) and Branch (1971: 11) describe P. oculus as the
warm-water ecological counterpart of P. granatina, which has the eastern limit
of its habitat in the Agulhas region. Although the P. granatina frequencies in
the BNK 1 samples are variable, up to layer 4 they are consistently higher than
those of P. oculus, which then becomes the more common species (Fig. 41,
Table 19). If the decreasing mean length of P. longicosta in layers 8-3 is taken
as indicative of an increasing sea temperature, the increasing frequencies in
layers 9-5 of P. granatina, which has a preference for cold water, cannot be
taken to indicate a decreasing sea temperature during the same period. It may,
however, be of some relevance that the P. granatina: P. oculus ratio drops
from about 4,4: 1 in layer 7 to 1:2 in layer 3 and the decline continues in layers
2 and 1. However, although the relative frequencies of these two species do
show an inversion, and the frequency of P. oculus also increases constantly in
layers 7-1 relative to all other species (Fig. 41), the mean and maximum
lengths show a more or less constant decline in layers 8-2 (Fig. 42), whereas in
an increasing sea temperature they should be expected to increase.
It would seem, then, that the data derived from the measurement of the
length of the BNK 1 Patella samples do not lend themselves to the extrapola-
tion of inferences regarding past changes in sea temperatures. This is not
surprising, considering the number of variables involved, of which perhaps one
of the most important is the probable collecting area. There is an upwelling of
cold water at Danger Point (Branch 1979 pers. comm.) and changes in the
littoral ecology could result from shifts in the flow of this water without it being
necessary to invoke an overall change in mean sea temperature. Branch (1979
pers. comm.) has pointed out that a localized predominance of P. longicosta or
P. granatina is a common occurrence on the False Bay coast, depending on
where there are up-wellings of cold water.
Layer 3, with the highest AD of all the layers, for Patella as well as other
genera, generally has the smallest sizes of all the Patella species other than
P. argenvillei and P. oculus, for which the lowest means and maxima are in
116 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
layer 2. By contrast, layer 1, which shares with layer 9 the lowest AD for
Patella, tends to have higher means and ranges for most of the species. While it
might be expected that more intensive predation, as indicated by the layer 3
frequencies, would result in a lowering of the mean size of the shellfish
collected, less intensive predation, as suggested by the layer 1 frequencies,
could be expected to result in greater selectivity, with fewer small individuals
but, except for P. cochlear, this does not seem to have been the case. A
possible interpretation is that predation was as intensive as in layer 3 times but
with more, and possibly smaller, human groups competing for the same set of
resources. This could have had the effect of fewer Patella being brought back to
BNK 1 but these covering a wider, less selective, range of sizes.
In addition to the fact that the layer frequencies of the five Patella species
are, apart from P. longicosta, too low to provide reliable data, it is felt that the
chronology of the upper layers is too extended and contains an insufficient
number of dates for any indications of changes in shell length to be capable of
being interpreted as evidence of the effects of human predation. The life-span
of the Patella species ranges from 2 to 3 years for P. oculus to 15 to 25 years for
P. cochlear (Branch 19745, table 3). The upper layers of BNK 1 span some
6 000 years, of which about half is covered by layer 1 alone, and even the span
of 200 years or so between the oldest date for layer 1 and that for layer 2 covers
from several to many lifetimes of the various species.
It must be concluded, therefore, that although the shellfish remains from
BNK 1 provide evidence of an increasing reliance on this food resource, from
at least layer 9 on the layer samples, together with their chronology, do not
lend themselves to the extrapolation of inferences regarding changes in sea
temperatures or the effects of human predation on shellfish populations.
FISH
Fish remains were recovered from all layers except 16 and 18. These were
identified by C. E. Poggenpoel and are listed in Table 20.
As indicated in the inventory, there is a marked increase in frequencies
from layer 9 up, although these are still low. The ADs indicate rather more
clearly than the actual frequencies the progressive increase up to layer 5, after
which frequencies decline. It is of interest to note that there is an approximate
correlation between the number of genera and the number of individuals, with
an increase in the number of individuals corresponding with an increase in the
number of genera.
Pachymetopon blochii, with 37,4 per cent of the site total, is the most
commonly represented fish, followed by the combined totals for Lithognathus
spp. (16,5%) and Rhabdosargus globiceps (15,8%). Pachymetopon blochii
generally lives among kelp (Ecklonia maxima, Laminaria pallida) growing in
deeper water off rocky shores, while the other two genera favour sandy areas
and may be found off estuaries.
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118 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Local informants (M. & J. Kemp 1979 pers. comm.) have advised that
there are areas between Die Kelders and Pearly Beach where certain genera
are more commonly caught. Apparently this does not depend on a simple
distinction between rocky shore and sandy beach, and may also have to do with
off-shore currents and localized up-wellings of cold water. Pachymetopon
blochii is more common on the Walker Bay coast between Die Kelders and
Danger Point, Diplodus sargus at Die Kelders, Coracinus capensis, Argyroso-
mus hololepidotus and Lithognathus spp. at Die Gruis, a rocky outcrop fronting
a sandy shore between Uilkraalsmond and Pearly Beach, while Mugilidae are
best caught at Romansbaai between Gansbaai and Danger Point, and at
Uilkraalsmond, which is also a favourable locality for Argyrosomus hololepido-
tus and Lithognathus spp.
From measurements of dentaries, Poggenpoel (1979, fig. 8) has extra-
polated the lengths of thirty Rhabdosargus globiceps in the BNK 1 sample.
Poggenpoel’s calculations show that the range of this sample, 170-380 mm,
exceeds that of the numerically larger sample from Elands Bay Cave
(150-330 mm) as well as those of four modern marine samples (130-350 mm),
and is far greater than those of four samples from estuarine environments
(25-150 mm). The BNK 1 size range indicates that the fish were taken from the
open sea rather than from the Uilkraals estuary, but the maximum length of the
sample is well below the largest recorded size of approximately 510 mm (Smith
& Smith 1949: 47).
ROCK LOBSTER
Remains of the rock lobster Jasus lalandii were not recovered from the
deposits, nor were they recorded from Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979). They are
to be found in the area today although they are extremely scarce, except in
Gansbaai harbour, as the result of excessive human predation. The possibility
of a preservation factor cannot be excluded, although this is unlikely to have
been the case at Die Kelders as well as at BNK 1, and the remains are
preserved in open midden sites.
BIRDS
Bird remains from the site are being analysed by G. Avery, but the
analysis is not yet complete and will doubtless be published elsewhere.
REPTILES
Tortoise counts based on humeri were undertaken by L. Lawrence. The
frequencies given in Table 21 represent the minimum numbers of individuals in
each layer, based on the higher humerus count, whether left or right. Two
species were recognized, the land tortoise Chersina angulata, and the water
tortoise Pelomedusa subrufa, both of which are common in the area today.
A remarkable feature of the deposit was the dense concentration of
tortoise remains in layer 14. Like the dense concentration of marine shell in
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 119
TABLE 21
Reptiles: inventory of species.
Tortoise Snake* Lizard*
Layer Chersina Pelomedusa AD/m? Pseudaspis Bitis indet. Cordylus Agama
angulata subrufa (both spp.) cana arietans cordylus atra (?)
1 261 21 108 5 1 4 — —
2 52 5 100 10 1 1 — —
3 62 6 272 1 2 — — —
4 65 6 78 1(+) — 2 — 1
5 184 10 156 5(+) — 1 5 —
6 150 g 189 4 — 1 — —
7 57 3 74 1 — — — —
8 52 3 95 1 — 1 — —
9 168 8 168 1 — 1 — —
10 82 5 155 1 — — — —
11 45 1 164 1 — — — —
12 136 5 252 1 — — — —
13 65 2 149 1 — — — —
14 234 6 304 — — — — —
15 61 — 102 — — — — —
16 63 — 102 — — — — —
17) 32 1 58 — — — — —
18 30 2 49 — — oo 1 —
19 75 4 81 — — — — —
Total 1 874 92 33(+) 4 11 6 1
* Snake and lizard frequencies based on counts from 1974 excavation only.
layer 3, the tortoise remains in layer 14 made it one of the few clearly
identifiable stratigraphic units in the deposit and in the 1976 excavation these
were removed as a separate sub-unit of layer 14. The concentration is
apparently a mound or lens for, although it was found throughout the exca-
vated area, it begins to thin out in square O 30 and probably ends in row 31 or
32. In squares O 29 and O 30, from which the tortoise ‘midden’ was excavated
as a separate sub-unit, the AD is 430 as against 304 for the layer as a whole.
Although the layer AD is not markedly higher than those for layers 12 or 3, it
is still clear that layer 14 does contain a very high frequency of tortoise remains.
Although tortoise remains are too common in southern African archaeolo-
gical deposits for their presence at BNK 1 to warrant much comment, the
‘midden’ in layer 14 does call for some discussion.
In addition to the high frequency of tortoise, layer 14 contains a high
number of mammal taxa (Table 15): 21 for a total of 29 individuals, as against
10 taxa for 18 individuals in layer 15 and 15 taxa for 24 individuals in layer 13.
R. Rau (1979 pers. comm.) has suggested that an abundance of tortoises is
more likely to be indicative of dry conditions than wet. The dense concentra-
tion of tortoise remains in layer 14, coupled with the apparent diversification of
mammal predation suggested by the high number of taxa that mostly contain
only one individual, may be indicative of a period of environmental stress. This
is difficult to substantiate, particularly when the relatively high frequency of
large medium (grazing) bovids in this layer is taken into account. These are
animals that would probably have moved out of the area in a time of drought,
although the river area may have provided a refuge. It must also be borne in
mind that layer 14 is a composite unit with a depositional history of unknown
120 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
length and the tortoise ‘midden’ is probably a single phase representing an
accumulation during one year.
Although the total of tortoise remains in the upper layers is some 28 per
cent higher than that in the lower layers, the actual frequencies as well as the
ADs do not indicate a pattern of increase through time. Layers 19-17 have
lower ADs than most of the overlying layers and those for layers 14-9 are
consistently high but in the rest of the upper layers they fluctuate from layer to
layer.
Snake remains from the 1974 excavation were identified by G. A. McLach-
lan. Counts were based mainly on jaws and the fact that these are mostly
fragmented accounts for the uncertainty as to the actual numbers of individuals
in layers 4 and 5, which are probably higher than the totals given in Table 21.
The molesnake Pseudaspis cana is a large non-poisonous snake common in
the BNK area today and although it is very fast-moving its lack of venom
possibly accounts for its being more common in the deposits than the other
identified species, the puff-adder Bitis arietans arietans. However, Visser
(1979: 9) describes the molesnake as ‘a vicious snake, biting fiercely and
capable of inflicting serious wounds’. The puff-adder is extremely venomous
and possibly even more dangerous because its deliberate movements create a
false impression of sluggishness (Visser & Chapman 1978: 35).
That snake remains occur in the BNK 1 deposits only from layer 13 up may
be of some significance, indicating yet another aspect of the changing pattern of
resource exploitation from that of the lower layers to that of the upper. It may
also be part of this changing pattern that resulted in layers 14-9 having
consistently high frequencies of tortoise and provides a further instance of the
arbitrariness of the division of the deposit into lower and upper layer groups
because of the generally higher frequencies of most components of the artefacts
and fauna in the upper layers.
The two species of lizard occur so infrequently that beyond recording their
presence and observing that this need not be related to human activity in the
cave, no further comment seems necessary.
MICROMAMMALS: PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL INTERPRETATION
The micromammalian fauna from BNK 1 were analysed by D. M. Avery
(1979: 123-127, 174-177, 197-199). Modern comparative samples were col-
lected from the overhang below BNK 1, designated BNK 2 by Avery (Fig. 2
herein), and from an owl roost near Stanford (Fig. 1 herein).
On the basis of her analysis Avery was able to divide the BNK 1 deposits
into three major palaeoenvironmental units. The data are summarized in her
table 26, reproduced here as Table 22 with minor amendments to the radio-
carbon dates and omitting the ‘cultural units’. Microfauna from the 1976
excavation were not studied by Avery and the dates from the upper sub-units of
layer 1 are thus strictly not applicable, so have been omitted from Table 22.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 WAI
TABLE 22
Palaeoenvironmental interpretation of BNK 1 sequence, based on analysis of
micromammalian fauna (after D. M. Avery 1979, table 26).
Dates B.P. Layer Vegetation General
1880+50 1 (lower) | UNIT 1 mildest
to
3 220+45 intermediate; as unit 3 but more scrub mild
3 400+55 2 and less restioid vegetation on hills
UNIT 2
3 900+ 60 >) extensive (more open ?) grass on flats; | warmer
6 rather less restioid/‘grassy’ vegetation on
7 hills and more scrub; less dense vege- moderate
8 tation near river and on lower slopes.
6370+90 9 (upper) | (relatively dry ?) harsh
6100+140 9 (lower)
6 540+ 55 10 —_—_—_—_—— changing a -
11 UNIT 3 mild
7 750+90 12 extensive dense vegetation near river and mildest
13 on lower hill slopes; extensive (more rather
9 760+85 14 closed ?) grass on flats with pans and | general harsher
155 some low scrub; restioid/‘grassy’ (and | increase in | moderate
16 proteoid ?) element on hillsides (peak | temperature
My restioid element in layer 13) harsh
ISOS 19 (relatively wet ?) cooler moderate
Perhaps the most immediately important aspect of Avery’s study has been
her recognition of a relatively marked change in the vegetation, from that of
Unit 3 to that of Unit 2, at around 6 500 B.p. As the analyses of the artefactual
and other non-artefactual components of the deposit indicate, it is at about this
time that the continuum of change appears to undergo a marked fluctuation.
That the division into lower and upper layer groups at layer 9 is somewhat
arbitrary has been stressed elsewhere in this report. The division is nowhere
precise and it is probably closer to the truth to suggest that the period during
the deposition of layers 14-9, from about 9 800—6 100 B.P., was one of greater
flux in the ecology of the human occupants of the cave than the preceding or
succeeding periods, possibly because of greater environmental change. It is to
be expected that the suggested changes in the environment were not all
simultaneous and instantaneous and that their impact would therefore be
reflected in different ways and at different times in the cave deposits.
The changes in the composition of the micromammalian fauna in Avery’s
sample that led her to separate layers 2 and 1 into a discrete vegetation unit
covering the period from about 3 400 B.p. until the final occupation of the cave,
are apparently not reflected in the artefactual and other faunal material. Such
changes as there are appear to take place in layers 4 and 3 and are of a lesser
nature than those in layers 14-9.
122 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
The suggestion, queried by Avery herself, that the grassland of Unit 3 was
more closed than that of Unit 2, contrasts with the evidence of the larger
mammals (Table 15). It is in the lower layers that Hippotragus sp. and
Connochaetes/Alcelaphus are more common; Damaliscus dorcas is not present
in the deposits after layer 11 and Equus cf. quagga after layer 9. These animals
may be characterized as gregarious grazers with a preference for open or lightly
wooded grassland, an environment that differs from Avery’s suggestion of
‘extensive (? more closed) grassland on the flats’. There is, of course, the
problem of habitats: those of the grazers need not have been the same as those
of the micromammals that formed the prey of the raptorial birds and thus
found their way into the deposit—some of them, at least. It has been suggested
elsewhere in this report that the coastal plain between BNK and the sea was
possibly never an area of grasslands owing to the unsuitability of the soil and
that a more likely locality for extensive grasslands would have been on the
shale soils to the east and north-east of the site. G. A. McLachlan (1980 pers.
comm.) has advised that most owls are intensely territorial and are not likely to
range over a radius of more than a couple of kilometres in search of their prey.
This would bring them to the edge of the shale areas. It must be borne in mind,
however, that the BNK area is a mosaic of contrasting environments that
provide habitats for a varying range of plants and animals, and the habitats of
micromammals are relatively small.
Avery’s general climatic inferences for unit 3, indicating relatively moder-
ate to the mildest climatic conditions, except for the layer 13 period, may
provide support for the previously mentioned suggestion that the relative
paucity of artefacts in the lower layers may point to less intensive occupation of
the cave during the earlier periods of its use by humans consequent on a milder
climate being more conducive to life in the open. Against this must be placed
Avery’s tentative suggestion that it might have been relatively wet during this
period while during the period of Unit 2, when the cave appears to have been
most intensively occupied, Avery has suggested that it might have been
relatively dry. It would seem, however, that warmer and wetter conditions in
the Unit 3 period would have been more favourable for the development of
forests than of grasslands.
A point that cannot be overlooked is that two different selective agencies
contributed to the depositional process, man and the raptorial birds, the
predatory behaviour of each of which would sample different aspects of the
same ecosystem. This may to some extent explain some of the differences of
observation and interpretation.
PLANT REMAINS
A large quantity of plant remains was recovered from the deposits but for
want of a competent analyst most of it remains unsorted. The bulk of the
material is carbonized wood, which might be useful for deriving inferences
about environmental change, as has been done with material from Boomplaas
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 Ds
(H. J. Deacon 1979: 252-3). Other material such as seeds and corm cases of
geophytes could provide information about the vegetable component of the diet
of the prehistoric human inhabitants of the cave.
A certain amount of plant material remained with the non-organic and
other organic material after this had been washed. It has been analysed by
L. Horwitz and is listed in Table 23. Quantification has not been attempted
since the sample analysed is only a small portion of the total.
A problem in the analysis of plant remains from archaeological deposits is
to ascertain what proportion of the total was brought to the site by its human
occupants. The presence of three solution cavities or ‘chimneys’ in the roof of
the cave has undoubtedly been a contributory factor, and others are wind,
birds, bats, and a variety of quadrupeds as well as man.
Proteaceae grow above the cave and Sideroxylon inerme in front of it and
these might have been introduced by wind action although the woody parts
could have been used for firewood. The seeds of the exotic Acacia cyclops
found in layer 1 are probably the contribution of birds or rodents since this
plant is not yet found in the immediate vicinity of the cave or above it, although
it grows on the lower slopes of the hill and there are extensive stands of it in the
river valley and on the coastal plain (cf. Figs 2, 4).
Restio spp. and Willdenovia argentea are also components of the fynbos
above the cave and natural agencies could also account for their presence in the
deposits. Some of the Restio stalks are charred and they might have been
brought into the cave for fire-making or for bedding.
Three species of Diospyros are indigenous to the area, D. dichrophylla, D.
glabra and D. whyteana (Coates Palgrave 1977: 745-746, 753-754). The fruit of
D. dichrophylla is said to be poisonous: a common name is ‘poison-peach’. No
information is given regarding the fruit of D. glabra (cf. Smith 1966: 116) and
despite one of the common names of D. whyteana being ‘Hottentot’s cherry’
(Smith 1966: 252) information regarding the edibility of this fruit is not given.
Euclea racemosa is apparently the only species of Euclea indigenous to the area
(Jordaan 1946: 52, Coates Palgrave 1977: 739) but again there is no mention as
to the edibility of the fruit. Members of the genus Euclea are commonly known
as ‘guarri’ or ‘ghwarrie’ and the most widespread species, E. undulata, has
edible fruits. Extracts of the bark, leaves and roots of this and other species are
used for medicinal purposes (Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk 1962: 391, Smith
1966: 238-9, Coates Palgrave 1977: 741) but according to Coates Palgrave the
distribution of E. undulata does not extend west of the Breede River area, at
the eastern end of the Agulhas region (Fig. 1). The question of the introduction
of the fruits of the Ebenaceae thus remains unanswered.
The fruit of Sideroxylon inerme are said to be edible (Smith 1966: 336) but
their abundance on the trees in the BNK area and in the Cape Peninsula
suggests that either this fact is not well known or that the taste is not suited to
modern palates. The presence of the trees at the mouth of the cave could be a
contributory factor to the presence of the seeds in the deposit without requiring
the aid of man.
ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
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BYNESKRANSKOP 1 125
There can be no question, however, that the presence of Ecklonia maxima
and Zostera capensis is the result of human agency, but their function is
problematic. There are, as far as is known, no early ethnographic records of the
use of kelp (E. maxima) by the Khoisan for either food or medicinal purposes.
Budack (1977: 37) reports, however, on the modern use by the Topnaar
Hottentots of South West Africa of powdered EF. maxima and Laminaria
schinzii on wounds, noting that both are rich in iodine. In the entry for 6 March
1654 in the Journal of Jan van Riebeeck there is a reference to the use by the
Hottentots of ‘trombas’ for the storage of train-oil rendered from the blubber
of a dead whale (Moodie 1838: 46, Van Riebeeck 1651-5: 205, Thom ed.
1952: 218). “Irombas’ (trumpets) is the old Portuguese name for E. maxima.
The long, hollow and distally swollen stipe could also have been used for
carrying water, and a modern use as a ‘pressure-cooker’ for cooking Haliotis
midae in the coals of a barbecue pit (A. E. Louw 1980 pers. comm.) could
possibly represent the continuation into modern times of a tradition derived
from the Khoisan. C. E. Labuschagne (1980 pers. comm.) has advised that the
sliced stipes of E. maxima make a palatable if glutinous foodstuff when boiled
and can be used as a thickener for stews. Such a use would require a cooking
vessel, but it cannot be assumed that the recovery of remains of E. maxima
only from layer 1 is related to the introduction of pottery into the area as
preservation factors may also be involved. In the collection from Rooiels Cave
near Cape Hangklip which was excavated in 1921-2 by A. D. Divine (South
African Museum collection AA4029-80) is a knotted piece of kelp stipe.
Although intrinsically interesting this artefact throws little light on the possible
uses of this marine plant.
The estuarine grass Zostera capensis is present in small quantities, and
probably in more of the layers than indicated in Table 23. It occurs in shreds or
small wads not more than about 5 x 5 x 0,5 cm greatest dimension and never in
quantities sufficient to indicate its having been used as a bedding material. Such
a use was suggested by the presence of apparently larger quantities at Oak-
hurst, Glentyre and Matjes River (Sampson 1974: 308; cf. Goodwin 1938: 236,
238 re Oakhurst). There are no known records, early or modern, of the use of
this plant for food or medicine and its presence in the BNK 1 deposits in such
small quantities cannot be satisfactorily explained.
The waxberry Myrica cordifolia is a shrub of the coastal dunes rather than
of the coastal plain. Its wax-covered berries are eaten by starlings (Sturni-
idae—P. Fairall 1980 pers. comm.) which nest in and near BNK 1 and could
therefore be considered as possible contributors of the seeds. Thunberg
(1795: 167), observing that the wax was removed by boiling the berries,
commented that ‘the farmers use it for candles, but the Hottentots eat it like a
piece of bread, either with or without meat’. The berries contain, inter alia, an
unsaturated oil (Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk 1962: 785) and the fruit may thus
have had a dietary value beyond that of just the wax. Coates Palgrave
(1977: 95) mentions that the ‘wax’ coating of M. serrata is, in fact, not a wax
but a true fat rich in unsaturates; and the same may be true of M. cordifolia.
126 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
All the other plants listed in Table 23 that have not already been discussed
have edible fruits or, in the case of the Iridaceae, corms. It seems probable that
the Iridaceae were brought to the site by primates, baboons if not man. Not all
species of Moraea are edible (Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk 1962: 505 ff., Smith
1966: 470) but it may be assumed that the species present in the BNK 1 sample
are edible as there is no record of the toxic substances in the inedible species
having been used as a poison by the Khoisan. A limited survey of the area in
the vicinity of the cave showed that Iridaceae are common but not abundant on
the Table Mountain Sandstone hill slopes adjacent to BNK. Three genera could
be identified in the field: Chasmanthe (cf. aethiopica: Maytham Kidd
1973: 19.5), Gladiolus (cf. alatus: Maytham Kidd 1973: 59.1), and Aristaea (cf.
macrocarpa: Maytham Kidd 1973: 79.2). Melasphaerula ramosa (Maytham
Kidd 1973: 62.7) grows on rocky outcrops in the shade of the trees in front of
the cave.
All the berry-bearing plants listed in Table 23 are to be found in the
vicinity of the cave and there are others with hard seeds, such as Carissa
bispinosa and Olea capensis that grow near the cave but have not been
identified in the samples. Rhus glauca, of which only leaves are present in layer
1, has edible drupes (Smith 1966: 308). Smith also records that several species
of Rhus (korentebos) have ‘strong resilient branches which were formerly used
by Bushmen and Hottentots for making their bows’.
An unusual feature was the recovery from layer 15 of sixteen well-
preserved seed skins of a member of the family Cucurbitaceae. As indicated in
Figure 43, these all show marks of having been gnawed. T. Arnold (in litt. 7
November 1980) has advised that the seed skins have been identified as being
from a species of Citrullus, all the modern cultivars of which are presently
referred to C. lJanatus. Arnold is of the opinion that the skins cannot be
contemporary with the deposit in layer 15 and points out that microscopic
examination of the skins indicates that they have been gnawed by a rodent to
£
%
rp
ee
us
cm
Fig. 43. Cucurbit (Citrullus sp.) seed skins from layer 15 showing evidence of having been
gnawed by rodents.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 127
obtain the endosperm. It would seem advisable in the circumstances to regard
these seed skins as intrusive into layer 15.
Although the plant remains represented in Table 23 may be considered a
random sample in that they represent non-deliberate remnants in the excavated
material after it had been washed, because the sample is small in relation to the
total amount of plant remains present in the deposit, it is not appropriate here
to attempt to derive any environmental or human ecological inferences from
the remains studied, save on a very general level.
Coates Palgrave (1977: 722) describes Sideroxylon inerme as ‘almost
always a tree of coastal woodland and littoral forest’ and evidence of its
presence from at least layer 17 up suggests that there has been no major
environmental change in the last 10 000 years or so that has affected the tree’s
viability in the area.
One of the common names for Nylandtia (Mundia) spinosa is ‘duinebessie’
(dune berry: Smith 1966: 205) and the presence of the seeds of this plant, also
from layer 17 up, attests to the relatively unchanged sandy nature of the coastal
plain. It should be mentioned, however, that while N. spinosa is abundant on
the coastal plain and in the river valley, it generally grows. there as a small
shrub up to 1 m in height, while on the limestone ridge of BNK, where it forms
a not insignificant part of the fynbos, it grows to a height of over 2 m.
Euclea racemosa is another plant of the coastal zone, found as a shrub in
the sandy soil but growing to tree height (6 m) in coastal forests (Jordaan
1946: 52, Coates Palgrave 1977: 739).
Chrysanthemoides monilifera is adapted to a wide range of habitats, from
coastal dunes to rocky hillsides and the verges of evergreen forests (Coates
Palgrave 1977: 913) and therefore cannot be used as a sensitive environmental
indicator.
In the Cape Peninsula Myrica cordifolia flowers in the winter (April—July),
Nylandtia spinosa in the winter and spring (April-October), Rhus glauca is
spring-flowering (August-September), Chrysanthemoides monilifera flowers
throughout the year but mainly from spring to early winter (October—May),
and Colpoon compressum from summer to winter (December—June) (Maytham
Kidd 1973). Even allowing for localized variation in the flowering and thus
fruiting season, the presence of the seeds of these plants offers no clear
indication of the season(s) during which the cave was occupied, even if it is
assumed that all the seeds were brought into the cave by its human occupants.
A more precise, quantitative analysis may, however, reveal that there were
changes in the seasons during which the cave was occupied in different times
during its occupation history.
Iridaceae are generally spring to summer flowering and their corms may be
assumed to reach their maximum growth during the period of the winter rains
and before flowering commences. In the BNK area, as has been mentioned,
Iridaceae are common but not abundant. Moreover, the corms of these plants
seem mostly to be small and firmly wedged into crevices in the rock. It was
128 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
found almost impossible to remove these intact, even using a metal screw-
driver. This suggests that a thicker and more easily broken implement such as a
wooden digging stick would have been ineffectual, although the presence of
corm cases in the BNK 1 deposits testifies to a certain success in collecting
them. However, the lack of abundance of these geophytes as well as the
difficulty of getting them out of the ground suggests that they might not have
been an important part of the diet of the human occupants of BNK 1, or not to
the extent that has been suggested for the occupants of Melkhoutboom (H. J.
Deacon 1976: 162, 174).
Although Olea africana or O. capensis have not been identified in the
BNK 1 sample, a phenomenon observed during the 1980 field season at BNK 3
during the first two weeks of July is worth recording. On the Die Kelders coast,
which faces north, low shrubs of O. capensis 1,0-1,5 m in height were found to
be heavily laden with ripe fruit, especially where the shrubs were protected
from the seasonally prevailing north-west wind. At BNK, however, where O.
capensis grows into sturdy trees 3 m or more in height, most of the trees had
not even begun to come into flower and only one small shrub was found, near
the top of the hill, that had a few ripening fruit.
While the Die Kelders coast receives full exposure to the available sun-
shine, at this time of year (mid-winter) the southerly aspect of BNK receives
only an hour or two a day, in the early morning or late afternoon, and this is
undoubtedly the reason for the differences in the seasonal development of this
species in the two areas. In view of the edibility of this fruit (Coates Palgrave
1977: 759), and assuming that it is not a recent immigrant into the area, it is
somewhat surprising that its seeds were not found in the deposits at Die
Kelders. There was a conspicuous absence of plant remains from the Die
Kelders deposits (Schweitzer 1979: 206-7), and the presence of seeds of O.
capensis, evidently available during the winter, would have provided supportive
evidence for the hypothesis that the site was occupied during the winter months
(Schweitzer 1979: 219). On the other hand, the presence of seeds of O.
capensis in the BNK 1 deposits, should they be identified when the bulk of the
plant remains are analysed, need not indicate spring-summer occupation to
coincide with the ripening of the fruit in the vicinity of the cave as the fruit
could have been collected from the Walker Bay coast during the winter as well
as from BNK later in the year.
In an early account of the Hottentots of the Cape, Grevenbroek
(1695: 185) recorded that it was the work of the men to prepare the winter’s
supply of plant food. Grevenbroek mentions ‘wild almonds’ (Brabeium stellati-
folium (growing in the Bredasdorp district according to Coates Palgrave
(1977: 123) but not observed in the BNK area)), the ‘larger arum’ (probably
the rhizome of Zantedeschia aethiopica, growing in the Uilkraals River valley)
and ‘various bulbs’ (probably including Iridaecae). These were exposed to the
sun, roasted on a small fire and then stored ‘in ditches and caves’. This
observation carries several interesting implications regarding seasonality, espe-
:
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 129
cially with regard to the occupation of caves, but has no direct relevance to
BNK 1 since, apart from the corm cases of ‘various small bulbs’, no other
indications were found of the preparations described by Grevenbroek, nor were
any storage pits found at the site such as those discovered at Boomplaas (H. J.
Deacon et al. 1978: 55). It seems likely, however, that most of the edible fruits
whose remains are recorded from the BNK 1 deposits would have been eaten
at the time they were collected since most, if not all, would not have been
amenable to any process of preservation or storage.
SUMMARY
Mammals, excluding Homo sapiens and micromammals, were divided into
six size classes based on their live mass. Perhaps the most significant changes to
be observed are in the large medium and very small size classes. The large
medium size class, which consists mostly of bovids, shows a gradually increasing
trend from layer 19 to layer 13, in which the frequency reaches almost 46 per
cent of the layer total. From layer 12 up frequencies decline, accounting for less
than 10 per cent of the layer total in layer 9, and in layers 8-1 the frequency
exceeds 5 per cent only in layers 3 and 2. |
The very small size class, in which there are no bovids, shows a generally
declining trend in layers 17-10, after which frequencies increase, reaching a
peak of 53,5 per cent of the layer 4 total. In layers 8-1 the frequency falls below
40 per cent of the layer total only in layers 7 and 3, whereas in layers 19-9 it
reaches this frequency only in layer 17.
It is, however, only in layers 15 and 13 that the three larger size classes
account for more than 50 per cent of the layer total, and in layers 6—1 the three
smaller size classes account for over 80 per cent of layer totals.
There is one main period only, that from layer 14 to layer 9, in which
bovids are numerically more common than all other animals. Because there has
been no separation of the sub-units of layer 1 and because this layer includes a
basal sub-unit in which there are no sheep remains, it has not been possible to
determine the effect of the introduction into the area of domestic animals on
the economy of the cave occupants beyond observing that layer 1 has the
highest frequency of small medium animals of all the layers, and that almost
two-thirds of these are Ovis aries.
Shellfish frequencies are generally very low in layers 19-10 and account for
only 1,3 per cent of the site total. Relative frequencies (ADs) show a generally
increasing trend from layer 12, however, up to layer 2 with a slight decline in
layer 1. Layer 3 has an anomalously high frequency, with an AD a hundred
times that of layer 12, more than ten times that of layer 9, and three to four
times those of layers 6-4 and 2-1.
In layers 16-11 Donax serra is the most commonly represented species but
Turbo sarmaticus is always the most common species in the upper layers in
terms of flesh mass, although it declines numerically in layers 6-3, in which
Oxystele sinensis becomes more common.
130 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
An analysis of the lengths of five species of Patella and comparison of four of
these with data for modern populations shows that it was generally the
larger-sized individuals that were being collected, except in the case of P.
cochlear, which was collected mainly in the middle of its population size range. It
was concluded that despite evidence for changes in the mean lengths of some
species in successive layers, the periods of time involved, compared to the
longevity of the species, do not allow any conclusions to be reached regarding the
effect of human predation on the shellfish populations; nor was it considered
possible to extrapolate inferences regarding changes in mean sea temperature.
Fish are sparsely represented in the lower layers, with some 95 per cent of
the site total in layers 9-1. The ADs indicate a gradually increasing trend in
layers 9-5 and a decline thereafter.
Reptiles are represented by two species each of tortoise, snake and lizard.
Layer 14 contained what may be termed a ‘tortoise midden’ but the ADs reveal
no clear trends of increase or decrease, suggesting that the collection of these
animals was not in any way affected by the changes in the representation of the
mammal size classes. Remains of snake are present only from layer 13 up (in
the sample from the 1974 excavation) and while this may have some human
ecological significance, frequencies are too low to allow more than the sugges-
tion of such a possibility.
Micromammals from the deposit were analysed by D. M. Avery (1979),
who has used the data derived to suggest palaeoenvironmental changes
throughout the period of the occupation of the cave, with three major vegeta-
tion units represented, those of layers 19-10, 9-3, and 2-1. Avery’s interpreta-
tions contrast to some extent with those that can be derived from the analysis of
the artefacts and the other fauna, but this may simply be a reflection of the fact
that two very different types of predator are involved.
Plant remains have for the most part not been examined. The small sample
that has been studied shows it to consist of species present in the area today but
does not allow the deriving of environmental or human ecological inferences.
In general, the faunal evidence indicates a change in exploitation patterns
that began about 7 500 years ago. Although there is evidence of exploitation of
marine resources from the initial occupation of the cave, this only became
marked from about 6 000 B.P. and represents a substantial addition to the diet
of the cave occupants at a time when the pattern of procurement of land game
indicates a decrease in the amount of flesh being brought back to the cave. This
suggests a change in the ecology of the human occupants of BNK 1, but
whether the cause was demographic, cultural, or environmental, or a combina-
tion of these, is not directly deducible from the site data alone.
BNK 1 IN RELATION TO OTHER SITES
The artefactual and faunal samples from BNK 1 provide a useful body of
information that may be compared with data from sites of comparable age in
the adjacent regions of the Cape. In this way the BNK 1 sequence can be
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 WA
‘placed’ in the industrial sequence already established for the area, and a
contribution made towards the assessment of variability within the Late Stone
Age.
Of particular importance is Nelson Bay Cave, since the material from this
site has provided the basis for the first comprehensive description, and conse-
quently definition, of the artefactual components of the ‘pre-Wilton’ industries
that have been termed ‘Albany’ and ‘Robberg’ at Nelson Bay Cave (Klein
1974, J. Deacon 1978), and Melkhoutboom (H. J. Deacon 1976).
Problems in the comparisons arise from the fact that sites such as Die
Kelders and Wilton contain only part of the post-Pleistocene sequence while
others, such as Nelson Bay Cave, Melkhoutboom, Elands Bay Cave and
probably also Wilton, have sequences that are interrupted by periods of
non-occupation. The Nelson Bay Cave sequence studied by J. Deacon (1978)
also lacks the final occupation sequence, from about 5 000 B.P., excavated by
R. R. Inskeep and yet to be published. In some cases, too, the series of
radiocarbon dates, for BNK 1 as well as other sites, are insufficient to allow
precise correlation of stratigraphic units and their contents. Comparisons are
also limited by differences in data presentation or because comprehensive site
reports have yet to be published.
For convenience, artefactual and faunal categories and classes are dis-
cussed in the same order as in the analysis of the BNK 1 material. These
divisions are, of course, somewhat arbitrary and the overall character of the
assemblages is also important.
STONE ARTEFACTS
Raw materials
In the BNK 1 stone artefact sample certain trends in raw material fre-
quencies may be observed that allow the layers to be grouped on this basis
(Fig. 7, Table 26). The trends, in which quartz, quartzite and silcrete are
variously the predominant raw material, are chiefly influenced by the
unmodified artefact category and even within this category there are differences
in the predominance of the raw materials for classes such as unmodified flakes
(Table 26). Silcrete is the most common raw material in the utilized and
retouched artefact categories, except in a few cases in the lower layers in which
artefacts in these categories occur only in low or minimal frequencies. Although
the overall character of the artefact sample is useful for comparative purposes,
the bias introduced by classes such as chips and chunks, which will have had
little or no potential for use, suggests that it is probably more profitable to
compare raw material frequencies in specific categories, e.g. utilized—modified
and retouched, or classes, e.g. unmodified flakes and blades, cores and the two
categories of artefacts that can be shown to have been used.
BNK 1 layer 19, and possibly also layer 18, falls within the time range of
Nelson Bay Cave layer BSL, the uppermost of the three “Robberg’ layers,
layers YSL and YGL being in the time range of 16 000-18 000 B.p. (Klein
£52 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
1972a: 202; J. Deacon 1978: 89-90, fig. 3). In the BNK 1 layers quartz is the
predominant raw material, as it is in Nelson Bay Cave layers YGL and YSL,
while quartzite is predominant in BSL and in all the overlying layers (J. Deacon
1978, table 2). There is an increase in the frequency of quartz in the ‘Wilton’
layers but this does not reach the frequencies of the ‘Robberg’ layers. Fre-
quencies of silcrete are low in all layers although in layer YSL it is marginally
(1,1%) more common than quartzite. Quartzite predominates only in BNK 1
layers 17-15, while silcrete is most common in layers 9, 8, 6, and 5, and quartz
predominates in all the other layers.
In the retouched artefact category silcrete is absent from all the ‘Albany’
layers at Nelson Bay Cave and does not reach 25 per cent of the category total
in any of the other layers. Quartzite is generally the most common raw material
in the ‘Albany’ layers (the two artefacts in layer GSL are of quartzite and
chalcedony) and quartz or chalcedony in the ‘Wilton’.
The ‘Robberg’ industry of the Basal Unit at Melkhoutboom is probably at
least 1 000 years older than BNK 1 layer 19, and is separated from the ‘Albany’
deposits by a hiatus covering the period 14 000-10 500 B.p. (H. J. Deacon 1976,
table 3). Deacon (tables 8-9, 12) provides raw material frequencies for specific
classes only. Combination of the data in his tables 8 and 9, for chips, chunks
and unmodified flakes, indicates that quartzite is the most common raw
material except in the lower ‘Wilton’ units WBM and M in which chalcedony
predominates, and in the uppermost ‘Wilton’ unit OMB in which silcrete
predominates. Quartzite is the most common raw material for unmodified
flakes in all the layers except OMB in which silcrete is most common. For the
four classes of retouched artefacts in Deacon’s table 12 chalcedony is the most
common raw material in the four lower ‘Wilton’ units WBM-—MB, and silcrete
in the two upper, CAF and OMB. There were apparently no ‘formal tools’ in
the ‘Albany’ and ‘Robberg’ deposits (H. J. Deacon 1976, tables 10-12).
The Wilton Large Rock Shelter has yielded dates obtained from charcoal
in layers 2B and 3F that show these deposits to span the period from about
2 270-4 860 B.p. A third date of about 8 620 B.P. was obtained from bone from
a human burial excavated by Hewitt in 1921 and considered by J. Deacon
(1972: 14) to relate to the base of layer 3. This date is problematic when related
to the stratigraphy (J. Deacon 1972, fig. 3) and suggests a hiatus in the
deposition, by inference between layers 3F and 3J, but more probably between
3J and 4A. Thus, while it is possible to relate the Wilton deposits down to layer
3F to those from about the middle of BNK 1 layer 1 to somewhere between
layers 5 and 9, the Wilton layers below 3F cannot be satisfactorily correlated
with the BNK 1 sequence, although H. J. Deacon (1976, table 3) has assigned
layers 3G-—3I to the ‘Formative Wilton’, dated to about 6 000-8 000 B.p. and
layers 4A and 4B to the ‘Albany’, dated to about 8 000-11 000 B.P.
J. Deacon (1972, figs 4-5) provides frequency diagrams for raw materials
in selected artefact classes only. The indications are, however, that in the
‘waste’ classes there were higher frequencies of quartzite and quartz than other
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 133
raw materials in layers 4B and 4A. Silcrete appears to have been increasingly
used throughout the rest of the sequence, as well as being the most commonly
used raw material for retouched artefacts, although more scrapers in layers
4B-3H were chalcedony than silcrete.
The raw material frequencies for unmodified flakes from Buffelskloof
(Opperman 1978, table 4b) show quartz to have been the most common raw
material for this class throughout the whole sequence. Chalcedony ranks
second in the upper part of the sequence, layers BOL1—CH2, quartzite in the
middle, layers CH3—ZJ2, and ‘other’ (predominantly hornfels) at the bottom,
layers ZJ3—HE2. Quartz and chalcedony are generally the raw materials most
commonly used for retouched artefacts (Opperman 1978, fig. 6). The Buffels-
kloof sequence covers much the same period of time as BNK 1 layers 19-5,
although layer HE2 has a basal date in excess of 22 000 B.Pp. (Opperman
1978: 21).
Unmodified artefacts
Flakes from BNK 1 account for 21,2 per cent of the unmodified artefact
category (Table 4), while in the Nelson Bay Cave sample (J. Deacon 1978,
table 1) frequencies range from about 86 per cent in the ‘Robberg’ to almost 92
per cent in the ‘Wilton’. A partial explanation of the difference is that Deacon
(1978: 91) has included the class of chips in the untrimmed flake class. How-
ever, even if chips are added to the unmodified flakes in the BNK 1 sample
they still account for only 76,1 per cent of the unmodified artefact category
total, well below the total for any of the Nelson Bay Cave industrial units. A
possible reason for these differences is the high frequency of quartzite at
Nelson Bay Cave, a material that is predominant at BNK 1 in layers 17-15
only.
Blades, in recent analyses of stone artefacts (e.g. J. Deacon 1972, 1978; H.
J. Deacon 1976; H. J. Deacon et al. 1978; Opperman 1978), have not been
separated from flakes in the unmodified artefact category, so that it is not
possible to determine whether the BNK 1 distribution is similar to that at other
sites. This is unfortunate since one of the characteristics of the “Robberg
industry’ is a high frequency of quartz micro-blade cores and it would have
been useful to have been able to compare core: blade ratios, especially in
samples from the ‘Robberg’.
Cores in the Nelson Bay Cave sample (J. Deacon 1978, table 1) were more
common in the ‘Albany’ layers than in the ‘Robberg’ or ‘Wilton’ and bladelet
cores more common in the ‘Robberg’ than in other layers (Deacon’s term
‘bladelet’ equates the use in this report of ‘micro-blade’). The first instance is
unlike the situation at BNK 1, where 63,2 per cent of the cores came from
layers 1-9, but the second is similar, allowing that Nelson Bay Cave layer BSL
and BNK 1 layer 19 are approximately of the same age. Blade cores were
recovered only from the upper part of the Buffelskloof sequence (Opperman
1978, table 3).
134 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Utilized and modified artefacts
Utilized flakes in the Nelson Bay Cave sample (J. Deacon 1978, table 1)
include notched flakes, which are included in the retouched artefact category in
the BNK 1 analysis. Even when notched flakes are excluded, there are more
than twice as many utilized flakes in the Nelson Bay Cave sample than in that
from BNK 1. Using totals that exclude notched flakes, utilized flakes account
for 58,6 per cent of the utilized artefact category and are relatively most
common in the ‘Robberg’, the percentage frequency decreasing by about 10 per
cent in the ‘Albany’ and again in the ‘Wilton’. In the BNK 1 sample, utilized
flakes account for only 42,8 per cent of the utilized and modified artefact
category and are relatively more common in layers 17-13 (57,4% of the
category total) than in layers 19-18 (29,7 %) or layers 9-1 (48,8 %, or 54,4 % in
layers 9-7, which may be the layers chronologically comparable with that part
of the Nelson Bay Cave ‘Wilton’ studied by Deacon).
In the Melkhoutboom sample (H. J. Deacon 1976, table 9) ‘retouched
flakes’ are most common in the W and M units of the ‘Wilton’, numerically as
well as on an AD basis.
‘Trimmed flakes’ were included in the ‘waste’ category in the Wilton
inventory (J. Deacon 1972, table 1). The total of these, 1 367, is considerably
higher than the BNK 1 total of 592 utilized flakes. The highest frequencies are
in Wilton layers 3B-3G and 4A and in BNK 1 layers 9-5 (except layer 7), so
that the situation at both sites is broadly similar.
Opperman (1978, table 2) has also included ‘trimmed flakes’ in the ‘waste’
category in the Buffelskloof inventory. Frequencies are generally low through-
out the sequence and even the highest frequencies, in layers BOL2 and CH3,
seem merely to reflect the fact that these layers have the highest frequencies of
stone artefacts. Layer BOL2 is younger than BNK 1 layer 9, and layer CH3
younger than layer 12.
Utilized blades have not been listed separately in the inventories for any of
the sites used for the inter-site comparisons. It may be that, as in the case with
the BNK 1 sample, they are relatively few.
Scaled pieces in the Nelson Bay Cave inventory (J. Deacon 1978, table 1)
occur in very low frequencies in layers BSL—RA, and 83 of the site total of 97
were recovered from the uppermost ‘Wilton’ layers BSC and IC. There is thus
a general similarity in the distribution of these artefacts at Nelson Bay Cave
and BNK 1, although layer 18 has a higher frequency (percentage as well as
actual) than layer BSL.
These artefacts are also uncommon in the Melkhoutboom stone artefact
sample (H. J. Deacon 1976, table 7). There were none in the ‘Robberg’ and
‘Albany’ deposits, and the highest frequency came from the W unit, which is
about the same age as BNK 1 layer 9.
In the Wilton inventory (J. Deacon 1972, table 1) piéces esquillées were
included with ‘other tools’, there being no category of utilized artefacts. They
are not common in any of the layers and the highest frequencies (12 and 13)
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 135
were in layers 3D and 3E, which may be somewhat older than BNK 1 layers
7-5, in which the latter site’s highest frequencies, occurred.
There were apparently no scaled pieces found at Buffelskloof (Opperman
1978, table 2).
Grindstones are surprisingly rare in the BNK 1 stone assemblage and the
three that were recovered are classified as combination hammerstones—upper
grindstones (Table 6). Die Kelders yielded 87 (Schweitzer 1979, table 17) and
Nelson Bay Cave 44 (J. Deacon 1978, table 1), although these sites have
smaller total stone artefact samples than BNK 1. Low frequencies of grind-
stones are also recorded from Wilton (J. Deacon 1972, table 1) and Melkhout-
boom (H. J. Deacon 1976, table 13), and none at all appear to have been found
at Buffelskloof (Opperman 1978, table 2).
In a study of sites in the Clanwilliam district, Mazel (1978, Appendix 3)
records variable but usually low or nil frequencies in the western Cape sandveld
or coastal plain, one exception being the Verlore site, which is closest to the
coast of all the sites studied by Mazel. BNK 1 is, however, almost as close to
the coast as Verlore, and the recovery of 17 upper grindstones (‘rubbers’) from
the late Holocene DGL member at Boomplaas (H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, table
2) tends to discount the suggestion that the use of these artefacts might have
been more common at sites at or near the coast.
Bored stones, even in the fragmentary form in which they were found in
the BNK 1 deposits, by their presence in a site on the edge of the coastal plain
are not consistent with the suggestion by Mazel (1978: 79) that such artefacts
are not to be found on the coastal plain because weighted digging sticks are
unimportant away from the mountains. What seems more likely, especially
where surface exposures are concerned, is that these artefacts have proved
attractive to casual collectors. Reference to the monograph by Goodwin (1947)
on the bored stones of South Africa will reveal that these artefacts are not—or
have not been—absent from sites at the coast or on the coastal plain.
Heavy edge-flaked pieces were sporadically distributed through the BNK 1
deposit, whereas at Nelson Bay Cave they were found in almost every level
(J. Deacon 1978, table 1). At BNK 1 they account for only 0,7 per cent of the
utilized and modified artefact category total, while at Die Kelders they com-
prise 2,7 per cent of the utilized artefact category total. At Nelson Bay Cave
they account for 1,2 per cent of the total for the utilized artefact category in the
‘Robberg’ layers but increase to 23,3 per cent of the ‘Albany’ total and 24,6 per
cent of the ‘Wilton’ total. Whatever their function, heavy edge-flaked pieces
were clearly a more important component of the Nelson Bay Cave artefact
assemblage than of those of BNK 1 or Die Kelders.
Retouched artefacts
Scrapers were of particular interest in the analysis of the BNK 1 stone
artefact assemblage. This interest was stimulated by the evident difference of
the scrapers from the middle layers from those of the upper. On the basis of the
136 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
analysis of the material from the 1974 excavation it had been assumed that
layer 9 marked the beginning of the ‘Wilton’ tradition at the site, and it was
recalled that Goodwin (1938) had stated that, underlying the ‘Wilton’ deposits
at Oakhurst, there were deposits containing ‘Smithfield’ artefacts.
According to Goodwin (1938: 313, 314) these deposits contained ‘vast
numbers of typical Smithfield scrapers’, said to have exceeded 5 000 in the
‘Smithfield C’ levels alone. The fate of the bulk of this large collection is
unknown. A small, representative collection is retained by the Archaeology
Department of the University of Cape Town but the major part of the
University’s holding was donated in 1961 to the South African Museum
(AA6990) by R. R. Inskeep on behalf of the University.
In view of the evident differences in the size and shape of the scrapers
from the layers above and below layer 9 at BNK 1 (Fig. 17) it was decided to
analyse the Oakhurst ‘Smithfield’ scrapers in the Museum’s collection to see
how these compared with those from BNK 1 layers 9-13, those from layers
14-19 being considered too few to warrant inclusion.
The Oakhurst material had previously been analysed by Fagan (1960) and
Schrire (1962). The differences of opinion or interpretation that exist as a result
of these analyses are outside the scope of the present report except in so far as
they concern the reliability of the Museum’s collection as being representative
of the Oakhurst scraper sample as it originally existed. The material is still
stored in the bags in which it was received from the University and these bear
the excavation level references but, since the artefacts themselves have not
been marked, it is no longer possible to determine whether they are still
correctly bagged.
Fagan (1960, table 3) worked on a ‘Smithfield C’ scraper sample of 720 and
a ‘Smithfield B’ sample of 274. Schrire (1962: 181, table 1), who claimed to
have had access to material not seen by Fagan, recorded a total of only 496
‘Smithfield C’ scrapers but 354 of ‘Smithfield B’. Schrire’s reportedly aug-
mented sample was thus actually some 17 per cent smaller than Fagan’s; her
‘Smithfield C’ sample was about 31 per cent smaller than Fagan’s, while her
‘Smithfield B’ sample was 29 per cent larger. This raises the question of
whether the material was mixed subsequent to Fagan’s analysis and prior to
Schrire’s.
There are also problems regarding the distribution of scraper sizes in the
Oakhurst samples. These may result from mixing or they may relate to
different methods of measurement used by Fagan and Schrire and for the
present analysis. For the present analysis, determination of the plane dimen-
sions followed the method of J. Deacon (1972, fig. 6) used for the measuring of
scrapers from Wilton. Length is the dimension along an axis taken from the
centre of the retouched edge, and width the dimension along the axis at right
angles to the length. Thickness is the greatest vertical distance between the
dorsal and ventral surfaces of the scraper.
Fagan (1960, table 3) recorded no ‘Smithfield C’ scrapers less than 15 mm
or more than 40 mm long and Schrire (1962, table 1) recorded no ‘Smithfield B’
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 137
scrapers less than 3in. (approx. 13 mm) long, but in the present analysis
scrapers in these length ranges were found (Fig. 44).
It was found that the scrapers from the top and bottom of Terrace 3, the
‘Smithfield B’ deposit, have been kept separately bagged, and as these
appeared to be different in size they were treated as discrete samples. There
were only 42 scrapers from the top of Terrace 3 and 24 from the bottom, and it
was therefore decided that only one bag of scrapers, numbering 101, would
suffice for the ‘Smithfield C’ sample from Terrace 2. Examination of other
scrapers from this level indicated that the sample chosen was representative.
The results of the metrical analysis of the Oakhurst ‘Smithfield’ scrapers
are presented diagrammatically in Figure 44. These indicate a continuous
decrease in size from the bottom of Terrace 3 (‘Smithfield B’) to Terrace 2
(‘Smithfield C’) but no change in the mean shape (length : width ratio).
Statistical comparison of the samples from BNK 1 layers 9-13 with those
from the Oakhurst ‘Smithfield’ was by means of the Kolmogorov—Smirnov
two-tailed test (Siegel 1956: 127-136) carried out on each pair of samples and
for each of the four attributes. Three of the samples, those from BNK 1 layers
11 and 13 and that from the bottom of Oakhurst Terrace 3, have frequencies
below the minimum of forty specified for the test. However, application of the
one-tailed test, for which no minimum is stipulated, in most cases gave the
same results as the two-tailed tests. Where there were differences, these were
of the order of one level of significance, in the direction of greater significant
difference.
Because of the generally low frequencies in each sample, especially when
these are distributed over the whole range, frequencies in each of the attribute
classes were grouped. Class intervals of 5 were used for length and width and 3
for thickness and length : width ratio.
The results of the two-tailed tests are given in Table 24. It is immediately
apparent that the layer 9 sample is sufficiently different from all the other
samples, except that from layer 13, to warrant its exclusion from further
consideration at this point. The layer 10 sample is not significantly different
from the ‘Smithfield C’ sample, and the layer 11 sample differs significantly
from the ‘Smithfield B’ samples only in width. The layer 12 sample is more like
that from the top of the ‘Smithfield B’, also differing significantly only in width.
The layer 13 sample is not significantly different from the ‘Smithfield C’ and
differs from the sample from the top of the ‘Smithfield B’ only at a low level of
significance, again in width. The difference in width is, however, very highly
significant when the layer 13 sample is compared with that from the bottom of
the ‘Smithfield B’. In general the ‘Smithfield B’ scrapers are significantly wider
than those from BNK 1 layers 10-13, a fact that is borne out by the Dice-
Leraas diagrams in Figures 17 and 44. That the Oakhurst scrapers are predomi-
nantly made of quartz while those from BNK 1 are silcrete cannot be accepted
as a Satisfactory single explanation, and since the relevant deposits are believed
to be approximately coeval, another explanation, possibly cultural, must be
sought.
ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
138
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TABLE 24
Stone: matrix of results of Kolmogorov—Smirnov tests on paired samples of scrapers from
BNK 1 and Oakhurst.
Layer
10 VHS HS
VHS O
11 VHS HS HS O
VHS VHS O LS
12 VHS VHS S O
VHS VHS O O
13 VHS O O O
S O O O
SC ae - O O
O O
SB(t) VHS se e ae HS 3 wee LS LS
VHS IES O S O
SB(b)
VHS VHS |} VHS’ VHS
VHS O S O
10
Note. The numbered layers are from BNK 1, those with letters are from Oakhurst. SC =
‘Smithfield C’ (Terrace 2); SB(t) = ‘Smithfield B’ (top of Terrace 3); SB(b) = ‘Smithfield B’
(bottom of Terrace 3).
In each block, upper left = length; upper right = width; lower left = thickness; lower right =
length : width ratio.
VHS = very highly significant difference at 0,001 level; HS = highly significant difference at
0,005 level; S = significant difference at 0,01 level; LS = little significant difference at 0,05 level;
O=no significant difference at 0,1 level.
ee ae ee we VHS VHS O O
VHS O O O
13
SC SB(t)
It seems reasonable to assume that despite the inference that can be drawn
from the comparison of the BNK 1 and Oakhurst ‘Smithfield’ scrapers, a
‘Smithfield C’ phase did not, at BNK 1 or elsewhere, precede as well as succeed
a ‘Smithfield B’ phase, as is implied by the indication in Table 24 that the
BNK 1 layer 13 scrapers are not significantly different from the Oakhurst
‘Smithfield C’ scrapers, nor from those in BNK 1 layers 12-10 and that layer 13
is the only layer in which the scrapers have any resemblance to those of layer 9.
It would be justifiable, in fact, to regard such an inference as no more than a
‘statistical artefact’ resulting from the comparison of small samples on the basis
of an inadequate number of attributes with too great a common range.
Goodwin (1938: 318) observed that ‘there is no great difference to be observed
between the general types of implements to be found between this floor and
those found above. The variation is one of size or, more accurately, a change in
the distribution of sizes’. The ‘floor’ referred to is the ‘carbon floor’, which
Goodwin (1938: 239) considered to separate the ‘Smithfield C’ deposit from the
underlying ‘Smithfield B’. This has been dated to 7 910 = 70 years B.P. (Pta-377:
J. Deacon 1979: 31), which makes it somewhat older than BNK 1 layer 12
(Table 1).
140 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Where the BNK 1 scrapers are concerned, however, a change in size tends
to be accompanied by a change in shape and, as indicated in Figures 17 and 44,
the scrapers from BNK 1 layers 10-13 tend to be longer than they are wide,
while the Oakhurst ‘Smithfield’ scrapers are equilateral or, more precisely,
circular. B. D. Malan (1979 pers. comm.) who assisted Goodwin at Oakhurst,
has said that he told Goodwin at the time that he did not think the scrapers
could be considered typical of the ‘Smithfield B’.
Van Riet Lowe (1929: 179), writing of the ‘Smithfield B’ industry in the
Orange Free State, observed that the ‘duckbill end-scraper’ was by far the most
common implement. In the scrapers from BNK 1 layers 10-13 those that can be
called ‘duckbill’, even though they may be end-scrapers, are few (cf. Fig. 15B;
although this example is from layer 6 it is typical of the ‘duckbill’ scrapers in the
BNK 1 assemblage). They account for 15 per cent of the scraper total in layer
10, 19 per cent in both layers 12 and 13, and 21 per cent in layer 11. The
frequencies have been quoted as percentages despite the small size of some of
the samples in order to emphasize the relative paucity of their occurrence.
Schrire’s analysis of the Oakhurst tool categories (Schrire 1962, tables 3-4)
also shows low frequencies of this type of scraper (type 5) although there is
some discrepancy between the statistics in her two tables. Table 3 gives a total
of 16, whereas conversion of the percentages in Table 4 gives a total of only 8.
Fagan (1960: 84) used a different typology for the scrapers from Glentyre
shelter, but his class of ‘long scrapers’ numbers only 2, or 1,2 per cent of the
scraper total. The analysis of scrapers from Matjes River Shelter layer D by
Sampson (1974, table 42) gives a frequency of 16,1 per cent for ‘frontal
scrapers’ (cf. his fig. 91.24) which is comparable with the low frequencies in
BNK 1 layers 10-13.
The indications are, therefore, that ‘duckbill end-scrapers’ are not the
predominant type in those industries in the southern Cape that may be
considered analogous to the so-called ‘Smithfield’ at Oakhurst, which Sampson
(1974: 263-270) has termed the ‘Oakhurst industry’. Whether this ‘Smithfield
episode’ occurred at Nelson Bay Cave is doubtful in view of the hiatus between
about 8 000-6 000 B.p. (J. Deacon 1978: 100).
J. Deacon (1978: 92) has divided the scrapers from Nelson Bay Cave into
three size groups based on maximum horizontal dimension. The sequence
analysed by Deacon includes only the lower ‘Wilton’ deposits and, as indicated
in her table 1, the frequencies in nine of the eleven layers are extremely low.
Deacon’s figure 4 indicates, however, that small scrapers less than 15 mm long
are most common in the ‘Robberg’, large scrapers greater than 30 mm are most
common in the ‘Albany’, and small are again most common in the ‘Wilton’
followed by medium (15-30 mm). Small scrapers are present only in the
uppermost level, RB, of the ‘Albany’, while medium scrapers are present only
in RB and the underlying layer J.
BNK 1, with almost seven times the number of scrapers recovered from
the Nelson Bay Cave sequence studied by Deacon, shows marked differences in
the relative frequencies of Deacon’s three size classes:
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 141
BNK 1: large 6,2% medium 61,1 % small 32,7 %
NBC: 14,2 % 19,2% 66,5 %
Although BNK 1 has a longer sequence referable to the ‘Wilton’ than that
part of the Nelson Bay Cave sequence studied by Deacon, and although the
mode for the length of the scrapers from layer 9 up is at or near 15 mm (cf. the
means in Fig. 17), the size class divisions used by Deacon do not seem
appropriate for the BNK 1 scrapers. The frequencies in layers 19-14 are too
low to be useful, those from layer 5 up are certainly beyond the time range of
Deacon’s Nelson Bay Cave sample, and those for layers 13-6 may be sum-
marized as follows:
layers 13-10: large 13-17% medium 75-83 % small 0-13 %
9-6: 5-9 % 56-60 % 37-42 %
In both groups medium scrapers are dominant, but in the upper layer
group (9-6) small scrapers increase in frequency at the expense of both medium
and large. In the Nelson Bay Cave sequence small scrapers are not present
before the uppermost layer of the ‘Albany’ and become the dominant size class
in the ‘Wilton’, although it should be borne in mind that this site lacks the
equivalent sequence of BNK 1 layers 12-10. In the BNK 1 sequence it is only
in layer 3 that small scrapers are the dominant size class so that although it is
true that small scrapers increase in frequency in the upper layers of BNK 1 it
cannot be said that they are the dominant size class, as is the case in the Nelson
Bay Cave ‘Wilton’ layers studied by Deacon.
H. J. Deacon (1976, table 15) has given dimensional data for scrapers from
Melkhoutboom. There were apparently no scrapers from the ‘Albany’ units
MBS and RF (cf. tables 10-11) so that discussion is limited to the ‘Wilton’ units
at Melkhoutboom and the upper layers at BNK 1.
The means for length and thickness of the Melkhoutboom scrapers are
similar to those of BNK 1 layer 8 and above. The Melkhoutboom scrapers are
generally narrower than those from BNK 1 although those from the two CAF
units are similar to those from BNK 1 layers 8, 5 and 4. The CAF units are,
however, younger than the BNK 1 layers mentioned, falling within the time
range of layer 1.
Comparison of the means for the three dimensions and the length : width
ratios of the scrapers from Wilton (J. Deacon 1972, Appendix A, tables 1-4)
reveals very little similarity between these and those for the BNK 1 scrapers.
(For purposes of comparison, Deacon’s width:length ratios have been con-
verted to length: width ratios by dividing them into 1.) Although the Wilton
scrapers show decrease-increase trends that may be considered analogous to
those of BNK 1 layers 10-6 and 5-1, there are few points at which the scrapers
can be said to be morphologically similar (cf. also J. Deacon 1972, figs. 9, 11,
13, 15). The distribution of scrapers in Wilton layer 4A, in low frequencies
across a wide range, is broadly similar to the distribution in BNK 1 layer 10
but, whereas about a third of the Wilton scrapers are longer than 35 mm
(J. Deacon 1972, fig. 8), only three of the sixty-eight in BNK 1 layer 10 are.
142 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
The metrical analyses of the scrapers from Buffelskloof (Opperman
1978, tables 5—8) show trends from layer ZJ3 up that are broadly similar to
those from BNK 1 layer 13 up. The Buffelskloof length: width ratios, how-
ever, show a trend from equilateral to wider shapes that starts at the bottom
of the sequence in layer HE2 but does not move into longer shapes as in the
case in BNK 1 layers 13-11. The scrapers from BNK 1 layers 13-5 are,
however, metrically more like those from Buffelskloof layers ZJ3—BOL1
than they are like those from Melkhoutboom or Wilton. Layer ZJ3 has not
been dated, but the inferred date for this layer, and the date for layer BOL1
(Opperman 1978: 21), suggest a broad contemporaneity with BNK 1 layers
13-5.
Adzes, termed ‘slugs’, were included in artefact collections from ten sites
in the southern to western Cape that contained an industry of which these were
considered by Rudner & Rudner (1954: 103) to be the type implement. Nine of
these sites are coastal and are located from Sandy Bay on the west coast of the
Cape Peninsula to Arniston (Waenhuiskrans) east of Cape Agulhas (Fig. 1).
The tenth site, Het Kruis, is in the western Cape, about 30 km south-west of
Clanwilliam and about 40 km from the coast.
In the samples from all sites except the most easterly, Hawston and
Arniston, which are closest to BNK 1, and the single inland site, Het Kruis,
‘slugs’ or adzes outnumber scrapers in frequencies that range from 52,9-80,1
per cent of the artefact total. In the three samples in which scrapers outnumber
adzes, frequencies for the latter range from 16,7—23,1 per cent of the artefact
total. Because of the apparent association of adzes with ‘Smithfield B’ artefacts
at Het Kruis and because of the resemblance of the ‘slugs’ to artefacts from
‘Smithfield N’ assemblages in Natal, Rudner & Rudner (1954: 106) ascribed the
‘Sandy Bay industry’ to the ‘Smithfield Culture-complex’ and suggested
(p. 107), on the evidence of the Cape Hangklip sites, that this industry
appeared to antedate the ‘Wilton’.
The Rudners’ inventories include only ‘slugs’, scrapers, bored stones and
grooved stones, although two segments and a borer were reported (p. 105)
from the Hout Bay midden. Potsherds were reported from Sandy Bay (p. 103),
Hout Bay, and Hangklip West (p. 105), also Hawston (p. 106). In a later paper
the Rudners (1956: 80) listed only the ‘type site’, Sandy Bay 1, and Hout Bay
as locally representative of ‘the Sandy Bay Variation of the Smithfield Culture’,
Noordhoek being described (p. 79) as ‘Wilton’.
Sampson (1974: 414) comments that while ‘worked-out’ adzes are present
in ‘Wilton’ deposits, ‘more work will be needed to determine whether the
Sandy Bay group represents a discrete cultural tradition, a later industry, or
merely an activity (or regional) variant of the Wilton in this area’.
Another view is that of Mazel & Parkington (1978: 382) who, after
comparing the Rudners’ scraper: adze ratios with those of other coastal and
inland sites in the western Cape, suggested that ‘in the case of the adze-
dominated assemblages this relates not to coastal settlement but to increased
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 143
woodworking activities, probably associated with underground plant food
gathering and the availability of suitable wood resources’.
Adzes were not found at Nelson Bay Cave, either in that part of the
sequence studied by J. Deacon or in the upper part of the ‘Wilton’ deposit
excavated by Inskeep (J. Deacon 1978; 1981 pers. comm.).
Adzes are common only in the CAF and OMB units at Melkhoutboom
(H. J. Deacon 1976, table 10) but are outnumbered by scrapers by a ratio of
about 3: 1. These layers fall within the time range of BNK 1 layer 1, in which
adzes are more numerous than scrapers (Table 7).
At Wilton (J. Deacon 1972, table 1) adzes were recovered from layers
3G-3A in frequencies lower than 10 per cent of the tool category total. Their
frequency never exceeds that of scrapers and their distribution does not seem
similar to that in the upper layers of BNK 1.
Low frequencies of adzes are recorded for the DGL member at Boomplaas
(H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, table 2), but frequencies are relatively high in the
BLD units of this member, particularly in BLD 2a, which yielded 21 of the site
total of 38. The frequency of adzes never exceeds that of scrapers as is the case
in BNK 1 layer 1, within the time range of which the DGL member falls.
Opperman (1978, table 2) has recorded low frequencies of adzes from three
of the upper layers of Buffelskloof, BOL1, BOL2 and CH2, as well as one from
the basal layer, HE2, but the frequency of these never exceeds that of scrapers.
The upper layers are probably within the time range of BNK 1 layers 4-11.
Backed scrapers were not recorded from Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979,
table 17), nor from Nelson Bay Cave, (J. Deacon 1978, table 1). Considering
their distribution in the BNK 1 deposits, their absence from the Die Kelders
sample is perhaps fortuitous, taking into account the very low number of
retouched artefacts recovered; and it is possible that they might have been
found in the upper deposit at Nelson Bay Cave excavated by Inskeep.
Goodwin (1938: 307) recorded rare ‘double-edged crescents’ in the upper-
most Oakhurst deposits, and commented that ‘on the Riversdale and Cape
Peninsula coasts the single-edged type is the rarer’. Unless Goodwin was
referring to very localized distributions in the specific areas mentioned, BNK 1
and Die Kelders would appear to be exceptions to Goodwin’s observation.
Schrire’s analysis of the Oakhurst material (Schrire 1962, fig. 6, tables 3—4)
records the presence of ‘double crescents’ (type 11) in two of the ‘Smithfield C’
spits and in two of the ‘Wilton’. Again, however, conversion of the percentage
frequencies in Schrire’s table 4 does not yield the numerical frequencies given
in table 3. It is thus not clear whether there were more of these artefacts in the
‘Wilton’ than in the ‘Smithfield C’ (table 3) or the opposite (table 4). In any
event, the total (13 or 7) is so low as to do little more than indicate the
presence of these artefacts in contexts chronologically broadly comparable with
those at BNK 1 in which they also occur.
Backed scrapers are not recorded from Melkhoutboom (H. J. Deacon
1976: 59) and, although none are recorded from Wilton (J. Deacon 1972,
144 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
table 1), J. Deacon has advised (1979 pers. comm.) that these artefacts were
recovered and were included with ‘double scrapers’. ‘Double scrapers’ occur in
Wilton layers 4A-3A, with maximum frequencies in layers 3F—3E. Layer 3F is
probably somewhat older than BNK 1 layer 6 and about 1 000 years older than
layer 5. The temporal distribution at the two sites may, however, be seen as
being broadly similar.
There were apparently no backed scrapers in the DGL member at Boom-
plaas (H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, table 2) but at Buffelskloof Opperman (1978,
table 2) recorded a total of 19 ‘double scrapers’ from layers ZJ2—BOL1, 12 of
them in BOL2 alone. This layer is probably as much as 1 000 years older than
BNK 1 layer 6, but there may well be typological as well as terminological
differences between the double scrapers at Buffelskloof and the backed
scrapers at BNK 1 (cf., however, Opperman 1978, fig. 7.4).
In the ten assemblages from western Cape sites studied by Mazel (1978)
there appears to be no clear correlation between the frequency of backed
scrapers and the environment or locality of the sites. Four of the five sites in the
fynbos region (the term used by Mazel to distinguish the vegetation of the
inland areas from that of the Strandveld, the coastal plain and coast region)
have frequencies of backed scrapers ranging from 0 to 4 per cent of the ‘formal
tool’ category while the fifth, Koopmanskraal 2, has a frequency of 21 per cent
(Mazel 1978, Appendix 3). These sites on the inland edge of the coastal plain
are probably located the most analogously to BNK 1 although the climatic
regimes of the two areas are very different. The five sites situated in the
Strandveld have frequencies that range from 0 to 14 per cent. This suggests that
BNK 1, in terms of backed scraper frequencies, has more in common with sites
on the western Cape coastal plain than with those on its inland margin, which is
generally further from the coast than in the BNK 1 area. The sites studied by
Mazel possibly fall within the range of dates for BNK 1 layers 2 and 1 only
(J. Parkington 1979 pers. comm.). Both these layers have minimal frequencies
of backed scrapers (Table 7).
Segments are surprisingly abundant at Die Kelders, considering the largely
informal nature of the stone artefact assemblage. They outnumber scrapers by
almost 5:1 and account for 46,8 per cent of the total of ‘formal tools’
(Schweitzer 1979, table 15). Quartz is the predominant raw material (Schweit-
zer 1979, table 14), which accords with the chronologically comparable situa-
tion in BNK 1 layer 1 (cf. Fig. 14), although in this layer scrapers outnumber
segments by rather more than 2:1 (Table 7).
Goodwin (1938: 304-17) recorded the recovery of upwards of forty stone
‘crescents’ from the ‘Wilton’ layers at Oakhurst, as well as half a dozen from
the deposit immediately underlying his 36-inch (91,4 cm) test spit. These
Goodwin also associated with the ‘Wilton’. Another dozen segments were
recovered from the ‘Smithfield C’ deposits but it is not clear whether the six
included in Goodwin’s inventory for the 40-45 inch (102-114 cm) spit are the
same as those referred to above.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 145
Segments were most abundant at the ‘Smithfield C—Wilton’ interface, with
the next to highest frequencies at the top of the ‘Wilton’ deposit. This deposit
was also remarkable for the great number of ‘crescents’ made of the shell of the
black mussel Choromytilus meridionalis (Mytilus edulis in Goodwin’s text).
Only about a dozen of these were recovered from the ‘Smithfield C’ levels but
Goodwin (1938: 322) considered that they, as well as the stone segments,
should be ignored as intrusive material brought into the lower deposit by the
human burials. Goodwin (1938: 304) also considered that in the ‘Developed
Wilton’ segments made of shell largely replaced those made of stone.
Schrire (1962, table 3) recorded 23 segments (type 10) from the ‘Smithfield
C’ levels and 28 from the ‘Wilton’, which conflicts somewhat with the pre-
viously mentioned observations by Goodwin. However, conversion of the
percentage frequencies in Schrire’s table 4 gives a total of 18 segments in the
‘Smithfield C’ levels (36-60 inches) and 9 in the ‘Wilton’ (0-36 inches). There is
thus little clarity regarding the distribution of segments in the two units.
In the BNK 1 sample segments are most common in layers 9-5, layer 5
having the highest frequency, AD as well as actual. If layers 12-10 are
considered the equivalent of the “Smithfield C’ at Oakhurst and layer 5 to the
‘Developed Wilton’, then the correspondence between the two sites, where
segments are concerned, is not close. Shell ‘crescents’ were not recovered from
the deposits at BNK 1, although they are recorded from Die Kelders (Schweit-
Zeno 9> 53,459):
Two segments were recovered from the ‘Robberg’ layers at Nelson Bay
Cave, none from the ‘Albany’ and 32 from the ‘Wilton’, of which 23 came from
the uppermost layer, IC, excavated by Klein (J. Deacon 1978, table 1). In the
BNK 1 sequence segments are present only in layers 17 and 16 of the layers
chronologically comparable with the ‘Albany’ of Nelson Bay Cave, but present
in every layer from 12 up. The increasing frequency of segments in BNK 1
layers 9-5 and in the ‘Wilton’ of Nelson Bay Cave is similar, as is their relative
frequency in the ‘formal tool’ or retouched artefact category: 12,6 per cent of
the ‘Wilton’ total at Nelson Bay Cave and 13,6 per cent of the total for BNK 1
layers 9-5. However, whereas segments account for 76,2 per cent of the backed
tool class in the ‘Wilton’ sample from Nelson Bay Cave, they account for only
39,8 per cent of the class total in BNK 1 layers 9-5. The BNK 1 class of backed
pieces includes relatively high frequencies of backed scrapers in these layers, an
artefact type that is absent from the Nelson Bay Cave ‘Wilton’ sample.
H. J. Deacon (1976: 59) has observed that all the segments from Melk-
houtboom were made from flakes, and his table 12 shows that chalcedony is the
predominant raw material, with 20 per cent or less in each layer made of quartz
and/or other raw materials. The segments are restricted to the ‘Wilton’ layers
and Deacon’s table 25 indicates that they were more common in the lower
layers M—MB than in the upper CAF-S, a situation analogous to that at BNK 1
although the M—MB layers may be somewhat older than BNK 1 layers 9-5. The
mean length of the Melkhoutboom segments is within the range of variation of
146 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
the quartz segments from BNK 1 but the mean width is less than that of the
quartz and silcrete segments in layers 9-5. The mean length: width ratios
(converted from Deacon’s width:length ratios) are comparable with those of
BNK 1 layers 10, 9 and 5-1 and indicate a more elongate shape than those in
layers 8-6.
Segments from Wilton were relatively fewer than from BNK 1, accounting
for only 4,0 per cent of the tool category and 32,6 per cent of the backed tool
class (J. Deacon 1972, table 1, including broken segments). Segments account
for 11,6 per cent of the retouched artefact category in the BNK 1 sample, and
40,9 per cent of the backed artefact class. They are most common in Wilton
layer 3F, which is somewhat older than BNK 1 layer 5, which has the latter
site’s highest layer frequency. The Wilton segments are predominantly silcrete
and their mean length and width (J. Deacon 1972, fig. 5; Appendix A, table 8)
are within the range of those from BNK 1 layers 6-4. The average shape of the
Wilton segments is one in which the length is about three times the width while
in the BNK 1 segments the length is only 1,5—2,5 times the width.
Only two segments were recovered from the DGL member at Boomplaas
(H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, table 2). The BLD-BLD 1 and BLD 2 units from
which these came are within the upper time range of BNK 1 layer 1 which has a
relatively high frequency of segments: 14,8 per cent of the retouched artefact
category and 80,4 per cent of the backed artefact class.
At Buffelskloof Opperman (1978, table 2) recovered 104 segments, includ-
ing broken pieces. None were found below layer CH3 and slightly more than
haif the total came from layer BOL2 alone. This layer is about 1 000 years
younger than BNK 1 layer 9 and about 1 200 years older than layer 5. The
range of variation in the relative frequencies in the Buffelskloof layers is,
however, not great and is much the same as that in BNK 1 layers 10, 8 and 7,
all of which probably fall within the time range of the Buffelskloof layers.
Layer BOL1, which is approximately coeval with BNK 1 layer 5, has a low
frequency of segments, which account for only 5,9 per cent of the tool category,
compared with 14,6 per cent for BNK 1 layer 5. The mean length of the
Buffelskloof segments (Opperman 1978, table 16) is similar to that of the
silcrete segments from BNK 1 layers 9-7 and those in quartz from layer 6. The
mean width decreases from layer CH3-MDA and increases slightly in BOL1.
The segments in layer CH3 are similar to the quartz and silcrete segments in
BNK 1 layer 6, which are the widest of all the BNK 1 segments (Fig. 22), while
those from layers MDA and BOLI are similar to the quartz segments from
BNK 1 layers 5 and 4. In shape the Buffelskloof segments appear to follow a
reverse trend to that of the BNK 1 segments, being wider in layer CH3 than in
the overlying layers while in the BNK 1 segments the trend is for an incr2ase in
width from layer 9 to layer 6 and, after the anomalous reversion to a longer
shape in layer 5, the wider shape continues in the upper layers. A denticulate
segment similar to those from BNK 1 layers 9 and 12 (Fig. 20H) came from one
of the approximately contemporary Buffelskloof layers, CH1—CH3, although it
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 147
is somewhat larger than the BNK 1 segments, being approximately 15 mm long
(Opperman 1978, fig. 8.9).
Mazel (1978: 87) does not separate segments from his general class of
backed pieces, though they are listed separately in the inventories in his
Appendix 3. Segments are numerically most common at the two ‘lacustrine’
sites, Uithoek and Verlore. Five of the other eight sites have ‘formal tool’ totals
ranging from 13 to 67 which makes comparison of the relative frequencies in
the various classes with those from BNK 1 of doubtful value. It seems, though,
that although segment frequencies are low, they are higher at sites on the
coastal plain that at sites in or near the mountains.
J. Deacon (1974: 17) has observed that ‘assemblages from southern
Rhodesia and South Africa with more than 10 per cent of segments relative to
scrapers are likely to date to the middle of the Holocene sequence, while those
with more than 50 per cent segments in relation to other backed tools are likely
to be older than 4 000 B.p. It seems reasonable to propose that segments can be
regarded as a time-controlled feature or a “Temporal Type” in the later Stone
Age sequence in southern Africa and that they can be expected to occur in
quantity in horizons dated to between 7 000 and 3 000 B.p.’. Although part of
BNK 1 layer 1 falls within Deacon’s 7 000-3 000 B.P. time bracket, segments
account for 31,5 per cent of the scraper—-segment total and for 61,2 per cent of
the total of backed artefacts (Table 7). The Die Kelders Holocene deposits, all
of which are younger than 3 000 B.P., yielded 29 segments but only 6 scrapers
and 7 other backed artefacts (Schweitzer 1979, table 15) and thus also presents
a deviation from Deacon’s suggestions regarding the temporal distribution of
segments.
Backed flakes in the Die Kelders assemblage were included in the class of
‘other backed tools’, of which there were only six (Schweitzer 1979, table 15).
There were also few of these artefacts in BNK 1 layer 1.
There were apparently no backed flakes from Oakhurst (Schrire 1962, fig.
6; tables 3-4). They might have been included with scrapers, although Goodwin
(1938: 314), in commenting on the ‘Smithfield C’ deposit from which over 5 000
white quartz scrapers were recovered, mentioned that ‘in addition there are
some two hundred flakes of brown chalcedony, carefully used and showing
perfect cleavage, yet only in a dozen instances has any attempt been made to
trim these into implements’. This observation may also be taken to indicate that
there were no recognizable backed flakes in the overlying ‘Wilton’ deposits
since Goodwin (1938: 307, 310, 313) does not mention them.
There were only 5 backed flakes and bladelets from Nelson Bay Cave, 2 in
the ‘Robberg’ levels and 3 in the ‘Wilton’ (J. Deacon 1978, table 1).
Backed flakes are not listed separately in the inventories of artefacts from
Melkhoutboom (H. J. Deacon 1976) although Deacon’s table 9, which is
concerned with raw material frequencies, has two categories of flakes, un-
modified and retouched. Frequencies of retouched flakes in layers M and W are
particularly high, accounting for 33,2 and 42,9 per cent of the site total, and the
148 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
total for layer M alone (146) exceeds the BNK 1 site total for backed flakes.
There were more retouched flakes in the ‘Robberg? layer B than in the ‘Albany’
layers RF and MBS, but 93,2 per cent of the retouched flakes are in the
‘Wilton’ layers WBM-—OMB, a situation analogous to that of BNK 1 where 94,4
per cent of the backed flakes are in layers 9-1.
There are only 21 backed flakes in the Wilton stone artefact inventory
(J. Deacon 1972, table 1). Their maximum occurrence is in layers 3F and 3E,
which may be approximately coeval with BNK 1 layers 6 and 5. These layers
mark the end of the period of relatively high frequency that began in layer 9.
Only three backed flakes and blades are recorded from the DGL member
at Boomplaas (H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, table 2) and these come from the
lowest part of the member, layers BLD 2 and 2a.
Of the twenty backed flakes from Buffelskloof (Opperman 1978, table 2),
twelve came from layer BOL2 which 1s possibly about the same age as BNK 1
layers 8-7.
Mazel (1978, Appendix III) does not have a separate class of backed flakes
and if there were any recovered they are probably included in his class of
miscellaneous backed pieces.
Backed blades were rare at Oakhurst, only two being recorded from the
lowest of the ‘Wilton’ levels (Schrire 1962, tables 3-4).
Although bladelet cores are considered a diagnostic feature of the ‘Rob-
berg’ industry at Nelson Bay Cave and ‘a number’ of unworked bladelets were
recovered, a total of only five backed flakes and bladelets is recorded from the
site (J. Deacon 1978: 88, 100; table 1; fig. 4). Two were from the ‘Robberg’
levels and three from the ‘Wilton’. This suggests that if blades were being
produced in any quantity they were not being backed or were used and
abandoned away from the site more than at it.
At Melkhoutboom (H. J. Deacon 1976, tables 10-11) backed bladelets
were recovered in low frequencies (maximum 6) from all the ‘Wilton’ layers
except the lowest, WBM. In contrast a total of 122 backed bladelets was
recovered from Highlands Rock Shelter in the Cradock district (H. J. Deacon
1976, table 44). These came from the Upper Member, for which a maximum
date of 4 500 + 60 years B.P. was obtained. Deacon (1976: 129) has interpreted
the virtual lack of segments at Highlands (only one was found) and the
abundance of backed blades, compared with the reverse situation at Melkhout-
boom, as indicating ‘a significant difference in formal hafted tool design and
preference’ reflecting “some measure of social distance’.
Over 100 backed blades and snapped backed blades were recovered from
Wilton (J. Deacon 1972, table 1). These were most common in layers 3F (31)
and 3C (27), which are possibly contemporary with BNK 1 layers 6—4, from
which just over half the site total of backed blades came. The frequencies of
these artefacts from Wilton are, however, very different from all the sites
discussed so far except Highlands, and it is of some interest that the name site
of the “Wilton industry’ should, even in one respect, have more in common
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 149
with a ‘Smithfield’ site (H. J. Deacon 1976: 168-169) than with other sites
containing ‘Wilton’ deposits.
At Boomplaas only three backed ‘flakes/blades’ were recovered, from the
basal units of the DGL member (H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, table 2) while
Opperman (1978, table 2) recorded twenty-six backed blades from Buffels-
kloof. These came from the uppermost layers, MDA-BOL1, with BOL2 alone
contributing twenty-three. These layers may be the same age as BNK 1 layers
7-4, from which almost half the site’s backed blades were recovered.
In the samples from the western Cape sites studied by Mazel (1978,
Appendix III), frequencies of backed blades are generally low, ranging from 0
to 5 per cent of the ‘formal tools’; but at three sites, Kookfontein, Koopmans-
kraal and Verlore, they account for 6 to 10 per cent. Mazel (1978: 87) has
observed that backed pieces (as a class, including backed blades) have higher
frequencies at sites in the Sandveld (sic) than at those in the mountains, but
there is no clear correlation between the frequency of backed blades and
locality. For example, the Verlore and Uithoek sites are only about 10 km
apart and both are on the coastal plain, although Verlore is rather closer to the
sea and to the Verlore Vlei lagoon. Backed blades account for 9,7 per cent of
the Verlore ‘formal tools’, while at Uithoek they account for only 1,5 per cent.
Conversely, at Koopmanskraal and Kookfontein backed blades account for 6
per cent of the category total at each site, though the former is in the interior of
the coastal plain and the latter near the mountains.
Borers were minimally represented at Nelson Bay Cave by two in the
lower ‘Wilton’ layers RA and BSC (J. Deacon 1978, table 1). These layers are
about the same age as, or slightly younger than BNK 1 layers 10 and 9.
Borers were similarly restricted to the ‘Wilton’ layers at Melkhoutboom
(H. J. Deacon 1976, tables 10-11) with maximum frequencies of 10-12 in the M
and MB units, which are contemporary with BNK 1 layer 10 and some of the
overlying layers.
There were also few borers in the Wilton sample (J. Deacon 1972, table 1).
They have their maximum frequency (8) in layer 3F, which is about 1 000 years
older than BNK 1 layer 5.
One borer is recorded from the basal unit, BLD 2a, of the DGL member
at Boomplaas (H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, table 2) while eight were found at
Buffelskloof, sporadically distributed through layers HE1-BOL2 (Opperman
1978, table 2). These layers span the probable time range of BNK 1 layers
13-7.
Borers were recorded from only 5 of Mazel’s 10 western Cape sites (Mazel
1978, Appendix III), with only Koopmanskraal and Verlore, each in a different
environment, yielding more than 10, Verlore having a high total of 54, although
these account for only 3,9 per cent of the ‘formal tools’, a frequency similar to
that for BNK 1.
Notched flakes are something of a typological or terminological problem in
the inter-site comparisons. Schrire (1962: 191) mentions the presence of ‘small
150 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
saws’ in the ‘Smithfield B’ assemblage from Oakhurst, but her inventories in
figure 6 and tables 3 and 4 list a separate category of ‘denticulates’ (type 7).
These are most common in the ‘Smithfield C’ but are also present in the
‘Wilton’ and possibly also in the ‘Smithfield B’: two are listed as from these
deposits in Schrire’s table 3 but do not appear in figure 6 or table 4. In the
BNK 1 assemblage denticulates are more common in the upper layers than in
the lower, a situation different from that at Oakhurst.
Sampson (1974, table 71) has listed the presence of ‘notched scrapers’ in
assemblages from five southern Cape sites, from Nelson Bay Cave to Klasies
River Mouth and AndrieskraalI. J. Deacon (1978, table 1) has, however,
included the notched pieces from Nelson Bay Cave in the category of utilized
artefacts rather than with the ‘formal tools’. Over 500 notched flakes were
recovered, a situation very different from that at BNK 1, and they were
recovered from every layer, showing, as does the BNK 1 sample, that this is an
artefact type that transcends ‘industrial’ divisions. Only seven ‘notched
scrapers’ were recorded from Andrieskraal I (J. Deacon 1965, table 1), and the
Klasies River Mouth data are still to be published.
At least three of the ‘slugs’ from Sandy Bay (Rudner & Rudner 1954: 104
figures 4-6) would fit into the class of notched flakes as defined for the BNK 1
assemblage except that one, no. 6, has scraper retouch as well. No. 5 is
described in the caption as a ‘serrated slug’ and Sampson (1974, fig. 153.3)
reproducing the same illustration, has called it a ‘denticulate piece’.
BONE ARTEFACTS
Although the sample of bone artefacts from BNK 1 is much smaller than
those from Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, table 2) and Nelson Bay Cave
(J. Deacon 1978, table 4) it covers much the same range. Where BNK 1 differs
significantly from Nelson Bay Cave, however, is that bone artefacts were
sufficiently abundant in the ‘Albany’ layers to allow J. Deacon (1978: 104) to
postulate that ‘the reaction of the people in the southern Cape to the environ-
mental changes coincident with a rising sea level and warmer conditions at the
end of the Pleistocene . . . was [inter alia] . . . to make a wide range of bone
rather than stone Formal Tools’. In BNK 1 layers 18-10, even though
retouched stone artefacts are relatively rare, particularly in layers 18-13, they
outnumber bone artefacts by 31:1, or 23:1 if scrapers are excluded. In the
‘Albany’ layers of Nelson Bay Cave bone artefacts exceed retouched stone by
2:1 or almost 28:1 if scrapers are excluded. The BNK 1 evidence for the lower
layers points to a lower degree of occupation rather than a major change in the
traditions of artefact manufacture. Bone artefacts seem to be more common at
coastal sites than at inland ones (cf. J. Deacon 1972: 14 re Wilton; H. J.
Deacon 1976: 49 re Melkhoutboom, table 39 re Highlands; H. J. Deacon et al.
1978, table 6 re Boomplaas; Opperman 1978: 21 re Buffelskloof) and BNK 1
seems intermediate between the two groups.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 tot
Fish gorges have a much greater temporal restriction at BNK 1 than at
Nelson Bay Cave, where they were found in every layer from the final
‘Robberg’ (BSL) to the first ‘Wilton’ (RA) thus spanning the period from about
12 000 to 6 000 B.P. (J. Deacon 1978, fig. 3, table 4). In the BNK 1 sample they
are present only in layers 15-13 which perhaps span the period 10 000-8 000
B.P. Parkington (19806: 317) reports the presence of about 800 of these arte-
facts at Elands Bay Cave, mostly in layer 12, which is dated to around
9 600 B.P.
Ornaments from BNK 1 cover a wider range than the sample from Die
Kelders (Schweitzer 1979: 137, fig. 18D) but not unlike that from Nelson Bay
Cave, where they were found in most layers but chiefly in the ‘Albany’ and
‘Wilton’ (J. Deacon 1978, table 4).
MARINE SHELL ARTEFACTS
Ornaments similar to those from BNK 1, apart from those made from
Donax serra, were also found at Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, table 4)
although the relative frequencies of the different types at the two sites differ.
Nassa kraussiana beads as well as perforated Donax serra were recovered at
Melkhoutboom (H. J. Deacon 1976, figs 28.2, 29) and Nassa kraussiana beads
are also recorded from the DGL member at Boomplaas (H. J. Deacon et al.
1978, table 10).
Pendants from BNK 1 have shapes in common with those from Die
Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, fig. 21) although the latter lack the triangular shape
(Fig. 35A, 36D-G), nor do any of the Die Kelders pendants have decorated
edges.
The illustrations of the ornaments from Oakhurst (Goodwin 1938, figs
18-62) do not always receive comment in the text but it is evident that shell
ornaments, including pendants, were recovered from the ‘Wilton’ layers. Good-
win (1938: 316) does mention that nacre ornaments were found in the ‘Smithfield
C’ deposits though these were rare and came from the upper 9 in. (23 cm).
Shell ornaments are not recorded from the lower ‘Wilton’ deposits at
Nelson Bay Cave excavated by Klein (J. Deacon 1978) but were recovered
from the upper deposits excavated by Inskeep and include designs similar to
that from BNK 1 shown in Figure 36I (Inskeep 1978, fig. 15).
Pendants made of Turbo sp. shell are recorded from the W unit at
Melkhoutboom which is dated to between 6 980-5 900 B.p. (H. J. Deacon 1976,
fig. 28; table 2). This makes their occurrence approximately contemporaneous
with their first appearance at BNK 1. The Melkhoutboom pendants are mostly
circular to oval and are unperforated as well as perforated, and four of the six
illustrated have notched or denticulate edges. This type of decoration, occur-
ring at BNK 1, Nelson Bay Cave and Melkhoutboom, appears to have been
widespread.
Edge-damaged Donax serra valves or fragments were recovered in fairly
high frequencies from Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, fig. 23, table 10). They
iS ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
are also recorded, in small numbers, from Oakhurst (Goodwin 1938: 307) and
apparently came only from the ‘Wilton’ layers. At Melkhoutboom, Donax serra
is present throughout the entire sequence (H. J. Deacon 1976, table 4a), but it
is not recorded when edge-damaged pieces first appear. H. J. Deacon (1976,
fig. 29) has suggested that the edge modification could have resulted from
utilization ‘although a very similar edge results in [sic] removing the central part
of the valve’. At Elands Bay Cave, Donax ‘scrapers’ were recovered from
layers dated at about 8 000 B.p. (Parkington 1979: 11), at about the same time
as they first appear at BNK 1, but apparently earlier than at Oakhurst.
OSTRICH EGG-SHELL ARTEFACTS
Decorated ostrich egg-shell was not found at Die Kelders, nor were any
pendants (Schweitzer 1979: 149-50). Fragments of ‘flask’ openings were found,
however, and this suggests that their absence from BNK 1 layer 1 is probably
fortuitous.
The presence of decorated ostrich egg-shell in the ‘Smithfield C’ deposits at
Oakhurst (Goodwin 1938: 317; fig. 60) supports the evidence from BNK 1 that
the practice of decorating ostrich egg-shell was not confined to the ‘Wilton’,
and the presence of fragments decorated with the ‘ladder pattern’ (Fig. 37B—C)
at Boomplaas (H. J. Deacon et al. 1978, fig. 12.6-7) indicates that this type of
decoration is not locally restricted.
POTTERY.
There is little that can be said about the pottery from BNK 1 except that
the sherds point to a relationship with the pottery from the upper layers of Die
Kelders (Schweitzer 1979: 162-169) and fall within the general range of coastal
pottery described by Rudner (1968). The Donax-impressed decoration (Fig.
38A-B; Schweitzer 1979, figs 30, 31A) cannot be claimed as part of a distinctive
tradition restricted to the Agulhas region since similarly decorated sherds have
been recovered from Diepkloof, near Elands Bay Cave (Wilson 1974, fig.
17.3-5), and possibly elsewhere (cf. Rudner 1968, figs 6.1, 10.6, 31.51). In
passing, it is perhaps worth mentioning that in the only known painted site in
the Agulhas region, a cave in the Kleinriviersberge some kilometres east of
Stanford, are hand-prints with semicircular patterns similar to those at Elands
Bay Cave (W. van Ryssen 1981, pers. comm.).
Spouted pots have been found at coastal sites from the Saldanha area to
East London (Rudner 1968, table 6) and Rudner (1968: 455) mentions that
they have also been found at inland sites.
METAL ARTEFACTS
Metal artefacts are rare in Late Stone Age deposits in the southern Cape,
possibly because metal in its raw form was not readily available and most of the
Khoisan peoples of the area might have lacked the knowledge necessary for its
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 153
extraction and processing. If metal artefacts were scarce they would have had
added value as objects of status, or for barter, and they might have been
considered too valuable to be discarded even when worn out or broken, or to
be buried with their owners.
Goodwin (1956: 50) is unlikely to be correct in his assertion that ‘the Cape
Hottentots had no metals and no knowledge of metal-working in 1650’. In the
earliest record of contact between voyagers from Europe and the local inhabi-
tants of the Cape, which took place at St. Helena Bay in November 1497, the
writer of the journal of Vasco da Gama’s voyage recorded that the Portuguese
traded the artefacts of the inhabitants for small copper coins and observed:
‘From this it seemed to us that they prized copper; and they also wore small
beads of it in their ears’ (Raven-Hart 1967: 4). St. Helena Bay is about 130 km
distant from Table Bay (Fig. 1) and it seems unlikely that the inhabitants of the
Cape Peninsula would not have had access to copper artefacts, especially when
the Cochoqua or ‘Saldanhars’ are considered, whose annual pastoral migration
included the whole of the coastal area between the two bays. If, as seems
likely, the source of the metal was the north-western Cape, movement of the
metal from tribe to tribe quite possibly extended along the southern Cape as
well. In any event, extracts from the journals of visitors to the Cape prior to
1652 (Raven-Hart 1967) provide abundant testimony of an awareness of the
uses of metals, particularly copper and brass, to the extent that, as Goodwin
(1956: 47) himself observed, they were ‘willing to trade their beloved cattle to
obtain it’.
The Namaqua, whose territory lay in the north-western Cape, certainly
had the ability to extract and work the copper ores that are still mined in the
vicinity of Springbok, as testified to in the records of the expeditions by
Meerhof in 1661 (Moodie 1838: 400-412) and Simon van der Stel in 1685-6
(Waterhouse ed. 1932). There seems little reason to doubt that the copper
plates and beads produced by the Namaqua would have been traded with the
tribes to the south, even though the mechanics of trade among the early
Khoisan are still poorly understood.
In any event, it is quite clear from the early records that by the end of the
seventeenth century, the date indicated for the bead from BNK 1, a consider-
able quantity of metal had been in circulation among the Khoisan for a century
or more. It would be interesting to know what became of it all.
MAMMALS
The mammalian fauna from Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, table 27) covers
as wide a range as that from BNK 1 layer 1. There are thirty-two taxa in the
Die Kelders sample as against twenty-seven in BNK layer 1. Nine taxa in the
Die Kelders sample are not present in the BNK 1 layer 1 sample: ?Canis
familiaris, Genetta sp(p)., Felis cf. serval, Mirounga leonina, Loxodonta afri-
cana, ?Bos taurus, Tragelaphus scriptus, Pelea capreolus and Cetacea. Of these,
Loxodonta africana and Pelea capreolus are both present in BNK 1 layer 4 and
i154) ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
below, suggesting a chance element in their absence from layer 1. Present in
the BNK 1 layer 1 sample but absent from the Die Kelders sample are Aonyx
capensis, Herpestes ichneumon, Hyaena brunnea, and Felis cf. caracal. It is
possible that the felines from the two sites may be the same species, and none
of the others are so habitat-specific that they would be restricted to one side of
the Franskraal Mountains or, in the case of Muirounga leonina and the
cetaceans, to Walker Bay, although this is a favoured area for whales in the
breeding and calving seasons. There is one positively identified Damaliscus
dorcas in the Die Kelders sample as well as another six probable identifications.
This raises problems with regard to the ascription of the absence of this species
from BNK 1 after layer 11 to environmental factors: unless these antelope are
not predominantly grazers, the eastern side of Walker Bay is, and probably has
been for the past few thousand years, a less likely habitat than the area to the
east of BNK 1 (cf. Schweitzer 1979: 113-114, and the section on vegetation in
the present report).
The Die Kelders sample (n = 2 017) is considerably larger than that from
BNK 1 layer 1 (n= 90) but, while both are numerically dominated by Bathyer-
gus Suillus, at Die Kelders this species accounts for 71,5 per cent of the total
whereas in BNK 1 layer 1 it constitutes only 41,1 per cent of the total. The size
class distribution of all animals in both samples is largely similar, with frequen-
cies generally ranked inversely to size, i.e. very small animals are most
common, very large least so.
After Bathyergus suillus the most common species at Die Kelders are
Raphicerus spp. and Arctocephalus pusillus, followed at some distance by Ovis
aries. In the BNK 1 layer 1 sample Raphicerus spp. also rank second but Ovis
aries ranks third and is followed by Syncerus caffer, which ranks only sixth at
Die Kelders. As at BNK 1, identified Raphicerus melanotis is more common
at Die Kelders than R. campestris. Arctocephalus pusillus accounts for only
5,0 per cent of the Die Kelders site total, but this is higher than at BNK 1,
where it accounts for 2,2 per cent of the layer 1 total and 2,5 per cent of the
site total.
Comparison of the BNK 1 mammals with those from Nelson Bay Cave on
the basis of comparable chronology is restricted to Nelson Bay Cave layers
BSL-IC and BNK 1 layer 19 to somewhere between layers 9 and 5. Account
must also be taken of the hiatus in the Nelson Bay Cave sequence between
layers RA and RB (J. Deacon 1978: 100-101), which covers the period of
deposition of BNK 1 layers 13/12-10.
The Nelson Bay Cave mammals have been analysed by Klein (1972a,
1972b, 1974) and a later paper (Klein 1976a) has frequency diagrams that
include data from the upper levels excavated by Inskeep. The most complete
numerical data are, however, in Klein’s third paper and it is these that have
been used for the present comparison. In this paper Klein (1974, table 4) has
grouped the frequencies into ‘Robberg’, ‘Albany’ and ‘Wilton’ units which may
be considered as broadly analogous to BNK 1 layers 19-18, 17—13/12 and 9-6.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 155
However, for the purpose of the present comparison the BNK 1 sample is
simply divided into the lower layers, 19-10, and the upper, 9-1.
The Nelson Bay Cave sample is some 30 per cent larger than that from
BNK 1 and contains forty taxa, of which sixteen are bovids. More than half
(52,7 %) of the individuals are in the ‘Wilton’ deposits, with 28,9 per cent in the
‘Albany’ and 18,3 per cent in the ‘Robberg’. In the BNK 1 sample 64,4 per cent
of the site total came from layers 1-9, 27,2 per cent from layers 10-17 and 8,4
per cent from layers 18 and 19.
There are 27 species in the ‘Robberg’ of Nelson Bay Cave, 27 in the
‘Albany’ and 25 in the ‘Wilton’. This indicates that, as was the case at BNK 1,
although there was some shift in the species hunted, the change was more in
the frequency with which certain species were procured rather than in a
broadening of the range.
Taxa common to both sites but restricted to the “Robberg’ at Nelson Bay
Cave are Hyaena brunnea, Equus cf. quagga, Redunca arundinum, Damaliscus
sp., and possibly Connochaetes sp. and Lepus cf. capensis. Of these, Hyaena
brunnea is found at BNK 1 up to layer 1, Equus cf. quagga up to layer 9,
Redunca arundinum up to layer 6, Damaliscus dorcas up to layer 11, and
Connochaetes/Alcelaphus and Leporidae up to layer 1.
Species restricted to the “Robberg’ and ‘Albany’ at Nelson Bay Cave
include Phacochoerus aethiopicus, Oreotragus oreotragus and Taurotragus oryx.
Phacochoerus aethiopicus was found only in layer 13 at BNK 1, Oreotragus
oreotragus sporadically up to layer 1, and Taurotragus oryx in layers 19-16 and
7. There are no species common to both sites that are restricted to the ‘Albany’
at Nelson Bay Cave and are not also found in the lower layers of BNK 1.
Species restricted to the ‘Wilton’ at Nelson Bay Cave are Aonyx capensis,
Atilax paludinosus, and Felis libyca. Aonyx capensis was found at BNK 1 only
in layers 4 and 1, and Atilax paludinosus only in layer 14 while Felis libyca was
present sporadically in layers 19-13, then in every layer from 6 up. Eleven
species, seven of them bovid, as well as Delphinidae, are not present in the
BNK 1 sample. Species present in the BNK 1 sample but not in that from
Nelson Bay Cave are Ictonyx striatus, Loxodonta africana, Diceros
bicornis/Rhinocerotidae, Raphicerus campestris, Ovis aries, and Bathyergus
suillus.
Arctocephalus pusillus, of which only one doubtfully identified individual
was present in the ‘Robberg’, is otherwise the most common species at Nelson
Bay Cave and accounts for about 20 per cent of the site total, whereas at
BNK 1 it ranks sixth in order of frequency and accounts for only 2,5 per cent of
the site total. The bovid species account for about 42 per cent of the site total at
both sites. Of these, 24,8 per cent are in the ‘Robberg’ at Nelson Bay Cave,
29,4 per cent in the ‘Albany’ and 45,9 per cent in the ‘Wilton’ while at BNK 1
40,9 per cent are in the lower layers and 59,1 per cent in the upper. If
consideration is given to the fact that Nelson Bay has a longer ‘Robberg’
sequence than the comparable layers (19-18) at BNK 1, lacks the final ‘Albany’
156 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
(or initial “Wilton’) and final “Wilton’ sequences, the differences in the frequen-
cles given above may have a reduced significance.
In terms of frequencies in the size classes used for the analysis of the
BNK 1 mammals, Neison Bay Cave provides the following rankings, from
highest to lowest (in the two cases where the classes are joined by ‘and’ this
indicates that they are of equal rank):
‘Robberg’: very small, small medium and large medium, large, small, very
large;
‘Albany’: small medium, small, very small and large medium, large, very
large;
‘Wilton’: small medium, small, very small, large, large medium, very
large.
It will thus be seen that the general trend is for the larger size classes to
become less frequent through time, although in the ‘Robberg’ it is the smallest
size class that predominates and in the ‘Albany’ and ‘Wilton’ there is only a
difference in the ranking of the large and large medium size classes and in each
case the three smaller size classes have the highest ranking.
The lower layers of BNK 1 may be divided into two groups on the basis
of size class ranking. Layers 19-16 have the very small and large medium size
classes in the first two rankings, with small, small medium or large ranking
third. Layers 15-11 have large medium ranking first and two of the three
smaller size classes ranking second and third. The major difference from the
‘Albany’ of Nelson Bay Cave is that there it is the small medium size class
that ranks highest. Where the upper layers of BNK 1 and the ‘Wilton’ of
Nelson Bay Cave are concerned the only difference is in the ranking of the
three smaller size classes, all of which rank higher than the three larger size
classes.
Klein (1974: 273-276) has suggested that the presence of Equus cf. quagga,
Damaliscus dorcas, Connochaetes cf. gnou, Antidorcas cf. marsupialis, and
possibly also the extinct Pelorovis sp. and Megalotragus sp. ‘clearly imply more
Open vegetation near Nelson Bay in Robberg times’. Although the ‘Albany’
deposits lack the predominantly grazing animals of the “Robberg’, Klein con-
siders that the presence of Phacochoerus aethiopicus and Taurotragus oryx
suggests ‘more open vegetation than the historic evergreen forest’. He also
observes that faunal assemblages from sites as far afield from Nelson Bay Cave
as Wilton and Elands Bay Cave reveal ‘a common emphasis on smaller
terrestrial animals, especially very small bovids’ in ‘Wilton’ times. Klein sees
this as being ‘in marked contrast to the preceding Albany and may reflect
end-Pleistocene/early Holocene environmental change leading to reduction in
suitable grazing for many large bovids over much of the Southern Cape’. The
increased frequency of small bovids the size of Raphicerus is evident in the
upper deposits of both sites, but appears more marked at BNK 1 because of the
dominance of Arctocephalus pusillus in both the ‘Albany’ and ‘Wilton’ of
Nelson Bay Cave.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 ey
While Bathyergus suillus is the dominant small animal at both BNK 1 and
Die Kelders, at Nelson Bay Cave it is Procavia capensis, a fact no doubt
reflecting the lack of a suitable sandveld environment for Bathyergus suillus in
the vicinity of that site. Species such as Tragelaphus scriptus, Sylvicapra
grimmia, and Ourebia ourebi reflect a variety of environments in the vicinity of
the cave, but it is probably only Tragelaphus scriptus that might not have found
a suitable habitat in the area around BNK 1, although one individual is
recorded from layer 12 of Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, table 27). Dorst &
Dandelot (1972: 223) indicate that the present distribution of this species is
only east of Cape Agulhas.
The fauna from Klasies River Mouth (Klein 1976a) is mostly from M.S.A.
deposits and therefore not directly comparable with that from BNK 1, although
it is worth noting that the bulk of the bovids were from these levels. The
samples from the L.S.A. deposits in Caves 1, 1D and 5 (Klein 1976a, tables 1,
4) are too small to allow for more than the observation that the faunal list is
much the same as those for Nelson Bay Cave and BNK 1. Arctocephalus
pusillus and Syncerus caffer are the most common species in the L.S.A. levels
of Cave 1, followed by Alcelaphus buselaphus and Raphicerus melanotis, and
Arctocephalus pusillus is also the most common species in Caves 1D and 5.
The faunal sample from Melkhoutboom (H. J. Deacon 1976, table 35) is
much the same size as that from BNK 1. The ‘Robberg’ deposits (B unit) are
beyond the time range of BNK 1, and show a predominance of large grazers,
while the small bovid species are absent.
In the ‘Albany’ deposits RF and MBS the large grazers still predominate,
although Hippotragus and Alcelaphus are present only in the lower unit.
Damaliscus cf. dorcas is present only in this unit, in which several of the smaller
species first occur. The three highest rankings in these units in the size classes
for all mammals are: large medium, small medium, ard small, a situation
different from that for the lower layers of BNK 1.
In the “Wilton’ units at Melkhoutboom Equus cf. quagga is present only in
the lowest two units and is absent after about 7 000 B.p., about 1 000 years
before it disappears from the BNK 1 deposits. Raphicerus sp., probably
R. melanotis on the basis of Klein’s observations (see discussion at the end of
this section), is the most common species, followed by Tragelaphus scriptus and
T. strepsiceros. Syncerus caffer first appears in the lowest unit, WBM, and
Pelea capreolus in the overlying M unit whereas in the BNK 1 sample Syncerus
caffer is present from layer 19 and Pelea capreolus from layer 14. The three
highest rankings in the size classes are small, small medium, and very small.
The frequencies of the first two are almost equal and the distribution is thus
closer to that of the ‘Wilton’ layers from Nelson Bay Cave than to that from
BNK 1 layers 9-1.
Excluding Homo sapiens, the ‘undetermined antelope’ from the M unit
and Otomys sp. there are 11 species in the ‘Robberg’ at Melkhoutboom, and 21
each in the ‘Albany’ and ‘Wilton’. Of the total of 32 species, 22 (or the same
158 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
genera, at least) are also present in the BNK 1 sample. Some of the species in
the Melkhoutboom sample, but not in that from BNK 1, have a preference for
a more closed habitat, e.g. Tragelaphus scriptus, T. strepsiceros, and Cephalo-
phus monticola, while others such as Sylvicapra grimmia and Ourebia ourebi
prefer more open habitats, suggesting a mosaic of vegetation types in the area.
The absence of any of the species from the various units at Melkhoutboom,
particularly in the upper units, may be attributable to chance: as at BNK 1 the
layers with the highest totals tend also to have the greatest variety of species. It
may, alternatively, reflect changes in the vegetation; but by and large the
presence of the species mentioned suggests an environment different from that
around BNK 1.
The faunal list from Wilton (J. Deacon 1972, table 4) reveals the exploita-
tion of a much smaller range than the sites hitherto discussed. Excluding the
micromammals, there are 2—7 taxa in the individual layers, compared with 26 in
BNK 1 layer or 23 in layer 5, and a total of 15 taxa are represented, compared
with 36 at BNK 1, 32 at Die Kelders, 40 at Nelson Bay Cave and 32 at
Melkhoutboom.
The Wilton faunal sample does not show a predominance of the very small
size class. The ranking of the size classes, from highest to lowest, is: small,
small medium, very small, and large medium. The large and very large size
classes are not represented, but otherwise the predominance of the smaller size
classes is similar to the pattern for the upper layers of BNK 1, the Holocene
deposits at Die Kelders, and the ‘Wilton’ deposits at Nelson Bay Cave and
Melkhoutboom. The Wilton faunal sample consists principally of small and
small medium bovids, in terms of Klein’s and Brain’s size classes and as such is
markedly different from that of the upper layers of BNK 1 in which, although
small bovids are the largest individual bovid size class, there is a higher
frequency of large medium and large bovids than of small medium, except in
layer 1; and the very small non-bovid species are also more common at BNK 1
than at Wilton.
The preliminary analysis of the fauna from Boomplaas (Klein 19785,
table 1) suggests much the same range of species as is present in the BNK 1
sample. Among the more marked differences between the two sites is the
persistence at Boomplaas of Equus zebra/quagga through to the terminal
deposit while at BNK 1 E. cf. quagga is not present after layer 9, some 4 000
years earlier. Potamochoerus porcus and/or Suidae-general occur only sporadi-
cally at Boomplaas until the lower ‘herder’ levels while at BNK 1 they are
present throughout the sequence, except in layer 11. Damaliscus dorcas/niro is
present at Boomplaas only in the lowest but one of the ‘Albany’ layers, while at
BNK 1 D. dorcas is absent only after layer 11, perhaps 2 000-3 000 years later
than at Boomplaas.
In the ‘Robberg’ levels at Boomplaas large medium bovids are the most
common of the bovid size classes, followed by large, and with small and small
medium ranking equal third. In the remaining levels small bovids are most
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 159
common, but in the ‘Albany’ large medium rank second and small medium
third, while in the ‘Wilton’ and ‘Herder’ levels this order is reversed. The
Boomplaas data seem to suggest that the introduction of domestic sheep into
the area affected the hunting, not of small bovids as might be expected but of
large medium and large ones, although these are not common, even in the
preceding ‘Wilton’ levels. BNK 1 layer 1 contains a sub-unit without Ovis aries
but the pattern for this layer, compared with the underlying layers, is for a
decline in the frequency of small and large medium bovids while the frequency
of small medium, in which Ovis aries is included, and large both increase.
When all species are considered, the Boomplaas sample indicates changes
in the three top ranking size class frequencies:
‘Robberg’: large medium, large, very small;
‘Albany’: small, large medium, small medium;
“Wilton’: very small, small, small medium;
‘Herder’: small, small medium, very small.
This shows that while the pattern of ranking for the ‘Wilton’ of Boomplaas
is identical to that of the upper layers of BNK 1 there are differences between
the two sites where the lower layers are concerned, since the ranking for the
lower layers of BNK 1 is large medium, very small, and small.
Klein (1978a, table 1) has also analysed the fauna from Buffelskloof.
Although the sample is small, maximally 146 individual mammals in twenty-five
taxa, the pattern of ranking of the size classes in the ‘Wilton’ levels is much the
same as at Boomplaas and BNK 1, although there is a relatively higher
frequency of large medium animals. These account for 16,0 per cent of the
‘Wilton’ total at Buffelskloof, 9,0 per cent at Boomplaas and only 4,4 per cent
of the total for the upper layers at BNK 1. This gain is largely at the expense of
the very small size class, which is some 12,0 per cent higher at Boomplaas and
BNK 1 than it is at Buffelskloof.
As is the case in the lower layers of BNK 1 the large medium size class
ranks highest in the ‘Albany’ layers at Buffelskloof. However, while at Buffels-
kloof the very small size class ranks second and the small third, in the lower
layers of BNK 1 the second and third rankings vary, from large medium
generally second in layers 19-16 and small or small medium third, while in
layers 15-11 the second and third rankings are generally filled from the three
smaller size classes.
In terms of relative chronology the fauna from Elands Bay Cave (Parking-
ton 1980b, table 1), also analysed by Klein, may be divided into two units,
layers 16-10 relating to BNK 1 layers 19-14/13, and layers 9-1 relating to BNK
1 layers 4/3-1. The Elands Bay Cave faunal list does not include Arctocephalus
pusillus, which is listed separately (table 3) but is included in the comparisons
that follow.
The three highest ranking size class frequencies for Elands Bay Cave are:
layers 16-10: small, very small, small medium;
layers 9-1: small medium, very small, small.
160 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
In the selected BNK 1 layers the rankings are:
layers 19-13: large medium, small medium, small;
layers 4-1: small, small medium, very small.
This shows that while the only difference in the samples from the upper
layers of both sites is the order in which the three smaller size classes rank, and
the same is also true for both groups of the Elands Bay Cave layers, whereas in
the lower layers of BNK 1 the large medium size class is highest ranked but
does not appear in the Elands Bay Cave top rankings. There is, in fact, less
difference between the samples from the upper and lower layers of Elands Bay
Cave than between those of BNK 1.
The three smaller size classes account for 86,5 per cent of the total for the
lower layers at Elands Bay Cave but only 42,9 per cent of the total for BNK 1
layers 19-13. The large medium size class accounts for only 3,8 per cent of the
total for the lower layers at Elands Bay Cave but 37,5 per cent of the total for
those at BNK 1. In the upper layers the three smaller size classes account for
91,4 per cent of the Elands Bay Cave total and 79,6 per cent of the BNK 1
total.
Raphicerus spp. are the most common mammals at Elands Bay Cave,
followed by Bathyergus suillus and Arctocephalus pusillus. While Raphicerus
melanotis is the more common of the two species at BNK 1 and R. campestris
apparently only a later arrival some 4 000 years ago, R. melanotis is the more
common species in the lower layers of Elands Bay Cave, but after the hiatus,
i.e. from about 4 000 years ago, R. campestris is more common. Bathyergus
suillus is more common in the lower layers of Elands Bay Cave than in the
upper, with 72 per cent of the site total in layers 14-10 alone, while in the BNK
1 sample almost 82 per cent of the site total comes from layers 9-1. Elands Bay
Cave layer 12 yielded half the site total of Arctocephalus pusillus but apart from
this frequencies in the upper layers are higher than in the lower. This species
does not, however, assume the importance at Elands Bay Cave that it does in
the ‘Albany’ and ‘Wilton’ deposits at Nelson Bay Cave.
DISCUSSION
On the basis of the radiocarbon dates for BNK 1, layer 19 and probably
some of the overlying layers, up to but not including layer 14, fall within the
conventional dating of the terminal Pleistocene, while the remaining layers are
within the time range of the Holocene. The restriction of the single Equus ctf.
capensis to layer 19 is thus not unexpected since this animal is listed among
those considered to have become extinct by the end of the Pleistocene (Klein
1974, table 3; 1980: 265). At the other end of the chronological scale, the
restriction of Ovis aries to layer 1 is likewise not surprising, since domestic
sheep have not been recorded from archaeological deposits in the southern
Cape before about 2 000 B.p. (Schweitzer & Scott 1973, G. Avery 1974, H. J.
Deacon et al. 1978, Schweitzer 1979). Sheep remains found in the lowest
sub-unit of layer 1 are considered to be intrusive and the date of 1 880 + 50
SS
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 161
years B.P. probably marks the earliest occurrence of these animals in the BNK 1
deposits.
Although the evidence of a single occurrence cannot be regarded as
conclusive, the restriction of Phacochoerus aethiopicus to layer 13 may be
related to the disappearance from the deposits of Damaliscus dorcas after layer
11 and Equus cf. quagga after layer 9. These three species are characterized as
having a preference for open country, grassland in the case of the last two
(Dorst & Dandelot 1972: 173, 228, 164 (for Equus burchelli); Klein
1974: 273-276). Their absence from the upper layers may thus reflect a change
in the vegetation of the area by about 6 000 B.p. Against this, however, must be
considered the identification of Damaliscus dorcas in the late Holocene deposits
at Die Kelders and the continued presence in the BNK 1 deposits, albeit in
reduced frequencies, up to layer 1 of the alcelaphine Connochaetes/Alcelaphus
and of Hippotragus spp. up to layer 4. These bovids are all characterized as
gregarious grazers with a preference for open or lightly wooded grassland, or
mixed bush and grassland in the case of one of the hippotragines (H. niger)
(Dorst & Dandelot 1972: 230-232, 218-222, 204-206). Hippotragus leucophaeus
and Alcelaphus buselaphus have been tentatively identified at Die Kelders
(Schweitzer 1979, table 27) and the problem therefore seems one of establish-
ing whether there has been a major vegetational change in the general Die
Kelders—BNK 1 area in the past 2 000 years or so (Avery’s (1979) vegetation
unit 1?) or where the prehistoric hunters hunted these grazers.
The apparent absence of Raphicerus campestris before layer 6, i.e. about
4 000 years ago, is of interest although it is not inconceivable that this species
may be represented in the otherwise unidentifiable Raphicerus spp. in the
underlying layers, since only four of the forty-one individuals in these layers
could be identified as to species. Pienaar (1974: 187) lists R. campestris as one
of the three most successful antelope species in southern Africa, ‘being able to
exploit a wide range of ecological situations, even those that have become
severely degraded by the activities of man’. Tinley (1969, fig. 3) shows R. cam-
pestris as occupying a much wider range of habitats than R. melanotis, and
Dorst & Dandelot (1972: 269, 275) show R. campestris as endemic to virtually
the whole of southern Africa, while R. melanotis is restricted to the southern
Cape.
Klein (1976b: 171) has noted that in modern populations R. campestris is
more common than R. melanotis in the western part of the southern Cape (St.
Helena Bay to False Bay), while in the southern and eastern parts (False Bay
to Cape St. Francis) R. melanotis is the more common species, and he has
elsewhere observed (Klein 1972a: 196) that R. melanotis is the only species now
to be found in the vicinity of Nelson Bay Cave. On the basis of archaeological
data, Klein (1976b: 181) has postulated that the present distribution and
relative frequencies of the two species had become established at least by the
late Holocene. The evidence from Elands Bay Cave indicates that both species
were present in the area by the end of the Pleistocene and that by about 3 500
162 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
years ago R. campestris had become the more common species, while the
evidence from BNK 1 suggests that by about 4 000 years ago R. campestris may
have moved into an area apparently previously occupied only by R. melanotis.
The two species have somewhat different habitat preferences (Dorst & Dande-
lot 1972: 264, 266) and the indications from Elands Bay Cave and BNK 1 are
therefore that by about 4 000 years ago an environmental change had taken
place in the vicinity of both sites, and consequently possibly also elsewhere,
that created the more open habitat preferred by R. campestris. Whether this
change was the result of a degree of aridification or of human activity, e.g.
veld-burning, or a combination of these and perhaps other factors, is a matter
that cannot at present be determined.
That most of the species listed in Table 15 are present throughout the
BNK 1 sequence suggests, in view of the changes in their relative frequencies, a
change in the balance of the methods of procurement rather than in the
methods themselves. There are few tools in the assemblage, whether of stone
or bone, that can be associated specifically with hunting, and the restriction of
bone points and, probably, linkshafts to layer 6 and above is not consistent with
the changes in the faunal patterns indicated in Table 15 and Figure 39.
Similarly, changes in the relative frequencies of the stone artefacts, especially
backed pieces, do not correspond to the changes in the faunal patterns. Most of
the smaller animals are crepuscular or nocturnal, and non-gregarious, and it is
possible that these animals were caught in traps or snares. The larger animals
would perhaps have been hunted with bow or spear or, in the case of the very
large animals, trapped in pitfalls. The digging of pitfalls, and possibly also the
hunting of the larger animals, would have required communal effort while the
setting of traps and snares would not, and it may therefore be suggested that
the changes in the faunal patterns indicate changes in social patterns, in that
they indicate an increase in individualistic behaviour during the Holocene.
Whether this change in social behaviour can confidently be linked to changes in
the balance of resources as a result of environmental change is a matter that
must await external evidence in the form of independently derived palaeo-
environmental data.
Because Ovis aries is restricted to layer 1 at BNK 1 and frequencies in the
individual sub-units of this layer are so low, it is not possible to assess the effect
of the introduction of domestic animals into the area on the procurement
patterns of the cave occupants. The 2,3 per cent increase in the relative
frequency of animals in the small medium size class in layer 1, compared with
the frequencies for layers 2 and 3, cannot be considered significant, and
perhaps the most that can be inferred from the BNK 1 data in this respect is
that after about 1 900 B.P. an animal that was possibly more easily procured was
added to the range of those already available.
When the data for the BNK 1 mammal fauna are compared with those for
other sites in the southern and western Cape they show quite marked differ-
ences in the nature and chronology of the patterns of change, except in the
ee
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 163
later Holocene, when there appears to have been a common emphasis on the
procurement of a greater number of smaller animals than was previously the
case. The probable explanation of these differences is that the environments of
the various sites have never been precisely similar. The ecological balance in
the various areas would therefore have been different and, even given an
overall climatic change, the rate and nature of the effects of that change would
have varied from region to region. The reason for the general similarity of
procurement patterns in the later Holocene cannot, however, be ascribed to
climatic change inducing a general homogeneity in the ecology of the regions in
which the various sites are located. It seems that there must be an overriding
factor that is probably cultural, possibly demographic, but such an assumption
cannot be tested until a greater body of information is available, from more
than single-site observations, on patterns of human distribution and land-use.
SHELLFISH
The differences between the shellfish samples from Die Kelders (Schweit-
zer 1979: 186-194) and BNK 1 are marked, although the two sites are only
some 10 km apart. The chronology of the Holocene deposits at Die Kelders is
short and approximates only that of the last sub-unit but one from the bottom
of BNK 1 layer 1, so that comparability is somewhat limited. However, even
when the layer 1 sample is compared with that from Die Kelders the difference
in the relative frequencies of the genera is great, as Table 25 shows.
TABLE 25
Shellfish: ranked frequencies of genera from BNK 1 layer 1 and Die Kelders.
BNK 1 % DK 1 %
VO ee ean ah 35,0 Choromytilus-Perna:......:.0..52. 66,9
OR SIA O Sle da ae 24,5 BUTRUDCN Os Were eons. sabia: ES
Choromytlus=Perna 3.23 ase ne SS 17,9. Bate llarsey erst ah nck Meike ese eke 653
[EITC DAU ee ere es es 11,4 On SICl Og aan oS ossiety ss ae e A ct (Osi
I ERTQUPS, ke eee ere hace ek ei ee ae Se? TUDO te ete swe eee Dali
Dim ODiGreee: orton Neb es Aches ee te So PIQUOUSCI ahr. awe ate Mee Cee 0,8
UD OMAN Wis lis oh Pond icte dikes ew wack 1,9 DORGGRE os Ve SA eetsetn i Hs SUS eS 0,3
[EILEDIS § Ree Re eR ee 0,3 ESTADO 5 hs OE a ee ee 0,2
DD OPIN ee cite ee AE oath et 0,04
(Die Kelders (DK 1) details after Schweitzer 1979, table 19.)
Human preferences apart, the most reasonable explanation of these differ-
ences seems to be the differing littoral topography which, in the vicinity of Die
Kelders, appears to offer a more favourable habitat for Choromytilus meridio-
nalis than does the coast east of Danger Point. With the exception of Bullia,
which scavenges in the surf zone of sandy beaches, all the gastropods listed in
Tables 18 and 25 inhabit rocky crevices or pools, many of them in the lower
tidal zones (Day 1969), and it seems likely that the steeper rocky shores in the
164 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
vicinity of Die Kelders would have made these shellfish less accessible than on
the coast east of Danger Point, which is less steep and contains gullies and tidal
pools (cf. Fig. 5).
Although Day (1969: 1) states that Walker Bay is an area of warm water in
which there are more south coast species (than those of the colder waters of the
west coast), the composition of the Patella species from Die Kelders (Schweit-
zer 1979, table 21) is more representative of the west coast distribution, while
that from BNK 1 is closer to the south coast distribution although containing
aspects of the cold-water distribution (cf. Branch 1971, figs 3-5); (see also
Schweitzer 1979: 111). P. granatina dominates the Die Kelders Patella sample
and the P. granatina: P. oculus ratio is 6:1. The BNK 1 layer 1 Patella sample
is dominated by P. longicosta, which is absent from the Die Kelders sample,
and the P. granatina: P. oculus ratio 1s less than 1: 2.
G. Avery (1976: 125-126), who has studied shell middens at Pearly Beach,
south-east of BNK 1, and at Hawston to the north-west, has preferred to
characterize middens on the basis of the dominant shellfish represented in
terms of ‘meatmass’ rather than simple numerical frequency. Not surprisingly,
the middens are consequently primarily characterized as Haliotis or Turbo
middens, or a combination of, or variations on, these. Haliotis midae and
Turbo sarmaticus are among the largest shellfish to be found on the South
African coast and have an average flesh mass 4-60 times greater than that of
genera such as Oxystele and most of the Patella species (cf. G. Avery 1976,
table 5). Additionally, however, Avery (1974: 112; 1976: 111 ff.) has character-
ized some of the middens as Oxystele—Patella-Turbo which apparently reflects
the numerical ranking of the species rather than ‘meatmass’ dominance since
Haliotis and/or Turbo are always the dominant genera in terms of flesh mass
(cf. G. Avery 1976, table 7).
With the exception of layer 3, in which Oxystele is numerically dominant
but exceeds Turbo sarmaticus by a ratio of less than 2:1, all the shell samples
in the upper layers of BNK 1 can be considered as Turbo dominated. This
Avery (1976, table 7) found to be unequivocally the case in only one of the
eight sites he studied, although one (PB 1) showed a change from Turbo
domination in the lower part of the midden to Haliotis domination in the
upper.
Although no quantitative analyses were carried out of the shellfish from
Oakhurst (the material was, in fact, not taken from the site), Goodwin
(1938: 322-323) mentioned that the ‘Smithfield B’ deposit contained mainly
oyster and razor shells (Ostrea and Solen spp.), while in the ‘Smithfield C
deposits a change was noted from Donax serra in the lower levels to Choromy-
tilus meridionalis in the upper (but see also p. 314, where Goodwin remarks
that although there were C. meridionalis shells in the 36-45 inch (91-114 cm)
level, they form a negligible part of the whole deposit’). With regard to the
‘Wilton’ Goodwin (1938: 323) observed only that ‘throughout the Developed
Wilton the basis of subsistence is mainly shellfish, fish, and animals’. Unless a
———————
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 165
ranking of the frequency with which the three taxa occurred is implied (and the
omission of plant foods from the list may or may not have any significance), the
observation has little value. Elsewhere, Goodwin (1938: 305) lists the molluscs
found in the upper 9 inches (23 cm) of the deposit. These are not quantified,
and the most that can be said is that the list contains most of the genera found
at BNK 1. Donax serra is numerically dominant in BNK 1 layers 14-11, which
may be relatable to the ‘Smithfield’ deposits at Oakhurst, but the frequencies of
all the genera in the lower BNK 1 layers are too low for this to be considered
meaningful. In layer 10 Turbo sarmaticus assumes its dominant role, suggesting
a marked difference from the Oakhurst ‘Wilton’.
Klein (1972a, fig. 4) indicates that at Nelson Bay Cave marine shell was not
found in the deposits below the base of the ‘Albany’, but J. Deacon (1978: 89)
has reported its presence in small quantities in layer BSL, the uppermost of the
‘Robberg’ layers, from which frequencies increase through time. Although this is
similar to the pattern at BNK 1, there is a great difference between the times
when this occurred at the two sites. Nelson Bay Cave layer BSL is dated at
11 950 + 150 years B.p. (Klein 1972a: 202), which approximates the date of BNK
1 layer 19 and, while marine shell is present in layer 19 and thereafter, it is only in
layer 10, some 5 500 years later, that the occurrence of marine shell can be said
to indicate an increasingly important food resource.
The Nelson Bay Cave shellfish sample is dominated by Perna perna
(Choromytilus meridionalis in the lower layers), with Patella ranking second.
This mussel-dominated sample is more like that of Die Kelders than that of
BNK 1, although at Die Kelders Patella spp. rank after Choromytilus—Perna
and Burnupena spp.
J. Deacon (1979: 78) reports that while there was no quantification of
marine shell from the Matjes River Shelter, one of the largest shell midden
deposits in the southern Cape, a change was noted, from Donax serra being
more common in layers D and C to Choromytilus meridionalis in layers B and
A. The top of layer C is dated to 5 400 + 250 years B.p. and the B—A interface
to 3 555 + 35 years B.P. (J. Deacon 1979: 74) so that the Matjes River deposits
probably cover the same span of time as the upper layers of BNK 1, although
Sampson (1974: 263-269) has indicated that layer D, at least, is ‘pre-Wilton’
and has included the lithic component in his ‘Oakhurst industry’. The sparse
information available suggests that the shellfish component of Matjes River
Shelter may be more similar to that of Die Kelders, Nelson Bay Cave, and
Oakhurst than to that of BNK 1.
Voigt (1975, table 1) has shown diagrammatically the shellfish frequencies
for the ‘pre-pottery L.S.A.’ and ‘pottery L.S.A.’ levels of the Klasies River
Mouth cave sites. Although the sites have a record of shellfish exploitation
extending back to the Middle Stone Age, the levels mentioned are the only
ones chronologically comparable with BNK 1. These levels are approximately
dated to between 4 800-2 200 B.p. (Singer & Wymer 1969; Butzer
1978: 146-147) and are thus contemporary with that part of the BNK 1 deposit
166 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
from the lower part of layer 1 to somewhere between layers 5 and 9. Although it
is not clear on what evidence the superpositioning of the sequences in the various
caves in Voigt’s figure 1 is based, the indications are that the L.S.A. levels are
generally dominated by Patella, principally P. longicosta, but there is a marked
increase in the frequency of Oxystele in the uppermost, pottery-bearing layers of
Cave 1D. Patella longicosta is always the predominant Patella species in the
upper layers of BNK 1, but the genus is always subordinate to Turbo and, from
layer 4 up, Oxystele. In terms of flesh mass, however, Turbo sarmaticus is always
the dominant species in the Klasies River Mouth L.S.A. levels, as it is in the
relevant BNK 1 layers. In general, the Klasies River Mouth L.S.A. shellfish
samples show a greater similarity to those from the upper layers of BNK 1 than
do either of these to the samples from the other sites discussed.
The Bonteberg Shelter on the west coast of the Cape Peninsula (Fig. 1)
represents the earliest local attempt at systematic analysis and characterization
of shell midden deposits (Maggs & Speed 1967). The deposits from this shelter
were dated from marine shell samples to about 4 500-2 000 B.p. (Grindley et al.
1970) but since radiocarbon dates from marine shell tend to be older than those
from charcoal (Klein 1972a: 202-203; Vogel & Visser (1981: 43) suggest about
400 years), the Bonteberg deposits may be considered approximately coeval
with those from BNK 1 layer 5 to the lower part of layer 1.
The Bonteberg shellfish sample, although small, is essentially dominated
by Patella spp. but shows a shift in the top layer, 2b, towards Oxystele and
Burnupena. The totals for Patella granatina and P. oculus have been combined
but these are by far the most common species in the samples (69-84 % of the
layer totals for Patella) suggesting that a higher littoral zone was being
exploited than at BNK 1, where P. longicosta is the dominant species (cf.
Branch 1971, figs 3-4). Choromytilus meridionalis accounts for about 2-10 per
cent of layer totals, but increases almost threefold in layer 2b, a situation
similar to that in BNK 1 layer 1.
Buchanan (1977) carried out a rescue operation in a small shelter at Hout
Bay (Fig. 1). Dates of 1 840 + 50 years B.p. for the top of the bottom layer and
1 460+50 years B.p. for the middle of the top layer (Buchanan 1977: 14)
suggest that the whole of the occupation of the site falls within the time range
of BNK 1 layer 1.
As Buchanan’s table 3 indicates, Choromytilus meridionalis is dominant in
each of the five layers, with frequencies of 45-56 per cent of individual layer
totals. Patella spp. (19-24 %) rank second in layers 5, 4 and 2, while Burnupena
frequencies (16-26%) rank second in layers 3 and 1. Patella granatina is the
most common Patella species, followed by P. granularis in layers 5-3, and P.
cochlear in layers 2 and 1. The species representation suggests exploitation of
littoral zones higher than those indicated by the BNK 1 sample, and not unlike
those indicated by the Bonteberg sample. Deeper water species such as Turbo
sarmaticus, Haliotis midae, Patella argenvillei, and Argobuccinum argus are
rare in, or absent from, the layer samples.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 167
Buchanan’s table 5 gives means and standard deviations for lengths of
Patella granatina, P. granularis and P. cochlear from the site. Sample sizes are
small and in most cases the standard deviation exceeds the difference between
the highest and lowest means. It would seem unwise, in the circumstances, to
use such data as the basis for speculations regarding the fluctuating mean
lengths as being indicative of the ‘farming down’ of the local shellfish popula-
tions through human predation.
Buchanan’s table 6 shows that the mean lengths of Patella granatina and P.
granularis from archaeological sites are 25-36 per cent smaller than those of
modern samples. This has led Buchanan (1977: 28) to support the suggestion by
Parkington (1976: 134-135) that intensive predation reduced the average life-
span and thus the average size of the shellfish without, however, endangering
species survival. Buchanan continues by observing that since the size reduction
is evident in the first occupation layer ‘the predation/survival equilibrium must
have been reached prior to the first occupation’.
Although the Hout Bay Shelter samples are chronologically comparable
with those from only some of the sub-units of BNK 1 layer 1, the fact that there
is very little change in the mean length of most Patella species from BNK 1
layer 9 up can similarly be used to suggest that a ‘predation: survival equi-
librium’ had been reached in the BNK area from the earliest stages of intensive
shellfish collecting. This in turn prompts the hypothesis that the marked
increase in shellfish representation in the upper layers of BNK 1 is relevant to
the site only and that, in fact, intensive predation of the local shellfish
populations had been in progress prior to about 6 500 B.P. but that the bulk of
the ‘catch’ was not being brought back to the site. Support for such a
hypothesis would be provided by the discovery of shell middens or other sites in
the area with high frequencies of marine shell that could be dated to earlier
than 6 500 B.P., but such sites have not yet been found. A marine transgression
commencing at about 6 500 B.P. (see p. 10) could have destroyed earlier coastal
middens but ought to have left others on the edge of the then coastline(s),
which might have been covered by the seaward advance of the dunes and
vegetation during the subsequent regression, but it seems unlikely that evidence
of these would not have been found before now.
Robertshaw (1977, 1978, 1979) excavated shell middens at Paternoster,
Stofbergsfontein, and Duiker Eiland on the Cape west coast (Fig. 1). The dates
obtained for the sites are all within the range of BNK 1 layer 1. While there
was a marked increase in the frequency of Choromytilus meridionalis in the
uppermost layer of an otherwise Patella-dominated deposit at Paternoster
(Robertshaw 1977, table 4), at Stofbergsfontein the main unit was dominated
by Patella species but in the subsidiary unit Choromytilus was dominant
(Robertshaw 1978, table 4), and at Duiker Eiland Patella was always dominant
(Robertshaw 1979, table 5).
In the sample from Paternoster layer 1 the mean lengths of Patella
granularis and P. granatina are 2-3 mm and 7-11 mm greater than those of the
168 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
underlying layers (Robertshaw 1977, table 5). From this, Robertshaw
(pp. 67-68) has reasoned that the increase in the sizes of the two species in
layer 1 might have resulted from a lower rate of predation of Patella species
consequent on the increased exploitation of Choromytilus meridionalis in this
layer. The two units of the Stofbergsfontein deposit could not be related
stratigraphically (Robertshaw 1978: 142) so that the differences in the mean
lengths of the two Patella species (less than 1 mm and 3,5 mm respectively)
cannot be interpreted. For the three layers of the Duiker Eiland sample
(Robertshaw 1979, table 6) Patella granularis has a maximum variation in mean
length of 2 mm and P. granatina of just over 4 mm. Although the mean lengths
for layers 1 and 2 are about 2-4 mm higher than those for layer 3 the small
variation suggests little change in the structure of the populations being
exploited, and the same is true for at least P. granularis in the Paternoster
samples.
Robertshaw (1977: 67, 1979: 9) has suggested that the mean lengths of
these two species are small when compared with modern population data given
by Branch (1974) and Buchanan et al. (1978), and elsewhere (Robertshaw
1978: 143) he observes that ‘the mean sizes ... seem to reflect a rate of
predation high enough to have had the effect of farming down the local
populations of these species . . .’. It must be pointed out, however, that Branch
(1974a or 19746) does not give mean lengths for the modern Patella populations
he studied but provides a series of histograms showing the frequency distribu-
tion of the population over its total size and age range. Calculation of the mean
length of each of the two species under discussion from Branch’s histograms
(Branch 19745, figs 14-15, see also Fig. 42 herein re P. granatina) yields a
mean length for P. granularis of 13,9 mm for the whole population or 26,1 mm
for those individuals 20 mm or longer, and for P. granatina 37,0 mm for the
whole population or 44,4 mm for the larger individuals. The higher mean for
P. granularis is in each case lower than those for the archaeological samples:
10-13 mm in the case of Paternoster, 14-15 mm in the case of Stofbergsfontein,
and 10-12 mm in the case of Duiker Eiland. Where P. granatina is concerned,
the mean for the larger modern population is again /ower than those of the
archaeological samples: 2-13 mm lower than Paternoster, 9-13 mm lower than
Stofbergsfontein, and 10-13 mm lower than Duiker Ejiland. In the BNK 1
P. granatina samples it is only that from layer 3 that approaches the mean
length of the larger modern population, the means from the other layers being
5-10 mm higher (Fig. 42).
The mean lengths of the modern samples given by Buchanan et al. (1978,
fig. 3) are stated to be those of the largest available individuals that could be
measured in ten minutes, and the same is probably true of the samples
measured by Olivier (1977, cited by Buchanan 1977, table 6). The motivation
for these sampling procedures is (partly) understandable but they do not
provide an accurate reflection of the total population structure and therefore do
not, any more than Branch’s data, support Robertshaw’s suggestion that the
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 169
mean lengths of the archaeological samples are small when compared with
those of modern populations, nor can they be said to indicate ‘farming down’.
What they do indicate, rather, is that prehistoric shellfish collectors had a
preference for the larger-sized individuals but that they were not averse to
taking individuals of whatever size were available and, presumably, that they
considered worth the effort of prising off the rocks.
The available data on shellfish from Elands Bay Cave (Parkington 1979,
table 5) are sparse, but indicate that while Patella spp. make up the bulk of the
shellfish in most of the lower layers there was a marked increase in the
frequency of Choromytilus meridionalis in the layers after the hiatus, also of
‘whelks’ in layers 1 and 2. Layer 12 is anomalous, as in several other instances
previously mentioned, in having a higher frequency of whelks than of mussels,
while in layer 1 it appears that there was a more equal distribution of the three
main taxa. Although in the BNK 1 sample Turbo sarmaticus remains the
dominant species in layer 1, there is a marked increase in the frequencies of
Choromytilus meridionalis, Oxystele sinensis, and Burnupena spp. relative to
the lower layers, and this parallels to a certain extent the situation at Elands
Bay Cave.
DISCUSSION
Although it is evident from Table 18 that shellfish were brought to BNK 1
from the initial occupation of the site some 12 500 years ago, it is not until
about 6 000 years later that there is any clear evidence of the exploitation of
shellfish as an increasingly important food resource. That the systematic exploi-
tation of shellfish appears to have begun towards the end of the Pleistocene at
sites like Nelson Bay Cave and Elands Bay Cave may be related to the
increasing proximity of the sea to those sites from this time on. It does not
seem, however, that this explanation can be applied to the apparent lateness
with which this practice started at BNK 1 since, as shown during the discussion
of the topography of the BNK area, the shore is not likely to have been more
than 10 km from the cave at any time during the occupation of the site.
Possible explanations are that prior to about 6 500 B.P. the availability of land
game was sufficient for the human population of the area without the need to
exploit possibly less favoured resources; or that from about 6 500 B.p. changes
in demographic patterns resulted in the more frequent use of the cave, either as
a base for stays of longer duration or as a transit camp en route from this part
of the coast. However, although the lack of precise data leaves much to be
desired, the indications from sites such as Oakhurst and Matjes River suggest
that there was a general increase in the exploitation of shellfish at about the
same time as this occurred at BNK 1.
The frequency with which the various species are represented at the
different sites is undoubtedly primarily related to the ecology of the littoral
zones in the vicinity of these sites, although factors such as accessibility and
preference cannot be ignored. The relative scarcity of Haliotis, particularly
170 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
H. midae, at BNK 1 and Die Kelders is not easy to explain. This shellfish has
the highest ratio of flesh mass to total mass of all the genera represented at
these sites and occupies the same littoral zone as Turbo sarmaticus, and there is
abundant evidence all along the coast from Pearly Beach to Die Kelders that
Haliotis midae was heavily exploited. The fact that there are shells in the
deposit at BNK 1 tends to diminish the possibility that the flesh was removed
and the shells left at the coast. A. B. Smith (1981 pers. comm.) has suggested
that there may be a temporal factor involved, but this could only be tested by
obtaining a good range of dates from concentrations of H. midae.
The low frequency of Donax serra is also not readily explained. The white
mussel is fairly easily obtainable by digging in the sand at low tide and has a
greater flesh mass in proportion to its size than either the black mussel
Choromytilus meridionalis or the brown, Perna perna. These species are,
however, also not well represented in the BNK 1 samples, and it may simply be
that along the coast east of Danger Point the collecting of Turbo sarmaticus was
more profitable, and Choromytilus-Perna in the Die Kelders area.
The increase in the frequencies of Oxystele sinensis and Burnupena spp.
may be seen as reflecting the need to augment the food supply as increasing
demands on the larger species thinned them out, although there is not the
proportionate increase in the frequencies of these smaller species that might be
expected in such a circumstance. It seems, though, more than mere coincidence
that similar patterns are evident in the shellfish samples from sites as far afield
from BNK 1 as Klasies River Mouth and Elands Bay Cave. As indicated in the
discussion of Patella lengths, the archaeological data do not appear to lend
themselves to the deriving of inferences regarding the effects of human
predation on the ecology of local shellfish populations or regarding changes in
past sea temperatures although the potential, based on a more systematic
approach on an interdisciplinary level, should not be underestimated. .
FISH
As at BNK 1, Pachymetopon blochii is the most commonly represented
fish at Die Kelders (Schweitzer 1979, table 23) but whereas at BNK 1 it
accounts for only 37,4 per cent of the site total or 33,3 per cent of the layer 1
total, it accounts for 96,4 per cent of the Die Kelders total. Lithognathus
lithognathus and Rhabdosargus spp. are next in order of frequency but their
ranking is reversed in the Die Kelders sample and their frequencies much lower
than at BNK 1. The differing frequencies probably reflect the differing off-
shore environments in the vicinity of the two sites, with the coastline near BNK
1 offering a wider range of habitats than that around Die Kelders. The Die
Kelders sample, however, contains minimally seven genera, only two less than
the BNK 1 sample.
Goodwin (1938: 323) noted that at Oakhurst ‘at the Wilton level begins a
marked increase in fish-bone, suggesting that efficient means of catching fish
had been evolved’. If the date of 7 910 + 70 years B.P. (Pta—377) obtained from
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 171
just above the ‘carbon floor’ is ‘consistent with the dating of the base of the
Wilton at other Cape sites’ (J. Deacon 1979: 36), then the effective exploitation
of fish began at Oakhurst at a time closer to the date of BNK 1 layer 12, some
1 500 years earlier than layer 9, in which the relatively large increase in fish
remains first becomes evident.
Poggenpoel (1979) has recently re-analysed the fish remains from the
1964-71 excavations at Nelson Bay Cave by Inskeep and Klein. The five upper
layers excavated by Inskeep that provided the data for Poggenpoel’s table 2 are
all dated to less than 3 000 B.p. (Inskeep in J. Deacon 1979: 64), while those
excavated by Klein that provided the data for Poggenpoel’s table 3 are dated to
between about 5 000 to 18 000 B.p. (Klein 1972a: 202; J. Deacon 1978: 84,
fig. 2). The upper group of layers all fall within the time range of BNK 1 layer 1
and the rest, up to layer BSL, are within the range of dates for BNK 1 layers
5-19.
Perhaps the major difference between the two sites where fish remains are
concerned is in frequencies: over 15 000 individuals have been identified from
Nelson Bay Cave as against only 265 from BNK 1. Fish remains first appear in
the Nelson Bay Cave sequence in layer BSL, the uppermost of the ‘Robberg’
units. The “‘Robberg’ yielded 0,1 per cent of the site total, the ‘Albany’ about
9,0 per cent and the remaining 91,0 per cent came from the ‘Wilton’. BNK 1
layer 19 yielded 0,4 per cent of the site total (there were no fish remains in
layer 18), layers 17-10 4,5 per cent, and layers 9-1 the remaining 95,0 per cent.
Although there were more fish in the ‘Albany’ layers than in BNK 1 layers
17-10 the chronological distribution at both sites is similar.
Another major difference between the two sites is in the number of genera
represented. In the BNK 1 sample only 9 genera have been identified, while in
the Nelson Bay Cave sample there are at least 17, taking the Clinidae/Blennii-
dae to represent only one genus each although they are actually families
containing 16 and 7 genera respectively (Smith 1949: 342-346, 350-358). At
BNK 1 the number of genera ranges from 1 to 3 per layer in the lower layers
and 3 to 7 in the upper, indicating a broadening of the resource base. At
Nelson Bay Cave the number of genera increases from 3 in the ‘Robberg’ to
3-12 in the ‘Albany’ and 10-17 in the ‘Wilton’. In passing, it should be noted
that layer Rice B (Poggenpoel 1979) or RB (J. Deacon 1978) contains 12
genera and is thus more typical of the ‘Wilton’ layers than of the ‘Albany’ in
which Deacon has included it, since the other layers in this unit contain only
3-7 genera per layer.
A further point of difference between the two sites is that while BNK 1
shows a clear pattern of increase only from layer 10 to layer 5, after which
frequencies decrease until the end of the sequence, the Nelson Bay Cave
sample shows a broad pattern of increase throughout the sequence. The lower
‘Wilton’ layers contain more than twice as many individuals as the ‘Albany’ and
the upper ‘Wilton’ more than three times as many as the lower ‘Wilton’ and
almost eight times as many as the ‘Albany’. The possibility of different
GA ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
excavated volumes cannot be discounted but it seems likely that the broad
pattern of increase would override the quantitative bias caused by these.
Also, whereas at BNK 1, possibly because of the low layer frequencies,
there is no discernible change in the relative frequencies of the principal
genera, changes are evident throughout the Nelson Bay Cave sequence. Sparo-
don durbanensis is generally most common in the ‘Albany’, Diplodus sargus in
the lower ‘Wilton’ and Clinidae/Blenniidae in the upper.
The indications are, therefore, that at Nelson Bay Cave fishing became
increasingly important through time and although frequencies relative to exca-
vated volume (ADs) would provide a more accurate picture of the importance
of fish in the dietary economy of the cave inhabitants, on the present evidence
it seems that fishing was a major industry for the people of Nelson Bay Cave,
which does not seem to have been the case for the people of BNK 1.
Poggenpoel’s paper also contains an analysis of the fish remains from
Elands Bay Cave. These first appear in the second layer (19), estimated to date
at some 15 000-17 000 years B.P. Poggenpoel’s table 4 gives the total number of
identified individuals as 1 306, almost five times as many as the total from BNK 1.
Elands Bay Cave layer 12 is again anomalous in that it contained 63 per cent
of the site total, but otherwise individual layer frequencies are low, ranging
from 0,8 to 5,4 per cent of the site total (with 20 layers the mean frequency
based on an even distribution would be 5%). Beyond the fact the frequencies
in the layers above layer 15 are higher than those in the layers below, there is
no evident pattern of increase through time the way there is at Nelson Bay
Cave. Elands Bay Cave layer 15 falls within the time range of BNK 1 layers
19-15.
Lithognathus lithognathus is generally the most common species in the
Elands Bay Cave sample, followed by Rhabdosargus globiceps but in layer 13
Liza richardsoni accounts for sixty of the seventy-one individuals, and this is
the only species present in layers 16-19. Pachymetopon blochii, the most
common fish in the BNK 1 sample, accounts for less than one per cent of the
Elands Bay Cave sample.
Again counting the Clinidae and Blenniidae as representing only one genus
each, there are 14 genera in the Elands Bay Cave sample as against 9 in that
from BNK 1. Individual layer frequencies range from 1-3 genera in the lower
layers and 3-7 in the upper. Although there are temporal differences between
the layer groups designated ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ at the two sites, there is a
greater similarity in the restricted numbers of genera at Elands Bay Cave and
BNK 1 than there is between these two sites and Nelson Bay Cave.
DISCUSSION
Fish do not appear to have been as important a factor in the diet of the
occupants of BNK 1 as they were to the inhabitants of Nelson Bay Cave, where
fish can be considered a primary food resource that became more important in
the course of time. Fish seem to have been important to the people of Elands
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 173
Bay Cave to a greater degree than to those of BNK 1, to perhaps the same
degree as to those of Die Kelders, but to a much lesser degree in all three cases
than to the people of Nelson Bay Cave. Because of the hiatus in the Elands
Bay Cave sequence it is not possible to determine when fish became more
important than they were in the late Pleistocene, but it is evident that at BNK
1, Nelson Bay Cave, Elands Bay Cave, and possibly Oakhurst, fish were more
important in those parts of the deposits referable to the ‘Wilton’ than in the
preceding period. Why fish should have become less important to the occupants
of BNK 1 after about 4 000 B.p. and more particularly in layers 2 and 1 is a
problem to which there is no ready solution.
Another problem is how the fish were caught. If the bone artefacts from
BNK 1 layers 15-13 that have been termed ‘fish gorges’ (Fig. 31) really were
such, they do not seem to have been very effective since these layers yielded a
total of only four fish. The absence of these artefacts from the upper layers of
BNK 1 (though not from those of Nelson Bay Cave), in which fish remains
become more frequent, suggests that other, more efficient fishing methods had
been devised. Poggenpoel (1979) has suggested that terminal Pleistocene—early
Holocene environmental changes may have been responsible for at least some
of the changes in the fish sample from Nelson Bay Cave while in the later
Holocene the causal factor may have been technological.
Goodwin (1946), in an article on prehistoric fishing methods in South
Africa, apparently concluded that the bulk of the fish caught, in ‘Wilton’ times
at least, came from tidal fish traps. However, he quoted (pp. 139-140) the
statement of a correspondent that a local fisherman at the Gouritz River mouth
(Fig. 1) had found ‘stuck away in a hole a fishing line made of a certain wild
vine of fibrous texture. This had been shredded and turned into fishing line,
and the hook was a bone tied in the middle and sharpened on each side’.
Goodwin follows this statement by commenting that no such bones had yet
been observed from midden deposits. This is perhaps not surprising in view of
the apparent restriction of ‘fish gorges’ to deposits dated to the early ‘Wilton’ or
earlier, although Goodwin might thus have found them at Oakhurst.
G. Avery has recorded the presence of a tidal fish trap at Franskraal,
between Uilkraalsmond and Danger Point, and his details of catches from
another trap, at Die Dam, a few kilometres east of Pearly Beach, include
virtually all the genera recorded from BNK 1 (G. Avery 1975, fig. 1, tables
1-2). However, Mugilidae comprise about 70 per cent of the catches listed in
Avery’s table 2, while in the BNK 1 sample this family is represented by only
three Liza richardsoni, and the most common fish in the BNK 1 sample,
Pachymetopon blochii, is absent from the Die Dam catches. This seems to
argue against the use of fish traps as the principal means of catching the fish
represented in the BNK 1 sample. It may be that Pachymetopon blochii was
caught on lines, using hooks other than ‘fish gorges’, and Lithognathus spp. are
historically recorded as having been speared in the surf at False Bay by the
Hottentots (Moodie 1838: 93).
174 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Day (1970: 219), writing of the marine biology of False Bay, observed that
Johnius (now Argyrosomus) hololepidotus and Lithognathus lithognathus con-
gregate on the shallow, sandy shores of the bay during the summer. Liza
richardsoni is among their prey, hunted in the surf. Pomatomus saltator, a
warm-water fish, arrives in the bay by September and forms dense shoals by
midsummer. Lithognathus lithognathus is the only species of the four that is
present in the BNK 1 samples in anything approaching a relatively high
frequency, but individual layer frequencies, even in layer 5, are low. The
topography of the coast east of Danger Point is very different from that of False
Bay and the total fish sample from BNK 1 is so small that it would seem unwise
to use information such as that given by Day in an attempt to deduce the
season during which BNK 1 might have been occupied.
REPTILES
In the Die Kelders faunal sample (Schweitzer 1979, tables 26-27) the dune
mole-rat Bathyergus suillus outnumbers tortoise by a ratio of 4:1, while in the
BNK 1 sample the position is reversed, with tortoise outnumbering dune
mole-rat by almost 11:1. In the case of BNK 1 layer 1, within the time span of
which the Die Kelders Holocene deposits fall, the ratio is almost 8:1. This is
probably a reflection of the differing environments of the two sites, and the
higher frequency of tortoise at BNK 1 suggests the greater ease with which
these can be procured, as dune mole-rats are abundant in the area today.
The differing frequencies of tortoise at BNK 1 and Die Kelders may also
reflect differential scheduling of activities: the people of Die Kelders might
have had more time to devote to the trapping of dune mole-rats; they might
have been there at a time of year when dune mole-rats were more plentiful
than tortoises (winter: Schweitzer 1979: 206); or they might have had a greater
need of, or use for, the pelts of these animals as well as their flesh.
The tortoise remains from Elands Bay Cave have been quantified only in
terms of mass per cubic metre (Parkington 1979, table 4), so that no direct
comparison with BNK 1 is possible. It appears, however, that the highest
frequencies are in Elands Bay Cave layers 16-12, suggesting a greater exploita-
tion of tortoise in the period 12 500—9 600 B.P., whereas at BNK 1 the period of
relatively greater exploitation was 9 800-6 100 B.pP.
GENERAL SUMMARY
In the preceding analyses and inter-site comparisons the various com-
ponents of the BNK 1 assemblage have been dealt with individually and sum-
marized on the basis of the major components. This general summary attempts
to draw these components together and to group the layers in a chronological
sequence according to what appear to be their common characteristics.
Table 26 presents those aspects of the assemblage considered to be most
relevant to this summary. It will be immediately apparent that there is no point
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 175
at which an absolute division can be made between any of the layers or groups
of layers across the whole range of components and that the division of the
layers into ‘phases’ is thus arbitrary. It is also self-evident that not all the
components have equal importance in the evaluation of change and that
changes in frequency may be less important than changes in shape or style, or
even presence or absence. The changes in the frequencies of stone raw
materials, for example, have reduced significance when it is recalled that 71 per
cent of the utilized artefacts and 85 per cent of the retouched pieces are
silcrete. Similarly, the ranking of the mammal size classes becomes less impor-
tant when it is remembered that these are based on numerical frequency rather
than on total live mass, even though the size classes themselves are based on
live mass. As an example, the eight individuals in the top-ranked very small
size class in layer 16 have an estimated total live mass of less than 80 kg while
the four individuals in the second-ranked large medium size class have an
estimated total live mass in excess of 400 kg.
Phase 1
Layers 19 and 18 are characterized by a predominance of quartz as a raw
material and higher frequencies of stone artefacts than the overlying layers.
Layer 19 has the most unmodified and utilized blades (mostly silcrete) and
blade cores (mostly quartz ‘micro-blade’) and yielded two backed blades. Layer
18 has few unmodified blades and blade cores, more utilized blades than flakes
but no backed blades and a very high frequency of scaled pieces. Utilized stone
artefacts: scaled pieces, flakes and blades, are more common than retouched
pieces, which are mostly scrapers. There are very few bone artefacts, none of
marine shell and very low frequencies of ostrich egg-shell beads. Layer 19 has
part of an ostrich egg-shell ‘flask’ opening and layer 18 a fragment of decorated
shell.
These layers share with layers 17 and 16 a similar ranking of the mammal
size classes with the very small size class numerically most common and the
large medium ranked second. The large size class ranks third in layer 19 but
shares this position in layer 18 with the other two smaller size classes, suggest-
ing a transition to the rank pattern of layers 17 and 16, in which this size class is
absent from the top three rankings. They share with layers 17-13 the lowest
frequencies of marine shell, with layers 17-11 the lowest frequencies of fish,
and with layers 17-10 a predominance of grazing ungulates over browsers or
‘mixed feeders’.
On the basis of the stone artefact frequencies it may be suggested that
during phase 1 the cave was relatively more intensely occupied than during
phase 2.
Phase 2
Layers 17-13 are characterized by a low density of stone artefacts in all
three categories, although layer 13 has a higher frequency of retouched pieces
TABLE
176
26
ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Summary of artefactual and faunal data from BNK 1.
Phase] Date B.pP. | Layer
Raw-material
ranking AD/m? Unmodified
255-3 220 1 Q@aLls <10° | 1-3: flakes: QtQS
3 400 2 QasL 1-4: few blades and
4 blade cores
3 Q2@asL
yee cl OP ele SITS RE OUT Relies Th Wi hla secgeeks
3/4 4 QsaL flakes: QQtS
3 900 5 SQaL >10° | 5-6: flakes S Qt Q
5-9: more blades,
6 SQQL few blade cores
3 7 QsaQaL flakes: QtS Q
8 Sea L flakes: S Qt Q
6 370
6 100 9 SQeaL
sao Rees ie wie ee, eh eae ear ne cae as, cad
6 540 10 Q2@asL flakes: Qt QS
2/3 11 QaSsL |>2~x 10% flakes: QQtS
fewer blades and
blade cores
7750 12 QsaL
13 Q@asL <10* | few blades and blade
cores
9 760 14 Q2@asL 13-18: flakes Qt QS
oe eal Sl
2 15) QatQLs 14-17: very few blades
and blade cores
16 OUOOEES A ooo Pole ile Neda Teale main Ad
17 QaQqsL few blades and blade
---- 4 cores
18 QasL > 103
] 12 730 19 © OF DS IL flakes: Q QtS
Note. Raw materials: Q = quartz; Qt = quartzite: S = silcrete; L = limestone. Letters in parentheses are also)
materials. |
most blades (S) and
blade cores (Q ‘micro’
AD/m? = average density per cubic metre (see p. 24).
Mammals: VS = very small; S = small; SM = small medium; LM = large medium; L = large;
equal ranking.
OES = ostrich egg-shell.
STONE ARTEFACTS
Utilized
Retouched
scaled pieces and flakes,
no blades
scaled pieces and flakes,
few blades
highest frequencies of
scaled pieces and flakes,
few blades
as 13-16, but with few
blades
mostly scaled pieces,
more blades than flakes
flakes, most blades (S),
scaled pieces
more segments (mostly |i!
1-3: more adzes than I
scrapers
2-3: few segments or
backed scrapers
4-6: backed scrapers mip
common |
5—9: segments and baciiii
flakes most common; |i
trapezoids in these layel|
only.
Scrapers generally smal}ifi
and nearer to equilate|}
(circular)
first backed scrapers;
scraper size decreases |
larger, longer scrapers )Mi
?
i]
first backed points (bo)
scraper size increases; |§
first borers (drills)
i
10-18: no backed blad/
13-19: very few retouc|
pieces, mostly scrapers)
16-17: segments in thei
layers only
backed blades (
f
|
+ indi¢
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 177
BONE MARINE SHELL OTHER
ARTEFACTS ARTEFACTS ARTEFACTS SHADE BIE lPIoE! es
Size class ranking AD/m*
U.
yost and most Donax scrapers pottery, metal bead, VS SMS first sheep more Choro- 12000} more Oxystele| >20
low eee pe eS Se SS Se Se ee Se ee eee eee — — — 4 than Turbo
1W 1-9: shell pendants VS S SM 1-9: Turbo
and perforated whole sarmaticus
shell ornaments generally ----
most common
species
M (?) points first OES pendants VS S SM >50
id linkshafts
TI
gore artefacts than | Donax scrapers first OES discs VS S SM first (?) Raphi-
nove or below cerus
—— campestris =-=-=
ADs for OES beads VS S SM > 20
>400; most decorated
OES
ry few, mostly VS S SM
vis last Equus cf. —_———
VS S SM quagga <20
——— eS oH ———
ADs for OES beads Donax serra
i <100; other OES S SM+LM VS generally <10
P= ees So5 artefacts rare or absent }—-——-——_—____——_ most common | ———
| species
yone LM VS S+SM last <5
Damaliscus
dorcas
b first Donax scrapers LM S VS+S
ee
15: ‘fish gorges’ perforated whole shell LM VS SM more grazers
Ornaments only (bovids and
(no pendants) equids)
‘i LM VS+SM §S
LM VS S
tt a
try few oe VEY 5 Sai VS LM S+SM
no artefacts or VS LM S+SM
ornaments
VS+LMS+SM+L
VS LM L Equus cf.
capensis
f
{
,
|
h
EY j
= vat
5
}
ti
1
_ v
‘
f
\
j i
‘ ;
\ =” -
1
| =) :
i z
ee
i ay
;
1
i i
i
SS
j A
ie
} _
i i}
|
ns 4
Mi ed
'
, \
‘
y
ce
Recs
f >
i Y
/
5 y
‘ \
Po
; By
ne
‘
4
§ tam
i
; cat (i ;
k .
a ~
t
y te A
2 1
at
. ier
} (
f ". f
\ : ia
He
1 . ‘1
{
: J
2 3 ra r
ete
rent /
j see
176
TABLE 26
ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Summary of artefactual and faunal data from BNK 1.
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
177
| BONE MARINE SHELL OTHER
SON SUMS ARTEFACTS ARTEFACTS ARTEFACTS MAMMALS SHELL-FISH FISH
Phase| Date B.P. | Layer
Raw material 5 on
ranking AD/m! Unmodified AD/m* Utilized Retouched Size class ranking AD/m* AD/m*
255-3 220) 1 QaLs <10? | 1-3: flakes: QtQS <50 | scaled pieces and flakes, more segments (mostly Q)| most and most Donax scrapers pottery, metal bead, VS SM S s .
no blades | widest range OES pendants SSESveEc 2.000 | more Choro- 300 Bickediscrapes = Ee Bie see VS S SM -12000| more Oxysrele 20
3/4 4] QSQL flakes: Q Qt S 5100 | scaled pieces and flakes, 4-6: backed scrapers most| few 1-9: shell pendants ‘|vs s sM Ih sean cae
few blades common and perforated whole = ene,
See 0 i ee ee ee ee eer shell ornaments SARMaAliciis
generally “<<
| most common
3900 5 SQQL >10* | 5-6: flakes S QtQ highest frequencies of 5-9: segments and backed) first (?) points first OES pendants VS S SM Baars ~50
scaled pieces and flakes, flakes most common; { and linkshafts ¥
few blades trapezoids in these layers |
5-9: more blades, only.
6 SQQL few blade cores Scrapers generally smaller| more artefacts than | Donax scrapers first OES discs VS S SM first (2) Raphi-
and nearer to equilateral | above or below certs
er a a a IN (circular) | campestris ern ele
3 7 Q@saL flakes: Qt SQ ADs for OES beads VS S SM ~ 1000 > 20
j------- 0. f------------4 | >400; most decorated
OES
8 SQaQaL flakes: S QtQ very few, mostly VS S SM
6 370 awls last Equus ef. ——
6 100 9 SQaQaL VS S SM quagga <20
Seis | ————+- - -- -------- ee Ee ee et pe LS
first backed scrapers; | ADs for OES beads Donax serra
6540 10 Q@asL flakes: Qt QS <200 | scraper size decreases | <100; other OES S SM+LM VS <200 | generally <10
ie oS SSS SS aa Pe ae ae er toe ey i ame me ee a Ne ea artefacts rare or absent /}-— ———_—_——_4 most common | ———
species
2/3 11 QarSL />2x 10) fakes: QQtS <100] as 13-17 larger, longer scrapers none LM VS S+SM last <5
fewer bladesand = J- - - 4+ -- - - - - - -- - - -+-H | Damaliscus
blade cores | dorcas
7750 12 QsaL >100} as 5-10 <300] first backed points a first Donax scrapers LM S VS+S
ee ———————————— SoS eso e eae Se)=- == 256 S55 Play ce
13 QasL <10° | few blades and blade <50 | very few scaled pieces and} <100) scraper size increases; 13-15: ‘fish gorges’ perforated whole shell LM VS SM more grazers = 50
cores flakes, no blades first borers (drills) | ornaments only (bovids and
I- —-- -------- Sit | (no pendants) equids)
9 760 14 Q@aQasL 13-18: flakes QtQS <50 | 10-18: no backed blades LM VS+SM S
|
2 15 QaQLs 14-17: very few blades| 13-19: very few retouched LM VS S
and blade cores pieces, mostly scrapers
16 COP OMES SOL a NE NR ore SGP hata ieee Care eee 16-17: segments in these | very few Lp iy 2) Bie Vs LM S+SM
as 13-16, but with few layers only
17 QaQsL few blades and blade blades no artefacts or VS LM S+SM
| i} cores ornaments
18 e@asL > 10° <100} mostly scaled pieces, VS+LM S+SM+L
more blades than flakes
1 12730 19 QQasL flakes: Q QtS flakes, most blades (S), backed blades VS LM L Equus cf.
most blades (S) and scaled pieces capensis
blade cores (Q ‘micro’
Note. Raw materials: Q = quartz; Qt = quartzite; S = silcrete; L = limestone. Letters in parentheses are also ra
materials.
AD/m® = average density per cubic metre (see p. 24).
Mammals: VS = very small; S = small; SM = small medium; LM = large medium; L = large; + indicat
equal ranking.
OES = ostrich egg-shell.
178 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
than the other layers. Quartzite is the predominant raw material in layers 17-15
and quartz in layers 14 and 13. Unmodified flakes are, however, mostly quartz
and there are few unmodified blades and blade cores, very few in layers 16-14.
Utilized blades occur in layer 17 but not in layers 16-13, and there are no
backed blades in any of the layers. There are segments in layers 17 and 16 but
the few retouched pieces are mostly scrapers. A change in scraper morphology
appears to begin in layer 13, that continues into phase 2/3. The first borers
(drills) were recovered from layer 13.
As in phase 1, there are very few bone artefacts in the layers of phase 2,
and ‘fish gorges’ are restricted to layers 15-13. The first shell ornaments, simple
perforated shells, occur in layer 16 but phase 2 shares with phase 1 a paucity of
marine shell, mostly Donax serra as well as very low ADs for beads and other
artefacts of ostrich egg-shell.
Layers 17 and 16 form a group with those of phase 1 in the ranking of the
mammal size classes, with the very small and large medium size classes in the
first two rankings. Layer 15-13, on the other hand, share with layers 12 and 11
a predominance of the large medium size class, with the very small size class
generally ranked second. These layers are the only ones in which the large
medium size class is numerically predominant but the ungulates are, like those
of phases 1 ind 2/3 mostly grazers. As in phase 1, fish are sparsely represented.
Apart from the fact that there is no evident decline in the relative
frequency of mammals, phase 2 appears to indicate a period of less intensive
occupation of the cave than during phase 1. The ‘fish gorges’ in layers 15-13,
the first occurrence of marine shell ornaments in layer 16 and of borers (drills)
in layer 13 as well as the beginning (?) of a change in scraper morphology in
layer 13 all indicate a degree of technological difference from phase 1, and the
changes in the mammal size class rankings suggest a degree of economic
change.
Phase 2/3
Layers 12-10 share with the upper layers of phase 2 a predominance of
quartz, although layer 12 is anomalous in having silcrete ranked second
whereas the other layers have quartzite. Layers 12 and 11 have the highest ADs
for stone artefacts of all the layers, while layer 10 belongs to phase 3 in this
respect. Unmodified flakes are mostly quartz in layers 12 and 11 but quartzite
in layer 10, and all three layers share with phase 3 an increase in unmodified
blades relative to phase 2, but there are still very few blade cores. Layers 12
and 10 are more like phase 3 in the frequency of utilized artefacts while layer 11
is more like phase 2. Layer 12 has a higher frequency of retouched artefacts
than layers 11 and 10 and has the first backed points (borers), while the first
backed scrapers came from layer 10. In layer 11 the change in scraper
morphology first observed in layer 13 reaches its peak (but see p. 47), while
layer 10 sees the beginning of a reversion to a smaller, more equilateral
(rounder) type. There are no bone artefacts in layers 12 and 11 and very few in
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 179
layer 10. The first Donax serra ‘scrapers’ came from layer 12 but marine shell
ornaments continue to be the simple perforated shells first recorded in layer 16.
These layers share with phases 1 and 2 very low frequencies of ostrich egg-shell
artefacts.
Layers 12 and 11 are like the upper part of phase 2 (layers 15-13) in the
ranking of the mammal size classes while layer 10 suggests a pattern intermedi-
ate between that of the upper part of phase 2 and that of phases 3 and 4. There
are still more grazers than browsers or mixed feeders but the last Damaliscus
dorcas recorded at the site came from layer 11. Shellfish frequencies are still
low, but higher than in phases 1 and 2, and Donax serra continues to be the
most common species in layers 12 and 11 while in layer 10 Turbo sarmaticus
assumes the dominant position it holds in most of the upper layers. Fish
frequencies are higher in layer 10 than in layers 19-11, but still low.
As the numbering indicates, phase 2/3 is seen as transitional between
phases 2 and 3. While in many respects continuing the pattern of phase 2 it
presages that of phase 3 and in general suggests an increase in the intensity of
the occupation of the cave as well as some changes in the technology and
economy of the cave occupants. Layer 10, it may be recalled, marks the
division between D. M. Avery’s vegetation units 3 and 2, although Avery has
suggested that the climate of phase 2/3 was milder than that of phase 2 (cf.
Table 22).
Phase 3
Layers 9-5 are marked by a predominance of silcrete as a raw material,
except in layer 7 in which quartz predominates. The ADs for unmodified
artefacts are lower than for phase 2/3 but higher than for phases 2 or 4 and in
the same range as for phase 1. Unmodified flakes are more commonly quartz in
layers 7 and 6 but silcrete in the other layers. There are generally more
unmodified blades than in phases 2 and 2/3 but still few blade cores. The ADs
for utilized artefacts are the highest except for layer 12 and scaled pieces and
flakes continue to be the most common types. Layer 8 has the highest
frequency of utilized blades after layer 19, but frequencies of these are
generally low throughout the sequence. The highest frequencies of retouched
artefacts are in layers 9-3 and it is generally characteristic of phase 3 that the
layers contain the fullest range of retouched artefact types, which are only
sporadically present in the underlying layers. Scrapers are still the most
common retouched artefacts but while those of layer 9 are morphologically
intermediate between those of layers 13-10 and 8-1, those of layers 8-5 show a
greater degree of homogeneity and are generally in the small to medium size
class (< 30 mm). Apart from layer 1, segments have their highest frequencies in
phase 3, as do backed flakes. Trapezoids occur only in phase 3 and backed
scrapers are most common in layers 6-4.
Bone artefacts are still few although there are more in layers 7-5 than in
the underlying layers. The first positively identifiable points and linkshafts
180 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
occur in layer 5 but may be present from layer 6. Marine shell ‘pendants’ first
occur in layer 9 while the simple perforated shell ornaments present from layer
16 continue to be found. After layer 1, the layers of phase 3 have the highest
frequencies and widest range of these artefacts. Ostrich egg-shell beads and
decorated ostrich egg-shell are also most common in phase 3.
The ranking of the mammal size classes is virtually identical in layers 9-1,
with the three smaller size classes predominant. Layer 9 contains the last Equus
cf. quagga recorded from the site and marks a change from a predominance of
grazing ungulates in the lower layers to a predominance of browsers and mixed
feeders. The first positively identified Raphicerus campestris occurs in layer 6.
The frequency of shellfish increases markedly in layer 9 and frequencies
generally continue to increase throughout this phase, with Turbo sarmaticus the
most common species. Fish frequencies, although still low, also increase in
phase 3 and the site maximum is reached in layer 5.
Phase 3 suggests the highest intensity of occupation of the cave of the
whole BNK 1 sequence. Where artefacts are concerned there is an increase in
frequency rather than in range, although there are some technological innova-
tions and changes. Change is more marked in the faunal component, with a
decline in the general size range of the mammals brought back to the site and a
marked increase in the amount of shellfish as well as a less marked increase in
fish frequencies.
Phase 3/4
Layer 4 is intermediate between the layers of phase 3 and those of phase 4.
It shares with phase 4 a predominance of quartz and lower ADs for unmodified
artefacts than phase 3 and few blades and blade cores, but the flakes are mostly
quartz whereas in phase 4 they are mostly quartzite. It shares with phase 3 a
higher frequency of utilized artefacts than phase 4 and contains utilized blades,
which are absent from phase 4. The retouched artefact category also has more
in common with phase 3 although it contains a higher frequency of adzes. In
layer 5 the scraper: adze ratio is about 6:1, in layer 4 it is 6:4. There are few
bone artefacts and the layer contains Donax serra ‘scrapers’ and ostrich
egg-shell ‘pendants’, both of which are, perhaps fortuitously, absent from layers
3 and 2 but present in layer 1.
The ranking of the mammal size classes is the same as for phases 3 and 4
and shellfish ADs are similar to those for the upper layers of these two phases,
but fish frequencies are lower than in phase 3.
Phase 3/4 appears to mark the beginning of a period of reduced intensity of
occupation of the cave but provides few indications of technological or eco-
nomic change.
Phase 4
The final occupation phase of BNK 1 has quartz as its predominant raw
material, a lower frequency of unmodified artefacts than phase 3, a predomi-
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 181
nance of quartzite flakes and few blades and blade cores. There is also a
reduction in the frequency of utilized artefacts and this category contains no
blades in these layers. In layer 3 the AD for retouched pieces is the same as for
phase 3 but it drops in layers 2 and 1. The most notable difference of phase 4
from phase 3 is that adzes are more common than scrapers. Backed scrapers
and segments are few, except in layer 1, in which the frequency of segments is
as high as in phase 3, though in layer 1 they are mostly quartz.
Layers 3 and 2 have very few bone artefacts but layer 1 has the highest
frequency and the fullest range of all the layers. Layer 1 also has the most
Donax serra ‘scrapers’, while layers 2 and 3 have none. Other artefacts
restricted to layer 1 are potsherds and the site’s single metal artefact.
Where the fauna is concerned, phase 4 is not markedly different from
phase 3, with the notable exception of Ovis aries in layer 1. Layer 3 has a very
high density of marine shell and Oxystele sinensis is more common than Turbo
sarmaticus which, however, remains the dominant species in terms of flesh
mass. Shellfish and fish frequencies decline in layers 2 and 1 and in layer 1 there
is a marked increase in the frequency of Choromytilus meridionalis relative to
the frequencies in the underlying layers. Domestic sheep are present only in
layer 1, and this causes a change in the ranking of the small medium size class
which in this layer ranks second whereas it ranked third in the underlying
layers.
Phase 4 appears to mark a period of less intensive occupation of the cave
than in phase 3. This is particularly noticeable in the wide range of dates for
layer 1 relative to the depth of deposit. Technological change is indicated by
the predominance of adzes and an overall decline in the frequency of scrapers,
while in layer 1 bone artefacts and Donax serra ‘scrapers’ reach their highest
frequencies and segments are as common as in phase 3. Economic change is
indicated by the decline in the frequency of marine resources and, in layer 1, by
the addition of domestic sheep to the range of wild game already available.
DISCUSSION
By and large, it would seem that in the BNK 1 assemblage technological
change is not concomitant with economic change. The site data indicate for the
lower layers a general emphasis on large medium mammals, mostly bovids,
little reliance on marine resources and very little use of artefacts, in the cave at
least. From layer 12, or perhaps layer 13, technological changes are evident in
the addition of new types of retouched artefacts, although these represent only
a third of the total range of artefact types in this category. There is a change in
scraper morphology evident in layers 13-9 which might have proved less
significant had larger samples been available for layers 19-13 and 11; and the
replacement of the dominance of scrapers in layers 19-4 by that of adzes in
layers 3-1 is undoubtedly also not without significance, although the functional
relationship between these two artefact types has yet to be demonstrated. The
addition, from layer 9 up, of the more elaborate shell pendants to the range of
182 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
ornaments already available suggests an increase in the leisure (?) time of at
least some of the cave occupants—leisure, that is, from the necessary aspects of
day-to-day life although the shift in resources from the larger animals of the
lower layers to a range of smaller fauna that includes shellfish and fish suggests
a change to a way of life that was more labour-intensive. In this connection it is
worth reiterating the social change implicit in the change of the economic base
from that of the lower layers to that of the upper. It seems axiomatic, in simple
societies at least, that the greater the dependence on communal effort in
resource procurement, the greater the obligation for those resources to be
shared and therefore the greater the sense of community. The analogy of the
'Kung may not be directly applicable to the prehistoric and early historic
hunter-gatherers of the southern Cape but the evidence here (Marshall
1976: 295-303) is that, while sharing is an essential need of the community, the
obligation to share does not extend to smaller game, plant foods and the like.
The change in the BNK 1 fauna from that of the lower layers to that of the
upper is primarily one of a change from the procurement of large game to that
of smaller game, shellfish and fish (and presumably plant foods), resources that
would require more individual effort to procure and thus a diminution of the
need or obligation to share those resources. Although this need not necessarily
result in a weakening of the sense of community it does indicate an increase in
the degree of individualistic behaviour within that community and therefore
some measure of social change.
On the basis of general similarities, phase 1 can be related to the ‘Robberg
industry’ and phase 2 to the ‘Albany’ (H. J. Deacon 1976: 76-78, 117-122; J.
Deacon 1978: 100-109), although it is possible that phase 1 may mark the
transition from the ‘Robberg’ to the ‘Albany’, in the same way as layer BSL at
Nelson Bay Cave seems to do. Phase 3 would unquestionably be termed
‘Wilton’ and, by analogy, phase 2/3 ‘Formative Wilton’ and phases 3/4 and 4
‘Post-climax Wilton’ (cf. H. J. Deacon 1976, table 3). The problem of the
nomenclature and content of the ‘industries’ of the Late Stone Age of southern
Africa has recently again been raised by Parkington and discussed by various
commentators on his paper (Parkington 1980a and comments thereon). It is not
considered appropriate to this report (especially since in its published form it
lacks the conclusions of the principal author) to enter into this debate which, it
is felt, is only likely to be resolved by the publication of detailed reports from a
greater number of sites in a greater variety of localities.
The BNK 1 data indicate that at one level there is some justification for
viewing the sequence as consisting of two major units, one from the initial
occupation of the cave some 12 700 years ago until about 6 000 B.p. and the
second from the latter date until the final occupation of the cave. They also
indicate reasonable validity for the division into ‘phases’ based on a certain
degree of homogeneity in technology and economy. What they indicate above
all, however, is the arbitrariness of these divisions and they emphasize that
change, to greater or lesser degree but none the less change, was continual
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 183
throughout the occupation of the site, and that it was diachronous rather than
synchronous. The relevance of this to the ecology of the human inhabitants of
the region cannot be determined from the site data alone and requires substan-
tiation from other sites in the area as well as from independently-derived
environmental data. The interaction between man and his environment, viewed
from the perspective of archaeological data alone, is at best one-sided since it
presents aspects of man’s use of his environment without the correlate of that
environment’s effect on man. In this regard, it is regrettable that the sparseness
of the final deposits precludes more detailed observation of what may have
been the most significant effect of man on the environment of the Cape: the
introduction of pastoralism.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The excavations were carried out under permit from the National Monu-
ments Council.
Funds for this research, in respect of subsistence and transport, were
provided by the Human Sciences Research Council, which is not to be regarded
as responsible for or concurring with the opinions expressed or conclusions
reached. The cost of equipment, the provision of vehicles, and other related
expenses were borne by the South African Museum.
Professional assistance was given by: Mr T. Arnold, Botanical Research
Institute, Pretoria (identification of Citrullus sp. seed cases); Dr C. Boucher,
Botanical Survey, Stellenbosch (botanical information); Professor G. Branch,
Department of Zoology, University of Cape Town (marine biological informa-
tion); Professor H. de Villiers, Department of General Anatomy, School of
Dentistry, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (analysis of the
human remains); Mrs P. Fairall and Mrs C. E. Labuschagne, National Botanic
Gardens, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town (botanical information); Mr and Mrs M. C.
Giles, Dr P. A. Hulley, and Miss A. E. Louw, all of the Marine Biology
Department, South African Museum (marine biological information); Mr D.
Halkett, University of Cape Town (artefact analyses and most of the technical
drawings); Dr Q. B. Hendey, Cenozoic Palaeontology Department, South
African Museum (faunal identification and information); Miss L. Horwitz, now
at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem (plant remains); Professor R. G. Klein,
Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago (analysis of the mamma-
lian fauna and provision of a radiocarbon date); Dr G. A. McLachlan,
Herpetologist, South African Museum (identification of reptiles and informa-
tion on birds); Mr C. E. Poggenpoel, Department of Archaeology, University
of Cape Town (analysis of fish remains); Mr R. Rau, Taxidermy Department,
South African Museum (information on tortoises); Mrs T. Reyneke, Mrs I.
Brunke, Miss B. Mann and Mr I. Bendie, all of the South African Museum
Library (library matters); Dr J. Rourke, Curator of the Compton Herbarium,
National Botanic Gardens, Kirstenbosch (botanical information and arranging
184 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
for the identification of the Citrullus sp. seed cases); Miss E. M. Shaw,
Ethnology Department, South African Museum (ethnological information);
and Dr J. C. Vogel, Head of the Natural Isotopes Laboratory, Council for
Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria (provision of radiocarbon dates).
Mr V. Branco, Entomology Department, South African Museum, drew Figure
3; Cdr A. Fawthrop, Directorate of Hydrography, South African Navy, made
available off-shore survey charts; Mr L. Lawrence, Archaeology Department,
South African Museum, took most of the photographs, drew the statistical
figures, and assisted in most aspects of the work; and Mr A. Schweitzer
provided air photographs of the site and surroundings. Thanks are also due to
the many people who assisted in the field and in the laboratory.
Assistance in various forms was also provided by Dr D. M. Avery and Mr
G. Avery, Archaeology Department, South African Museum; Professor H. J.
Deacon, Mrs J. Deacon and Mrs M. Brooker Leslie, Department of Archae-
ology, University of Stellenbosch, also Mr J. N. F. Binneman, now at the
Albany Museum, Grahamstown; Mr B. D. Malan; Mr A. D. Mazel, Ethno-
archaeology Department, Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg; Professor J. Par-
kington, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town; and Dr T. P.
Volman, Department of Archaeology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johan-
nesburg (now at Cornell University).
Mr P. van D. Swart, ‘Uilenkraal’, Strandskloof, gave permission for the
excavations to be carried out and Mrs M. Eyre, ‘Skuilplek’, Strandskloof,
permitted access to the site through her property. To them and to Mrs Swart,
thanks are also due for much hospitality.
Special thanks are due to Dr O. Pollak Schweitzer, Dr Q. B. Hendey, and
Dr M. Hall, Head of the Archaeology Department, South African Museum,
for their unfailing support; also to the Director and Trustees of the South
African Museum for enabling the research to be carried out and published, and
to Mrs I. Rudner, Editor of the Annals, for preparing this report for the press.
Thanks are also due to Mrs Deacon, Dr Hall and Professor Klein for helpful
comments on the manuscript.
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APPENDIX 1
BYNESKRANSKOP 1: MAMMALS. TABLES OF THE MINIMUM
NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS REPRESENTED BY VARIOUS
SKELETAL PARTS
By
R. G. KLEIN
University of Chicago
(Compiled January 1978)
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is = Orr WT Garoie Oar We = = = re Care Care Cars Car 08 @ron Mare (iskO Gry -es20°8* [e1sIp—
aE ae Se oe s = ee T ae = Ory = CarDs Ord Ory — Ate °° yeurxoid—eiqry
= = xP Oru — Orr DL Orr = Csr ie re a Ware Gras Gare Oxi Gare Carae °°°°°° fe3sIp—
== (iar @)ii —= (see Osr@yi mg sed = Ware UsrOl Use De Careo Garger Gee — +E U+p)s °*° [ewIxoid—inwe;
3 soil I I io a a 1 z 1 ag z 6 ed , je A cheonngane can slang
as ae nee se ae 1 : me z a a2 I 7 Zz Aca 1 G) geben sadeon wmnigosy
oe = a — ae z st ae ¢ 1 eee I or 1 1 ok: po eee wanT
= I = == I I I I I I I v 8 € Z C 1 ee ees pig —
= (ar@yil — (+0)I G+)Dz — (@+D~2 +o) GA+dDz GA+HYz7 (+01 (€+Dr (G4+0L G4+D2Z G4+HNz G@+dDz @+0r 7°" puz—
(i+0)I (+0O)I — (+01 G+D~% +01 G+Dz2 (+01 (+01 G+or G4+Nz @+YDe G+DL G4+Hz W4+Ye G+Yz (€4+d0s °°: Js] — sosurvyeyg
— (+01 —= (SEO Mist We == — (1+0)I — ©+DI ©+DI (+DEe (€+£)9 OFDI (+8)r ODI &+09 ~*~ TeIsIP—
= = I I I = = = G = I € € I I € € jewrxoid—yjedivovioyy
ae = med = es a = . I = z z 6 Z a nae Gott tees wIO}OUQ
= ES i = = = ee, ce i ; é ; 5 > | = Q reenact ayeuny
= = T I = I I == € G € 9 TI € 1 == Pipe a a wdojsounD
= I = = I as = == = I € 9 9 I = = Cr gee proydesg
aa == = age = I == I Tt I G 9 Ol € a =a Cg i ee uinuse yy
— = — ©+DI — ©+DI ©+DI — (+v€ +01 G+O)l (€+0>5 O+H)01 G+)Dz7 ©+07 G+Dz7 9+8)6 °°°° Jeuxoid—eulpA
ie <- — (+01 aa = a — @+DE O+DI G+OI C+YE &+ee G+oO1 A+D~2 ODI G+vdE °°: [eqsIp —
— (©+DI = = — (1+0)I (+0)I — (ara — (+01 (+oO)s (4+D8 (+07 (74+ DE — (¢+1)9 °° jewrxoid—snipey
— (ise xe (EO = — (+01 = — (b+0)r 1+0)I (+07 +Ds (€Cl+H)LI G+01 G+NzZ O+DI &+e)L °°°° TeIsIP—
= (Oar WI = = — (1+0)I — (I+0)I — (+01 ©+DI — (9+2078 (+o0)l ©+DI G+)Dz2 (+0)I * 1ewrxoid—snisuny
—— —, os iG I a Ao mS + == I ty I I G == Z Z 9 OO COO GO OOO 50 eindess
— = —= == = == = = —S —— — —_ Vv — T I € Nene aes SBIQGIIOA [BIDNVS
ae = =) SFONE (Oar ii = = = (are OF OskWn (see Ge Di2 (isk We aaa — (1+0)I °° ° 9B1qaqI9A IequINT
= ae — (I+0)I = — (+0)I (+01 G+Dz7 G4+Nz7 OFDI G4+Nz7 @+Hs G+HYz7Z G4+Yz7Z G+HN7 (T4+VE °° 9v1QA1I9A O1IORIOYL
= = Saat )e- OD == (srOl ClarOM Gisr ke OFF CEO Cee Wako — (+0)1 (+O0)E (T+DE L-€ 281Q919A [BOTAIOD
= = I I = = = G G v € € €l € I = leas eee ee SIXW
ais I ae pa , a ae ae ; i es Zz Ol eo. i was Poco sen
I Zz I € G € I € € € ¢ L €7 8 € € 6 uoT UEP Ie[NqipuLyy
ia == I i = = = a I = € ¢ LI Z = = € ° aApuoo Iejnqrpuey|
I = G € = G omar = v v v E 07 € Z v CO ea eee BIXe A
I T = == —- — = I G I € v 6 Z Z = p °° afApuoos jeqdI999
= G == I T —= == I = = I — v = I I Ds Ne nae Ja]UOI
LI 91 cI vl €l TI IT Ol 6 8 L 9 ¢ v € Z I
‘dds snaaa1ydvy
] dav
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
10
TABLE 2
Oreotragus oreotragus.
4
3
BYNESKRANSKOP 1 191
1
1
Pd a Pe
Ly AS RTS Se Ret WES TS Syl
ia
Ve ITI IS UTI ae a Se ea
e
PPD SS DT see es Get Sse [oT
10+1) —
10+1) —
1
PED Te) a de aes a
PE Ta ee a aS Sista es eee
Pe ee th st
10+1) —
Se Stee en OP MEen acetal eweires cin! a tous ens cole uted ue)! ce, fei tties Nei eohte le! nell vet et. jet 8) fel y deh, cell Mes Gee jel) jely eh sai “fet se
. . . Neat Rea ove es ek eR sanep ome Cee vey (eC iiefe lle) Crete iw fe) of Si) cee fe) Tee ler) .e)%,~ te eh ie” es Jechlore
ion
SE OCG) econo CMe Cees uel. Giey (ise iat Wels cole oguiteM 5) cer wel dey! jel“ ej riev- cashes jel fei. cet teh ey oe) eh fe! ine.
. . -_ . .
oO meena rer | ie ee eRe Ae ys co ebmeoe MCSY Xen UM alain lgs velit ey = ve
Ole! TO. Sto oe = Os
eit wh ace ter), ie) :8)
° = . . . . . .
ea ey cel ie) gy. weet ee) eg a ie re it) afer OMY ei tet Pre hite a" 8
—distal ..
—distal .
Indeterminate distal
—2nd
—3rd
Sesamoids — proximal .
~
nS 6 9 6 BA
—distal ..
—distal ...
Tibia —proximal ,
metapodial ........
Metatarsal —proxima
Hyoid ...
Cervical vertebrae 3—7
Thoracic vertebrae.
Phalanges—Ist .
Femur — proximal
Calcaneum .
Astragalus. .
Cuneiform 1
Lateral malleolus.
Naviculo-cuboid .
Unciform .
Patella ..
Magnum .
Scaphoid .
Cuneiform
Lunate ...
Sacral vertebrae .. .
Scapulatesne ee oe
Lumbar vertebrae .
DNS AS. Gini Cosco Ee
Mandibular denti
Atlas ..
Occipital condyle... .
Maxillary. 5 8 octes os
Frontlet ..
TABLE 3
Small medium bovids.
192 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
=
SS 0 a al el esate (ime a ea Giclee Pa lee eel wifes es cde th fe
ie ae bd dk kl
<
SE CEE Te els ee
a
eet hei Soe ett hl Lia!
Se Te TTS eT AT aN Sta IST se Teter S ests Tis a
; =
| = ee Peon Siete IT i lida
ae 2
aes cae Sata et tr t i tilda!
x iq
Teese ose ae ai Lehi pees] | la
if
Sec ee reer y ri pit titi ide
aa
ee aan Sata t ta ttl lad il
ee ik :
Saloon Shree Se i esp it. fsa.
7
EST Sere as
qa
See eee eee IV IPSS tle biidi
aa a
eee Pee VPI SSSI SlhTiieltiliiat
S S) =) S
a5 = B
Pam ae ie eae pole eel eee eae a) epee Se Sia als Soe fe foal = |
i
eee WA Se ES ey ar eas ee
ea A LS ee Sea ape
=
Set Peery TAS St Ph arti ted i!
FES E8RE2 aac ES S
| FL i BoE ae
SS] see] ==e =, 2 =
IAT en Sh ferent es Se Aire tay | los Pleo aacee Sas
eB i ob ce ee eee
Qe 22 ON BB des vee eit: ae Sore ee ase eee oe eee
Ie cee Oe as cic yale es a See fe oO BR aS
See econ ie eo ml eee ee Sat |
gisiS i igggied y' FESS .EF SB el TT ese ash =
SSEEES 2252585 5 ESEZEGS § EEZ2 £ BEEZ SES sg
LOSS > 2 eUeoaoe nt @ SSSOooDS a | Seam a anomie eee
11+0) 10+0) 10+1) 10+1) —
1
metapodial ........
Indeterminate distal
FIV OIG!) cA eS Pee
193
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
= +
1 8c 8eenmcon ane plosy
= = — (+0)! ©+DI G+0)1 ©+FDI G+)Dz2 +01 ©+DI G4+nDz +01 ©+D)I G+01 G4+nDz G+0)I — (SFO (isrQ)y eseecs? [eIpodejour
]@1SIP oJeUuIUIOJOpuyT
G6 99° * (eto
€ ° [ewixo1id—sprowrseg
(I+O)I °° [easip—
I I
I
= I J ‘Jewrxoid—|]esieiepy
I
I
=
c
(0+ IDI
I
i seas plogns-ojnotAeyy
— “"** snjoayjeur [e191e7
1 I
I I
I I
— I as == = Z SonGcooaad I wiojlaunD
— —— if a= Ss I SO0000nD gH snyesensy
Lf I ms
== —— (7+ 0)Z rd jeisip—
je1sip —
ae — (O+]))I °° °° Jewrxoid—inwe7
pull cae [occttttttttssees siqng
ae 'O Ce oO 0 8 OG OO Re
ee eC en ee en en MTC mene ss O CF OF; OO OF FO GF AO OO Bei
a an eT ae en en ee ye Te Cmte eo OO & OF OO GC GC 0 GO Be!
CnC et ee nr ey nn ns Let yr eet oO te O TO CG PO (OO 0 DO me
en ee ee ey en ee oy en ee Pe ee COP Ow Oo 8 FON DP OG O OF 8
le ee ee ee ean a eC ee mt Met Ose OO; OO OO DO
Ce ee ee ee en en ee er ee OMe eet Gare Ol 1 OG me OM! OO 0
Ce en ne en ey er er ee ee en re MOCO MS OOF OO | OOO sO
ne ne Sat en Ye en Ya en ey Sn een COSCON ON On 0) OO HO! Oe he
er ae en er rn ee en er ee er ere meOn cd OO OO oO! oO Oo CL OD Be)
ee nn ee eT er an i ee ae remem mmm OV ONO OC GC Oo 9 GO 88
ee Ef Sf kk
rT erm no oo Gl PO UG \
Fe ne en ey i me OTe UNECE Ene OD OOF 6 8 Om GO {
Qo bee pt Pa oe Or
= ’
S| if i: Dre ieee eo ees
Blog: + 2th: REI tn 2) 2 Se ees fe
R125 Ree LE ee Woeaante AS eis Ao cia Pegg Ele cs& casa ee |
° . ° . 2 3 ° — Chae ie
e|¢eo ae BS oe ee Se KS.c=k%S -: - 2 de
SO re eee ae i ae oS c2e80n 2, 3
SoS IO il by | eS ele Sos eae eee ee
So) ee Gop ote oA 7 ere) . Seite | oS See .
SS) Bo 5g 6 BIDS Ss nw ” .€. So CR:
Olas Se Ole Siais os Sis Bese Pesos See
= l/gpeeaeerbekakg go & (SGI S 3 SSE
S| SegSe5esee 2 8 Fes S Ge oie oe
(3) jonny pos! or i Sj
CWIOBAAK40R AGAR 4 DPD OUS4AE B&B & BOO 4m
197
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
I CeCe CnC CCC Cm) jewixoid — SPIOUIeSasg
I Cee sosurleyd
te eee tte tee ew ee ete ewe eee sjesiey,
Me eee ak cia ct ae ec ero uonnused
=i = = a = = = = I
I I I I I Te I I re
61 LI oT SI al CI IT 6 8
SI KPI
oT A!
aa aoa = aay a =e a ae aE I
I Ey a ag = I L ara sae I
= ae x a i = = (rol a =
= a aa ae se = = CFO = =
(eC OCL ee i een ee ee = a
a = I - atl = wa ee roa I
= a I I I I sy =a, C I
= ai = = =" = = = I I
arse es 7 ar —_ cr r aT ee cr i — nT _< ae,
en ele ssi i=!
J See SoroegsesonEvabono0sne uonnueqd
9 S1U4091G SOsDIIG
ee et ee ee ew we ee ee ee ee ee eee sqry
= dgnsc0noobcDDD ODD ODO OODONDD sosuryeyg
I silaiicikclicitcWetefehicnstislisiialislKolicieliololsliatre’ s]eIpodeioypy
tt te te we te ew ee ee ew [ewIxo.1d — eiqry,
(I +0)1 com@oooOdddoaoboo00GgGDGODD yeIsIp—
61 +0)I PaO CnC CnC mC CnC mim jewrxoid — INUW9,J
SS copodcons do oboosobGGoD0UNN0 sjedieg
— «(Con Goo DODO poo Ob OKod Oo GOOGS [eisIp— eulp
tt tt te et ew ee ee ee ee [eIsIp— snIpey
a +0)1 ee eee twee eee wees jewrxoid — sniowinyy
Tie, edhe hee recess koe ee yyndeos
So Go0boesoCG obo odouGG 9vIGO}IOA IEquINT]
— oo Od DOHDDOHOOON DD SVIGOIIOA DIOKIONU T,
wt et te ee ee tee eee ee L-€ S[edIAI9D
WS boon coco oo eo cro moo mo SG oom G a]qIpueyl
ee ee OC Ca BTIXe A
a
I “anu “ds 19 ‘ues sepIIodeT
+;
|
TABLE 7
Various species (1).
Arctocephalus pusillus 1 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 16 17
Occipital condyle .................-. 1 —_— — — — = — =
Mandibular condyle . . = — = 1 = ES ak = a =¥ A ma =
Dentition ........... 1 1 1 2 1 — — — 1
Adlasi teas. = = 1 = me = oe ef e = =
IBSIS cite. seis = = == ae = a3 ae Aas 7 & = =a. A
Cervicals 3-7 . 1 = 1 = ee = = = = = = a: =
Thoracic ..... _— — 1 — — — = = — = ae =e =
MEUM DAD state sferdtsi ets Wisiaiaraeis(cisie wd 1 — — — — = = = = = aa =
Sacral .. pastel estes cin oreteion — —_— 1 — — — — = — = me - =
Scapula ........... 1 — — — =— — = = 1 a a es =
Humerus—proximal . 1(1+0) — _ = = — — = = = = re me
—distal .... = = = 1(0+1) = es a Ee az
Radius—proximal .................4 11+0) — 1(1+0) — = = = = Es a me a Es
Sadlistalyacne stim scaatreee cies — = = 10+1) — ae = = s.
Ulna—proximal .. 21+1) — 1+0) — = = = = = = es, i.
—distal...... Ee = 11+0) — = = a = aa i 1 we a
Carpals ..... 1 _— 1 — 1 = = = = Ls = =
Minas eis igisteace sianete scaievelo ioe — = = — ced = = =
Led vo ia gon breesenode — — = =
LSS ee pie a a = = pa = as = we Pea ma a t- 12 18) ts 16 17 19
Mia xa a recess dra teeneie a acre ars 1 — 1 1 1 — 1 1 1 1 — 2
Mandible: <:ccsdseenmannas i — — Po es a = I 1 1
PALL als tes eirrtesetena torsuetie tes aseueoure obees — = = = = —& es ee es 2
UNERAS sas eels ee cater waroe oiehs ae eTeue 1 — SS eS =, oS) 2 = eee eS =
Cervical vertebrae 3-7 ..... 1 es, Fe Ses fey Se ee Meco Sere Mca) ee ice rag eee Cs
Thoracic vertebrae ........ 1 — — 1l— — 220 See SS ee SSS aoe
Lumbar vertebrae ......... — — — 1i—_—— Se eae ES See =
Scapulatcirsmerce seem: 1 SS eS eS ee NEN Bec es oy ee =
Humerus—proximal ....... QO) ss See fh peer eee Pe aN | yh "be
SOS sascoconce AM sei) Se | ee ee (Ossi)
Radius—proximal ......... 10+1) — — — — 1041) — — — — ~—~-— — =
= distal sive asiceneee = en er ie a a) a:
Ulna—proximal........... 10+1) — — — — — = =| S| SS Sl 1(1 +0)
JUwia nee Aer avaeediaco csoaiateoorcinte 1 See ee fe egy eg eens ees, ys, os
TSCM 50.5 eee een 1 ee 2 pee Se es ee a
Bub isi aceon ence 1 SS) ee Ee ees ES ee oe ee ee =
Femur—proximal.......... 1@s+1) => #« os = = S SS |S SS —S — 2(1+1)
— distal. vt gesmee. — aS eS So es we ee a ea eee aa
Tibia—proximal .......... 1a+0) — — — — 10+0) — — — — — —- — 1(1 +0)
iS tale ioy.cccre le eae = =S =a = i400 ] jas =] = = ae
Ratelliay sencrc cuvette ane = a ee ge ee, ee 1
Galcaneumte oan. cance ae: — — = Ss = = = es ee ey ee Lz
Astragalltis” (csnvceucceta cee — —- —- —- — — 1 = = t —- — — —
IMIeeNoXeGhAUIS 5 5500000000006 1 —- l—_—-— — LS Se —
Suidae — general 1 De 18s BAAS 6 7 8 1@ iit 12 Ws 4 WSs lo iy is ©
iDentitionaa seen 1 2D 1 1 1 1 — — 2 — 1 1 —- — —
UhA=prowimel ooo = = = = IG4Q0 —] a= ]eHeieaee See Se SS S| —S |
= CISA 600066 ee ee) SS ee ee a SS SS eS SS
CAMOBUIS Soo000c00c — | 1 — — — | — ~ ~ ~ ~—~ 1 — — 1 — =
iEarsalsy! Batt in veces —a => = = oS wae Owes ee a ge ee eee
Metapodials ...... 1 1 1 1 eS a a)
Rivalangeseeeeere 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 — 1 1 — 1 =— | 1 1
Potamochoerus porcus 1 DANS “4 ein ay) sees 9 I@ il Ww We WI ils IG 7 iB 9
IDOSNOMOM oaoccacccccs Ue DY De D's aps ae lo fl Ll — =| ff =i 1 —-— — —
Phacochoerus aethiopicus 1 2 Se |S) 6 IS 8 109 2 Ss AIS Ger omen.
IDentition Ener ee be ek! See” WE ee ee ed ee ee
Equus cf. quagga 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 1 19
IMiaxdll aii earnest eeeaene — — 1 1 1 1 — 1 — — =
IMEVAVIONS sooococcoonsoces 1 — — = 1 1 Dp 1 2 — 2
Marsal Swe etenrvs nity oe te poke — — = = — = = = 1 == —
MetapodialSsaenennene reer: — — — 1 = ats — a8 = oe =
Phalanges— lst see none one — — — — 1 — — — — — —
Sesamoids—proximal ...... = = — — — 1 — 1 — — 1
CGA ogoocnoes — — = — 1 = = é== —= = =
Equus cf. capensis 19
IMAVENIDID. soovococccoccece 1
Alcelaphus|
Connochaetes
dP4UW
* indicates fragment
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
TABLE 10
Bovid dentition—various species (1).
1 ee
— 1
1 —
me A
M2UW M3UW
U L U L
| pa! | Geen.
—_- — gh
aig pean Goat
eee one |
hae ae cee ee
Se nis ge a)
DI =e
—- — Po Ot
a | oe
Nee eae |
— 1
201
Totals
q
=
oe
it
Ic
*
men |
ANH | NwuUwe | = | New
Wee NYRR RPK ONWNABRNKH WN
a=
ANKE KP RWUWNDN RK KH New
Ree NRF RP Re Re AWWW ARNK OD
Be Ne
202 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
TABLE 11
Bovid dentition— various
species (2).
Raphicerus spp. dP4UW MiIUW M2UW M3UW P4UW P4x/+
MM FEF Wo IL Wf IE, Ur Wie Ue E We It
2 2 1 2 4 — 1 — 1 1 a DD
— 1 2 1 1 t — — — a ih al
1 — 3 i al —- — — — == Beh.» (eae EAS)
= 4 to 2 tye oe —- — — 2 — 1 1, 32
2 2 5 SS — 2 4 3 2 6 i — Sin) OS)
ees == 6 ee | os | = 2 —_- — D 2
1 = aT a —— — 1 De ee —- — We 2
— 8 Bo —_—- — 2 — 1 —- — 1 1
— 9 lil —_—- — —_- — 2 — a 1D
— 1 10 — | —- — —_— — —_— — — | — |
— 11 — 1 —_— — —- — —- — — = —
— == 2 taal —- — —_- — — 1 = = =
1 — 13 — 1 —_- — a ——— i ees |
1 = 14 eS al —_— — —- — — 1 — = cya |
— 15 —- — —_— — 1 — a = = |
1 1 16 etl = — —— et ey =e Se
— 17 — |i —- — —_- — = = Se ice
ee i ee ae Ree lar Sie Men 1 tem ee eee a8 eS
1 — 19 1” = —- — —- — — 1 —_— — —_ —
Raphicerus campestris
Sierras eerie epee 1 — 1 — = 1
De er roeeke ic tannn aeve — — —= _ = a
SI a at aioeesttnee tas — — — aes cow vase
Bison stoadele s snaihenetee — — = — 1
Seat a Rar EG 1 — — 1 = ae
Gis jena care aneaxt — — — 1 = a
Fp nseeea tates cro ware — — — = ae oe
See akoe slau deme — — a = = ae
OP rere nes) eins eke — = == — es sar
INO aeaenres cleyeconatecoro. — — — — = ae
Lees epeaeieeces santnlaaete — — — = — =
Dae ale losies tabate teyaeie — — = oe a wes
1S Roe Tees costabriay — — — =e i ae
De os ake eteeneseanairs — — = = ans ae
LS ire tocgee Sec tran ats — — == we as, aa
LNA arahectaen chatter — — _ — = saa
Tig Aa ee rt nonce ate — — — = =— ae
DS essa eer ope — = _— —_ ace =
ee Sena reac reat ne nee — — oe = ae ae
Raphicerus melanotis
Wore Sinacsete taser 2 1 — 1 == =
Dias fea teetanra env seh eats 1 1 — = == —
B tire arene tenes Sete — — = ae as 2
A ete sen Bietesis on shece 1 — 1 2. 1
SD) Ae hifeneteg uavoustenair 4 1 3 6 — 5
OU Bee nianenareeniwss — 1 1 — 1
Wostceenaiarea sires beiaheaage — — = == = 1
Sires wae mere — = —= a ae a)
Dip era eh aie ee cies — — = = = =
LLU ators orcha ee eto = = — = = =
1 hares neon ieee — == = a = —
Dy orpenctene ecard ae 1 — == = a= ==
IVS Feet oiettewe use cei coer ete — == = aa _ a=
ASA Stunt soon Goeters — — —= 1 a ey
Morn ateromhoncio rt 2 = a <= — a ae
HOM ereisis cau ano erate 1 — — — = mt
1s aay Ata Niene oc — — — — poe —
Ovis aries
dP4UW MIUW M2UW M3UW P4UW P4x/+
MM FF WW IL U L UW ok wy It Wi ok, Une
OP et | a) ON Cte) haere Lae oe) eS nee
G
| a | S| | PRRRANWNAUN
(=)
Totals
L U+L
pct foul Palette chee ol: [ict omens eee ipa Ban ee eee eek Bae ye Qe nee ee
wv | NNNANYRKWUUDCHWOARLO
el eget cme re
Pelea capreolus
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
TABLE 11 (continued)
MM FF dP4UW MIUW M2UW M3UW P4UW P4 x /+ P44+ + Totals
— — 4 = = ———— a a — —=- jl — — — | 1
— — 6 —- — —_—- — —_- — — I! — — —_— — —- — — 1 1
— — 8 —_- — — 1 — a — — = =— — — 1 1
1 — 14 — = — = a ————— = — 1 — —_—- — 1 — 1
Oreotragus oreotragus
dP4UW MIUW M2UW M3UW P4UW P4x/+ P44 + Totals
Nee casket cas tasty sae — —_- — — — i 1 — 1 — —- — 3 — 8
Se Mic hatsneins tn wiiee — 1 —- — —_ — —_— — —_- — | —_- — 2, @ 3
Oe ativan aah Crea een — —_- — —_- — —_—- — —_— — — | —_- — — jl 1
Pd i dace Pace cere ee 1 — ————— —— — —_- — —_- — —_- — ine
IIS) aes ae rOaose RNC ene —_—- — —_ — = = — a = il — — 1 1 2
Redunca fulvorufula
dP4UW MIUW M2UW M3UW P4UW P4x /+ P4+ + Totals
il eat eae eee —_—- — —— — ————— a 1 1 — — 1 1 1
113): Gcateeatacelaeceerieeanans —— —_- — —_—- — — 1 —- — — 1 — — —— 2 2
Aa as eet Osco — — a = «= — il — — —_- — — — 1 1
Redunca arundium
MM FF dP4UW MIUW M2UW M3UW P4UW P4x/+ P44 + Totals
iW Ib WU 2k WIL WIL W IL W Ib Wo IL, Wy 1G WEIL
— — 6 —_—- — —_- — — — — 1 ————— —_ — —_ — —1 1
— — 10 { — = = = = a — = a — = 1
— 12 — a a — — —_—- — — 1 —_ — iL al 2
1 — 14 — = ——— ——— ——— a — = =< — |* 1
— — 15 —_—_ — — a — i — = = — — — — 1 1
— — 16 —_—- — —_ — —_ — —_—- — = il —_ = = == jl 1
— — 19 —_ — a ——— a —= = = i —_- — — 1 1
*dental fragment
Taurotragus oryx
RAR cse cos: Seckits —_—- — — — = — 1 —_ — 1 — —_- — ia 2
Giese t acts olalscare — 1 — I —- — —_—- — —_- — —_- — —_— — —2 2
17/5 acre ee een — i a ———— —= = — — —- — 1 => i
1D) A aletoue aeeean ena e 1 1 —_- — 1 — — = — — — — — 2 il 2
Hippotragus
Aas Shearer oi an Seeeaeires —_ — = i ———— a —— a —- — — 1 1
5). Soa Gale sto eRe oan — — — 1 —_ — —_—- — —_— — 1 — — — ie 2)
Sierra ieataeset tee is — ——— = a a ae 5 pel n= ol
Oo catonepenaratc canon ae —_- — —- — —_— — —- — —_- — 1 — ———— ti — 1
OS cy aes tans eave rane i — — ———— 1 — —_—- — —_—- — — 1 —- — iol 2
Mice BEN ae cecescys — = = 2 ae ey ra Sey ee ila ye | (ee |
1B) irre ee ue re pee — 2 —- — — 1 — — —_- — — ij = — — 4 4
RA ea cect che oni Goan —_— — — = = —= = ————— 1 — —_- — a el
lO acatct Serer a eae = = —— — — — == — 1 — — — | => il
Fe ae eco cs fo 5 Be — 1 — —_ — —_ — —- — 1 1 1 — 3 il 4
203
: . : . F a,
; % ; x 5 a = 4 : " :
“ 1 \ #1 Nea = j . fd
6. SYSTEMATIC papers must conform to the International code of zoological nomenclature
(particularly Articles 22 and 51).
Names of new taxa, combinations, synonyms, etc., when used for the first time, must be
followed by the appropriate Latin (not English) abbreviation, e.g. gen. nov., sp. nov., comb.
nov., syn. nov., etc.
An author’s name when cited must follow the name of the taxon without intervening
punctuation and not be abbreviated; if the year is added, a comma must separate author’s
name and year. The author’s name (and date, if cited) must be placed in parentheses if a
species or subspecies is transferred from its original genus. The name of a subsequent user of
a scientific name must be separated from the scientific name by a colon.
Synonymy arrangement should be according to chronology of names, i.e. all published
scientific names by which the species previously has been designated are listed in chronological
order, with all references to that name following in chronological order, e.g.:
Family Nuculanidae
Nuculana (Lembulus) bicuspidata (Gould, 1845)
Figs 14-15A
Nucula (Leda) bicuspidata Gould, 1845: 37.
Leda plicifera A. Adams, 1856: 50.
Laeda bicuspidata Hanley, 1859: 118, pl. 228 (fig. 73). Sowerby, 1871: pl. 2 (fig. 8a—b).
Nucula largillierti Philippi, 1861: 87.
Leda bicuspidata: Nicklés, 1950: 163, fig. 301; 1955: 110. Barnard, 1964: 234, figs 8-9.
Note punctuation in the above example:
comma separates author’s name and year
“semicolon separates more than one reference by the same author
full stop separates references by different authors
figures of plates are enclosed in parentheses to distinguish them from text-figures
dash, not comma, separates consecutive numbers
Synonymy arrangement according to chronology of bibliographic references, whereby
the year is placed in front of each entry, and the synonym repeated in full for each entry, is
not acceptable.
In describing new species, One specimen must be designated as the holotype; other speci-
mens mentioned in the original description are to be designated paratypes; additional material
not regarded as paratypes should be listed separately. The complete data (registration number,
depository, description of specimen, locality, collector, date) of the holotype and paratypes
must be recorded, e.g.:
Holotype
SAM-—A13535 in the South African Museum, Cape Town. Adult female from mid- tide region, King’s Beach
Port Elizabeth (33°51’S 25°39’E), collected by A. ‘Smith, 15 January 1973.
Note standard form of writing South African Museum registration numbers and date.
7. SPECIAL HOUSE RULES
Capital initial letters
(a) The Figures, Maps and Tables of the paper when referred to in the text
9
e.g. °... the Figure depicting C. namacolus ...’; ‘. . . in C. namacolus (Fig. 10)...’
_(b) The prefixes of prefixed surnames in all languages, when used in the text, if not preceded
by initials or full names
e.g. Du Toit but A.L.du Toit; Von Huene but . F. von Huene
(c) Scientific names, but not their vernacular derivatives
e.g. Therocephalia, but therocephalian
Punctuation should be loose, omitting all not strictly necessary
Reference to the author should be expressed in the third person
Roman numerals should be converted to arabic, except when forming part of the title of a
book or article, such as
‘Revision of the Crustacea. Part VIII. The Amphipoda.’
Specific name must not stand alone, but be preceded by the generic name or its abbreviation
to initial capital letter, provided the same generic name is used consecutively.
Name of new genus or species is not to be included in the title: it should be included in the
abstract, counter to Recommendation 23 of the Code, to meet the requirements of
Biological Abstracts.
FRANZ R. SCHWEITZER
&
M. L. WILSON
BYNESKRANSKOP 1
A LATE QUATERNARY LIVING SITE
IN THE SOUTHERN CAPE PROVINCE,
SOUTH AFRICA
m2 JUNE 1982 | ISSN 0303-2515
\
yy,
OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN
INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
1. MATERIAL should be original and not published elsewhere, in whole or in part.
2. LAYOUT should be as follows:
(a) Centred masthead to consist of
Title: informative but concise, without abbreviations and not including the names of new genera or species
Author’s(s’) name(s)
Address(es) of author(s) (institution where work was carried out)
Number of illustrations (figures, enumerated maps and tables, in this order)
(b) Abstract of not more than 200 words, intelligible to the reader without reference to the text
(c) Table of contents giving hierarchy of headings and subheadings
(d) Introduction
(e) Subject-matter of the paper, divided into sections to correspond with those given in table of contents
(f) Summary, if paper is lengthy
(g) Acknowledgements
(h) References
(i) Abbreviations, where these are numerous
3. MANUSCRIPT, to be submitted in triplicate, should be typewritten and neat, double spaced
with 2,5 cm margins all round. First lines of paragraphs should be indented. Tables and a list of
legends for illustrations should be typed separately, their positions indicated in the text. All
pages should be numbered consecutively.
Major headings of the paper are centred capitals; first subheadings are shouldered small
capitals; second subheadings are shouldered italics; third subheadings are indented, shouldered
italics. Further subdivisions should be avoided, as also enumeration (never roman numerals)
of headings and abbreviations.
Footnotes should be avoided unless they are short and essential.
Only generic and specific names should be underlined to indicate italics; all other marking
up should be left to editor and publisher.
4. ILLUSTRATIONS should be reducible to a size not exceeding 12 « 18 cm (19 cm including
legend); the reduction or enlargement required should be indicated; originals larger than
35
| OD1 4; eBoYe
doysunsysaukg?
e
diopsopaig
ee
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 207
and supplementary papers). However, while a fair amount is now known about
the ecology of these people, there is very little information regarding the
people themselves. An early report is that of Grobbelaar & Goodwin (1952) on
skeletons and artefacts from a cave near Skipskop, north-east of Cape Agulhas
(Fig. 1). The human remains were those of six or more individuals, of whom
Grobbelaar (in Grobbelaar & Goodwin 1952: 101) concluded that ‘probably
they belonged to the Hessequa tribe, a Hottentot tribe with whom Van
Riebeeck was just getting into touch when he left. They may have been
Strandlopers for although the so-called Strandloper may occasionally present a
Bushman type, the majority are proving to be Hottentot ...’. Voigt (1972)
reported the recovery of human remains from Groot Hagelkraal near Pearly
Beach (Fig. 1). Wells & Wells (1972) examined the remains and concluded that
the skeleton was ‘that of a female of Bushman type, aged about 15-20 years,
and about 146 cm in height’. They pointed out, however, that the teeth were
relatively large and that the dental arcade was disproportionately large for the
size of the jaw. These factors suggested ‘that there was a strain other than
typical Bushman in the ancestry of this woman . . .’ (Wells & Wells 1972: 89).
Human remains from the Holocene deposits at Die Kelders were examined by
Rightmire (1979), who was unable to reach any conclusions regarding the sex
or physical type of the individual, as the remains were highly fragmented. He
was, however, able to determine the age at death as 6~7 years. The recovery of
a number of more or less complete skeletons from Byneskranskop is thus of
some importance in that it enables a physical type to be attributed to the people
whose ecology is being studied. Byneskranskop 1 has yielded deposits that span
the period from the end of the Pleistocene until the early years of white
settlement at the Cape and reflect the activities of people who were probably
always hunters and gatherers, although the final occupation phases provide
evidence of the introduction of pastoralism into the area (Schweitzer & Wilson
1982).
THE SITES AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT
The environment
The environment of Byneskranskop (BNK) has been discussed in detail in
the report on the excavations at BNK 1 (Schweitzer & Wilson 1982) and is thus
only outlined here.
Byneskranskop (34°35’S 19°28’E) is a limestone hill at the junction of the
sandy coastal plain and the hilly hinterland that rises to the Cape Folded
Mountains in the north. The location of the site is shown in Figure 1. The
Uilkraals River runs past the foot of the hill and enters the sea some 6,5 km to
the south-west. The natural vegetation of the area is the predominantly
sclerophyllous fynbos which, on the limestone ridges, shows some differences
from that on the coastal plain (Acocks 1975: 87) and there are still in the area
208 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
remnant forest communities (Taylor 1961), of which an outlier covers part of
BNK (Fig. 2).
The limestone of BNK has eroded into a number of caves and shelters of
which only two contained depths of deposit sufficient for controlled excavation.
These are the caves designated BNK 1 and BNK 3, whose location is indicated
in Figure 2.
Fig. 2. Byneskranskop, showing the location of cave sites BNK 1 and BNK 3.
BNK 1
The uppermost of the caves in the hill was excavated in 1973-6 by F. R.
Schweitzer (Schweitzer & Wilson 1982). Its 3 m of deposit yielded an occupa-
tion sequence dated from about 12 700-255 B.p. Prior to the commencement of
systematic excavation, the deposits around the cave walls had been subjected to
unauthorized digging, and it is possible that human remains were removed.
The single human burial located during the 1973-6 excavations was
encountered during the digging of the test pit (Fig. 3).
BNK 3
This cave is on the same face of the hill as BNK 1 but some 30 m to the
north and 30 m lower. It consists of an antechamber separated from a much
larger inner cave by the dip of the roof, which meets the floor deposits (Fig. 4).
Excavations were carried out in 1979 by F. R. Schweitzer and extended in
1980 by M. L. Wilson and students from the universities of Cape Town and
Stellenbosch. The deposit varies in depth from just over a metre in the central
area of the antechamber to 40 cm or less in the western part and in the main
chamber. It consists of three major stratigraphic units: two layers of reddish-
brown soil separated by one of grey, ashy soil. These layers, all of which
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 209
Fig. 3. BNK 1. Plan, showing location of burial. Grid square intervals 1 m.
contain cultural material, overlie a basal deposit of culturally sterile, decalcified
white sand at least 3 m deep (Fig. 5). The deposits have been so disturbed by
the activities of humans, both prehistoric and modern, dune mole-rats, and
porcupines that analyses of the artefactual and faunal material are not likely to
prove fruitful. It is also known that several decades ago the caves of BNK were
dug for ‘guano’ by a former schoolmaster at Strandskloof, Mr Fourie, who also
collected human and animal skulls for teaching purposes (Mr & Mrs P. Swart
1980 pers. comm.). It seems likely that this was responsible for much of the
disturbance of the deposits and for the removal of the skulls of burials 2 and 5,
though it must be mentioned that, at that time, such activities were not
restricted by the legislation that now exists.
210 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
main cave
7 IS, ZAM
NG
F G H | J K L M N O
Fig. 4. BNK 3. Plan, showing location of burials. Grid square intervals 1 m.
THE BURIALS
BNK 1
The single burial from this site came from grid square P26 extending into
Q26 (Fig. 3), and at a depth of 60-70 cm below the surface, in what is now
layer 6.
The skeleton was on its right side in a loosely contracted, quasi-foetal
position. There was no indication of any disturbance of the burial but, as
indicated in Figure 6, the skull was in a curious position, facing backward and
Pali
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP
“WT sfeAioqur orenbs pus ‘wo ur syydaq ‘sjermnq jo UOHed0] SuIMOys ‘uoNdes o1ydeIsNeNS “¢ YING “S ‘Sly
9 | G
091 2 nO"
Pa,DADdxauUN 20a
Ovi= PUDS aJIYM J) Iia4ss
= = - w~ ©
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PAA ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
lying on its base instead of on its right side. Many of the bones were broken,
and because of the fragile condition of the skull it was treated with an
acetone-based adhesive (Glyptal) before removal. The skeleton lay facing
south-east, in the direction of the cave mouth.
Fig. 6. BNK 1. Burial.
BNK 3
The locations of the seven burials are indicated in Figures 4 and 5. Burials
1—4 were excavated in 1979, 5-7 in 1980.
Burial 1 was located in square LS, the first square to be excavated, at a
depth of 75-90 cm below the surface. It was in a loosely contracted position,
partly on its left side, but with the upper torso twisted so that the ribs and skull
faced downward (Fig. 7). The skeleton was in a good state of preservation, and
lay facing in a northerly direction, towards the back of the cave. A tibia was
submitted for radiocarbon dating.
Burial 2 was located in square L4. In the excavation of this square, packed
rocks were encountered some 20 cm below the surface. At their base, some
85 cm below the surface, a human burial was exposed, and the rocks were then —
assumed to be a grave-shaft infill. Rock-filled grave shafts have not been
recorded from the southern Cape, although Kolb (1738: 317) observed that the
Hottentots (probably in the south-western and western Cape) filled graves with
‘the Mould of Ant-Hills, with great Stones and Pieces of Wood’. Dreyer &
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 213
Fig. 7. BNK 3. Burial 1. Scale in 10 cm intervals.
Meiring (1937: 83) recorded the presence near the Orange River in the
north-western Cape, between Kakamas and the Aughrabies Falls, of high
conical graves that contained layers of boulders directly over the human
remains as well as near the top of the grave shaft, in addition to the conical
capping of boulders. These graves are probably more to be associated with the
Khoikhoi (Hottentots) of the area than with the San (Bushmen).
However, when the human remains were completely exposed, the skull
was missing, but the recovery of isolated teeth indicated that this had been
present at the time of burial. It would seem that this grave had been disturbed
by someone (Mr Fourie?), who took the skull and back-filled the hole with
rocks. The post-cranial skeleton, which had suffered some disturbance and
breakage of bones, was loosely contracted, lying on its left side and facing in
the direction of the back of the cave. A tibia was submitted for radiocarbon
dating.
Burial 3 was located across squares L5—6, not far from the skull of burial 1,
and some 95-110 cm below the surface. The bottom of the grave had been dug
into the basal white sand. The skeleton was loosely contracted and lay on its
right side, facing the west wall. The bone was rather friable, and its condition
suggested that this may be the oldest of the burials. A tibia was submitted for
radiocarbon dating.
214 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Burial 4 was located in square L3, extending into K3, and was found at a
depth of some 40-50 cm from the surface. The skeleton was loosely contracted
and lay on its right side, face downward and facing the west wall. A bone awl
was located in the lumbar region, but this was considered to be a fortuitous
association. A tibia and femur were submitted for radiocarbon dating.
Burial 5 was located in square M5, some 75-90 cm from the surface. The
skull was missing and what vertebrae and ribs remained articulated had
slumped some 15-20 cm below the pelvis. As indicated in the following section,
fragments of the tibia of another individual were also included in the pit
containing the main burial. From the scanty evidence available it appears that
the skeleton lay on its left side, facing the east wall. A large flat rock lay about
10 cm below the surface, angled downward at about the same degree as the
skeletal remains. It was possibly put there by whoever disturbed the burial.
Burial 6 was located in square K5, almost at its junction with LS, and some
85-90 cm below the surface. The overlying deposit had been disturbed but the
burial itself had not, although there were apparently unrelated limb bones
found on the same level, which are assumed to have come from another,
undiscovered burial that was probably disturbed by the interment of burial 6.
The skeleton was loosely contracted and lay on its right side, facing the west
wall (Fig. 8).
Fig. 8. BNK 3. Burial 6. Scale in 1 cm intervals.
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP DIS
Burial 7 was located in square L6, extending a few centimetres into M6
and about 100 cm from the surface. Unlike all the other burials, this was not
loosely contracted and lying on one side but supine, with the knees apart and
slightly raised, and the arms bent and away from the body. The body was
oriented with the head towards the west wall. Beads and fragments of ostrich
egg-shell, a bone awl, and a small, triangular pendant with serrated edges made
of marine shell were found in proximity to the skeleton, as well as the remains
of a number of dune mole-rats (Bathyergus suillus) and Turbo cidaris shells. It
was not evident that the artefacts or faunal remains were directly associated
with the burial, and the presence of similar material in the part of the deposit
not related to the burials suggests that the association was fortuitous.
J. Lanham (1980 pers. comm.), who excavated the burial, is of the opinion that
the grave was dug some 65 cm from the surface and was thus about 35 cm
deep.
DATING AND CORRELATION
Bone from burials 1-4 was submitted for radiocarbon dating. Burial 2 has
been dated to 1 480 + 50 years B.p. (Pta—2855), burial 4 to 2 780 + 50 years B.P.
(Pta—2869) and burial 3 to 3 190 + 50 years B.p. (Pta—2969) (Vogel 1981 in Titt.).
Since burial 4 must have been buried from a surface not far below the present
surface, the date obtained for this burial provides a terminus ante quem for
most of the deposit. The date for burial 3 suggests that the bulk of the deposit
is older than 3 000 B.P., but the presence of potsherds in the deposit indicates
that some of it must be younger than 2 000 B.P.
The dates for the burials fall within the range of dates from BNK 1
(Schweitzer & Wilson 1982, table 1) and suggest that the deposit may be at
least as old as layer 5 (3 900 + 60 B.P.) in the lower levels. Although it has been
considered that analysis of the artefacts and fauna from BNK 3 will not
contribute any meaningful data as a result of the great amount of disturbance of
the deposit, there are similarities between the artefacts that have been seen,
particularly the marine shell pendants, and those from the upper layers of
BNK 1. Late Stone Age assemblages from sites in or seaward of the Cape
Folded Mountain Belt that can be dated to younger than 8 000 B.pP. are all
subsumed under the ‘Wilton’ (Industry or Complex) and this classification can
be applied to the BNK 3 deposits.
Although the date for burial 2 relates to a time when there is evidence of
the presence of pastoralists in the area (Schweitzer 1979; Schweitzer & Wilson
1982), there is as yet no evidence that the early pastoralists were of a different
physical type from the indigenous hunter—gatherers, nor has it proved possible
to distinguish, on artefactual grounds, between hunter-gatherer and herder
occupations.
216 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
DESCRIPTION OF THE SKELETAL REMAINS
The estimation of age at the time of death is based on (i) epiphyseal
union (Watson & Lowrey 1969), (ii) bony changes in the pubic symphysis
(McKern & Stewart 1957), (iii) eruption sequence of deciduous and perman-
ent teeth (Watson & Lowrey 1969), and (iv) molar wear (Brothwell 1963).
The present estimates are based on standards derived for Caucasoid popula-
tions since, as far as is known, such data are not available for southern
African populations.
The assessment of the sex of the individuals represented is based on
(i) cranial and mandibular features (De Villiers 1968), (41) humeral and femoral
head diameters, (iii) ischio-pubic and sacral indices, and (iv) morphological
features of the os coxae (Stewart 1979; J. Lundy 1980 pers. comm.).
The estimation of stature in each adult case is based on Lundy’s regression
formulae for modern South African Negro males and females (J. Lundy 1980
pers. comm.), the most appropriate formulae available at present.
The platymeric and platycnaemic indices have also been calculated: these
indices reflect flattening of the femoral and tibial shafts respectively. In the past
flattening of these shafts has been associated with specific populations, e.g.
Bushman (San). Lisowski (1968) showed, however, that flattening of the
femoral and/or tibial shafts results from nutritional deficiencies, which affect
the structure of the bones and so influence the osseous resistance to the stresses
of locomotion.
The pilasteric index reflects the degree of development of the linea aspera
on the posterior aspect of the femoral shaft.
The details of the individual skeletons, the metrical and non-metrical
observations made on the skulls and post-cranial skeletons are given in the
Appendix Tables 1-3. The more complete crania and mandibles relating to the
burial from BNK 1 and burials 1, 3 and 4 from BNK 3 are shown in Figures
9-25. The reference AP followed by a number is the South African Museum
accession number (Physical Anthropology).
Table 1 gives general details of the age groups and skeletal representation
of the burials, which are discussed individually below.
BNK 1
Burial 1, AP6053 (Figs 9-12). The remains are those of a child probably
between the ages of 8 to 9 years and showing no obvious nutritional deficien-
cies. The pentagonoid form of the cranial vault is indicative of a Khoisan
child.
BNK 3
Burial 1, AP6049 (Figs 13-17). The remains are those of a lightly built,
fully adult individual between the ages of 25-35 years at the time of death. The
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP ZN
TABLE |
General details of age groups and skeletal parts present.
Burial no. Age group Parts present
BNK 1
PNR COSS eee lok ee a vies 1 immature calotte, fragmented mandible,
post-cranial skeleton
BNK 3
PPO OA Gey. thor ae Ca ales a oa 1 adult skull and post-cranial skeleton
PRE GOSON tt corer hci hs e's 2 adult teeth, post-cranial skeleton
PN OU SIG nt cee les Suis ee oe 3 adult skull and fragmentary post-
cranial skeleton
LIE OS 22 ie aoe ie Ge 4 immature skull and post-cranial skeleton
PME GUS Steere ses ok ols ic Chace s 5 adult (i) post-cranial skeleton only
(ii) tibial fragments only
PRE GOGO Res trees geen wh else as 6 immature skull, fragmentary post-cranial
skeleton
PRR OUS9 OS, sees k ee oe i os as eo ql immature fragmentary cranium, complete
mandible, post-cranial skeleton
Note. Fuller details are contained in the Appendix.
features of the pelvis and skull indicate this skeleton to be that of a male, with
an estimated living stature of 142,0 cm.
The features of the small cranial vault, viz, brachycrany (100 B/L 80,7 %),
stenometopy (100B’/B 65,0%), a pentagonoid form and the presence of an
inferior frontal eminence in combination with orthognathy (100 GL/LB
93,9 %), chamaeconch orbits (100 0,/0, 75,1%), a brachystaphyline palate (100
G',/G', 96,7 %), and a low and very broad mandibular ramus are all indicative
of a Bushman (San) individual.
Further points of resemblance are seen in the vertical forehead, the small
mastoid process, shallow exposed digastric fossae, delicate tympanic plate, and
shallow (11 mm) palate with a horseshoe-shaped contour of the dental arcade.
Burial 2, AP6050. The remains are those of a slender adult female of
approximately 35 years of age, with an estimated living stature of 140,5 cm and
with no obvious nutritional deficiencies.
Burial 3, AP6051 (Figs 18-22). The individual represented by these
remains was slightly built and fully adult, probably between the ages of 20-25
years at the time of death. The features of the cranium, mandible and ilium
suggest that these are the remains of a female with an estimated living stature
of 139,4 cm, and with no apparent nutritional deficiencies.
Brachycrany (100 B/L 80,5 %), chamaecrany (100 H’/L 69,4 %), tapeino-
crany (100 H’/B 86,2 %), stenometopy (100 B’/B 62,0%), and a strong occipital
curvature (100 S’3/S 81,8%) characterize this small cranial vault. The facial
skeleton is relatively low (100 GH/J 77,9%) or euryprosopic and orthognathic
(100 GL/LB 97,9%). The orbits are mesoconch (100 0,/0, 83,1%), the nose
218 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
©) 1 2 3 4 5 cm
Fig. 9. BNK 1. Burial, AP6053. Cranium, norma verticalis.
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 219
Fig. 10. BNK 1. Burial, AP6053. Cranium, norma lateralis, left.
Fig. 11. BNK 1. Burial, AP6053. Cranium, norma lateralis, right.
220 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
| ee
@) 1 2 cm
Fig. 12. BNK 1. Burial, AP6053.
Anterior teeth, to illustrate large size.
platyrrhine (100 NB/NH 57,5%), the palate brachystaphyline (100 G’,/G’,
98,1%), and the foramen magnum all but round (100 fmb/fml 93,8%). The
mandibular ramus is low and broad, the mastoid process small, and the
digastric fossa shallow and exposed in norma lateralis. All these features
characterize the Bushman (San) skull.
Burial 4, AP6052 (Figs 23-25). The remains are those of an infant between
the ages of 3-4 years. The wide sciatic notch is suggestive of a female.
The post-cranial skeleton does not show unusual or distinctive features but
a platymeric index (100 FeD,/FeD,) of 76,6 % indicates that the femoral shaft
is flattened. Flattening of the shaft is, however, not apparent in the tibia, where
the platycnaemic index (100 TiD,/TiD,) is 92,7%. The pilasteric index of
100,7% indicates, not unexpectedly in an infant, the absence of the linea
aspera.
Characteristics of the skull such as brachycrany (100 B/L 83,4%), tapeino-
crany (100 H’/B 85,1%), frontal narrowing (100 B’'/B 59,5%), euryprosopy
(100 GH/J 79,2 %), orthognathy (100 GL/LB 96,3 %), extreme platyrrhiny (100
NB/NH 62,5 %), pentagonoid cranial form, a relatively wide interorbital region
with anteriorly directed frontal processes of the maxilla, a mesostaphyline
palate (100 G’,/G', 84,7%), low and relatively broad ramus of the mandible,
are indicative of a Khoisan, probably Bushman (San) infant.
Burial 5, AP6058. Two individuals are represented here and consist of
post-cranial bones only.
(i) These remains are those of a fully adult, slightly built individual. The stage
of bony development of the pubic symphyseal face indicates that the age at
death was probably between 26 and 34 years. The lipping of the joint
surfaces is a feature of osteoarthritis. The characteristics of the pelvis,
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP ON
Fig. 13. BNK 3. Burial 1, AP6049. Skull, norma frontalis.
DD) ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Fig. 14. BNK 3. Burial 1, AP6049. Skull, norma lateralis, left.
jj)
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP
m
C
icalis
tl
norma ver
ial 1, AP6049. Cranium,
Bur
BNK 3
Fig. 15
224 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Oe] 2.3 24> 5 em
Fig. 16. BNK 3. Burial 1, AP6049. Cranium, norma basalis.
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 225
Fig. 17. BNK 3. Burial 1, AP6049. Mandible, occlusal view.
namely os coxae and sacrum, are those of a male. The remains are,
however, too incomplete to permit an assessment of either the stature or
the population group.
(ii) These fragments of tibia represent an immature individual.
Burial 6, AP6060, and burial 7, AP6059. These remains are of two infants,
AP6059 approximately 3 months old at the time of death, and AP6060 a little
older, that is, between the ages of 6-9 months.
In both specimens the cranial vault bones have been fragmented as well as
somewhat distorted and provide no useful information. The cranial bases,
maxillae, and mandibles have, however, been preserved in part.
The temporal squame of AP6059 is foetal in type but shorter anteropos-
teriorly than those of South African Negro infants of approximately compar-
able age. The frontal processes of the maxilla of AP6060 appear to have been
directed anteriorly, the interorbital region is wide and the anterior nasal
aperture appears to have been very low. These features of the maxilla,
interorbital and nasal regions are Khoisanoid in character.
The mandible of AP6059 is small in comparison with South African Negro
infant mandibles of about the same age (De Villiers 1973, 1974). Similar size
differences are also apparent in the long-bone dimensions, which are smaller
than those of South African Negro infants of comparable age (De Villiers
226 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
0) 1 2 3 4 5 cm
Fig. 18. BNK 3. Burial 3, AP6051. Skull, norma frontalis.
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 227
Fig. 19. BNK 3. Burial 3, AP6051. Skull, norma lateralis, left.
1973). The metrical and non-metrical features of these two infants thus align
them with the Khoisan rather than the Negro infant.
DISCUSSION
The straightforward metrical and non-metrical assessment of the cranial
and mandibular morphology suggests that the inhabitants of Byneskranskop, as
represented by these eight skeletons, are surely African, with many points of
resemblance to the Khoisan, i.e. San peoples.
228 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
0) 1 2 3 4 5 cm
Fig. 20. BNK 3. Burial 3, AP6051. Cranium, norma verticalis.
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 229
e) 1 2) 3 4 5 cm
Fig. 21. BNK 3. Burial 3, AP6051. Cranium, norma basalis.
230 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Ee aaah (Pees) Mee
Ors 1 2 3 4 5 ‘em
Fig. 22. BNK 3. Burial 3, AP6051. Mandible, occlusal view.
To consider further the assignment of the BNK remains to the San
population group, Penrose’s (1954) distance statistic, using eleven measure-
ments primarily of the cranial vault and face, was applied to the data for the
two adult individuals (AP6049—male; AP6051—female) represented by crania
and eight comparative series, namely a San group as well as four South African
Negro tribal groups: Natal Nguni, Cape Nguni, Sotho, and Shangana Tonga.
The San and Shangana—Tonga groups are restricted to male series; correspond-
ing female series are not at present available.
Penrose’s statistic was selected, as this procedure has the advantage of
splitting the ‘distance’ measurement (mean square distance) into two com-
ponents: ‘size’, which measures the divergence in overall dimensions, and
‘shape’, which measures the divergence in the relative magnitudes of the
measurements. Brauer (1979), in a recent study, demonstrated once again that
the combination of size and shape distance proved, in general, to be a suitable
method of biological division.
Pon
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP
m
C
lis
norma fronta
ial 4, AP6052. Skull,
23. BNK 3. Buri
Fig.
232 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Fig. 24. BNK 3. Burial 4, AP6052. Skull, norma lateralis, right.
The comparative materials, the measurements employed and the statistical
procedures are described elsewhere (De Villiers 1968). Tables 2 and 3 furnish
the means and standard deviations for the cranial measures of the eight
comparative series as well as the relevant data for AP6049 (male) and AP6051
(female). Table 4 gives the values derived by expressing the measurements of
AP6049 and AP6051 as well as the mean values for each of the comparative
series in terms of standardized means.
On the basis of these values the mean square, the size and shape distances
between the individuals AP6049 (male) and AP6051 (female) and the appropri-
ate comparative series have been calculated and these are given in Table 5. In
the absence of a San female series, AP6051 has also been compared with the
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 133
TABLE 2
Mean measurements of cranial characters.
Shangana BNK
Character Natal Nguni Cape Nguni Sotho Tonga San AP6049
Male
oe ceeek seems 186,1 (161) 187,3 (123) 186,1 (149) 187,1 (55) 177,0 (53) 177,0
Beeiritad otal 135,5 (159) 136,0 (123) 133,6 (148) 132,6 (51) 134,7 (SO) 143,0
Fe esters 135,5 (161) 133,0 (120) 131,7 (149) 134,5 (52) 125,1 (49) 136,0
(Gis Geta, eons 67,7 (129) 65,0 (111) 66,6 (129) 66,8 (48) 60,5 (39) 62,8
Rrra Nout ersse cies 130,5 (159) 129,9 (123) 128,2 (150) 130,6 (S55) 121,2 (27) 124,0
GBPS Sicucwia 95,3 (161) 94,3 (125) 93,5 (151) 93,4 (55) 89,7 (30) 9355
Ge tals casares 102,1 (130) 102,3 (110) 102,2 (129) 103,1 (48) 91,8 (40) 93,0
INI Gh oi aiaieernemieg: 50,1 (164) 49,2 (126) 49,5. (154) 49,5 (57) 43,4 (40) 42,3
INI eee doe eceves 27,9 (164) 27,9 (125) 2) (N53) Dios) (ST) 25,0 (48) 21,6
(Oi © ve creamer ace 39,6 (165) 39,3 (126) 39,1 (154) 39,5 (57) Ses (O27 40,3
Opn ee cia sae 34,0 (165) 33,5 (126) 33,6 (154) 33,8 (57) 30,1 (29) 30,3
BNK
Female AP6051
| Be dre ank eee 180,4 (46) 183,5 (35) 179,5 (64) 180,0
Beamer eo tie 132,2 (46) 134,4 (35) 130,8 (64) 145,0
Lele om tae neneneR ee 130,0 (45) 129,5 (34) 127,1 (64) 125,0
(GY) 3 basa eee me 99,6 (41) 97,7 (24) 97,5 (66) 55,8
AMP teiroitcis icerconehiers 122,2 (45) 124,3 (35) 120,3 (68) 120,0
GIBwes Sacetaecs s 63,8 (47) 64,5 (35) 63,2 (68) 93,9
Giese aoe 47,3 (42) 47,3 (24) 46,6 (66) 94,0
IN lista, sone no et 27,0 (48) 26,6 (36) 26,6 (70) 42,2
INIB eters acs cas 38,3 (48) 38,6 (36) 37,6 (70) 24,3
Oe tes Mores ac 33,3 (48) 33,5 (36) 33,1 (70) 37,9
ORS ae ei 90,8 (48) 90,7 (36) 89,2 (70) Sie
Note. Figures in parentheses are sample sizes.
TABLE 3
Standard deviations of cranial characters.
Shangana Pooled Pooled
Character Natal Nguni Cape Nguni Sotho Tonga San S.D. S.D.
male female male female male female male male male female
STE eacsicel an MeN 6,90 6,83 7,72 6,94 6,79 5,55 6,22 5,00 6,43 6,44
Bie aces cesee 5,30 4,34 5,54 4,60 5,02 5,38 5,22 4,42 5,10 4,77
1a A ee eee 5,75 5,60 5,85 6,75 5,81 5,78 5,10 4,52 5,41 6,04
(Gila e.g 0 ceeee 4,94 4,47 4,80 4,61 5,01 4,75 4,76 5,12 4,92 4,61
Vterdoeestos 5,48 4,56 5,99 5,41 S55) SHO 5,82 5,15 5,60 5,19
GBite acces 5,81 3,90 5,71 4,56 5,39 4,70 5,26 6,68 5,77 4,38
(Gib, coro eee 5,29 5,44 6,04 4,88 6,28 5,37 5,20 6,20 5,80 5,23
ING Le qupieien nays 3,10 3,04 3,10 2,54 3,09 2,81 3,29 3,41 3,19 2,79
INIB siete one 3,00 1,85 Dp 1,90 2,38 2,19 2,07 2,50 2,43 1,98
Ofer DP 1,53 1,88 2,05 1,98 1,50 1,71 1,89 1,93 1,69
Oe eens 2,02 2,05 2,22 2,09 DIOS DS) 1,90 2,49 D7] 28
male San series on the assumption that the shape component would show less
intragroup than intergroup variation.
It is immediately evident from this table that the male AP6049 shows
closer affinities to the San male group, both in mean square distance (1,512)
and shape distance (0,933) than to any one of the four South African Negro
tribal groups. In size distance both AP6049 (0,450) and AP6051 (0,028) align
themselves with the Sotho males and females respectively. The Sotho, in
contrast to the Nguni and Shangana—Tonga, have the smallest crania and facial
234 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
TABLE 4
Means of cranial characters expressed in terms of pooled standard deviation units.
Shangana Bushman BNK
Character Natal Nguni Cape Nguni Sotho Tonga (San) AP6049
Male
Do Seer hk: 28,94 DON 28,94 29,09 DS, Gp)
Bewernstcn 26,56 26,66 26,19 26,00 26,41 28,03
aia enna 25,00 24,62 24,38 24,90 23,16 25,13
Gib seen eees 17,60 17,63 Von WUT 15,82 16,03
A A ea 23,30 23,19 22,89 23532 21,64 22,14
Goble 13,76 eZ 13353 IBESy 12,92 12,76
INGLE Saeeecanne 15,70 15,42 15,5) 15,51 13,60 13,26
NBs tee 11,48 11,48 11,19 11,31 10,28 8,88
Obes Masi 20,51 20,36 20,25 20,46 19,27 20,88
Oe eas 15,66 15,43 15,48 ISs57/ 13.87 13,96
GBs oon sh 16,51 16,34 16,20 16,18 15554: 16,20
BNK
Female AP6051
] Be ee tae ete 28,01 28,49 DiRod 27,99
Bios ee 27,70 28,17 27,42 28,43
Hy ee DilkoD 21,44 21,04 23,10
GIy Boia 19,04 18,68 18,64 16,20
i los ais ares 23,54 23,94 25 Gi 21,42
Gubeeaee. 14,27 13,99 13,70 11,34
Nees aie. 16,95 16,95 16,70 13522
NIB ak soe 13,63 13,43 13,43 10,00
Om ae see 22,66 22,84 Appi 19,63
On” Wee 15,63 5.72 15,53 14,51
GB see 20,73 20,59 20,36 16,27
TABLE 5
Distances of Byneskranskop AP6049 and AP6051 from South African Negro tribal groups
and from Bushman (San) based in 11 cranial measures.
No. of | Mean square Size Shape
Comparisons measures distance distance distance
Male
BNK AP6049—BNK AP6051 ........ 1] 0,926 0,059 0,866
BNK AP6049—BUSHMAN ......... 11 ie5t2 0,578 0,933
BNK-AP6049—SOTHO © 4.255 11 2,067 0,450 1,616
BNK AP6049—NATAL NGUNI ..... 11 1,954 0,557 1,397
BNK AP6049—CAPE NGUNI....... 11 2,043 0,626 1,417
BNK AP6049—SHANGANA-TONGA 1] WBN 3) 0,951 1,362
Female
BNK AP6051—BUSHMAN (male) ... 11 0,774 0,044 0,730
BNK AP6051—SOTHO”. 37.2.2 11 1,594 0,028 1,566
BNK AP6051—NATAL NGUNI..... 11 1,841 0,246 595)
BNK AP6051— CAPE NGUNI oe ih 1,544 0,297 1,247
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 235
Fig. 25. BNK 3. Burial 4, AP6052. Cranium, norma verticalis.
236 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
skeletons and also show by far the highest incidence of chamaecrany, almost
twice as much as the remaining tribal groups, and in these characteristics they
resemble the microcranial San more closely than do the remaining Bantu-
speaking tribes (De Villiers 1968). In the mean square distance (0,774) and in
the shape distance (0,730) the female AP6051 shows closer affinities to the
San male group than to any one of the three South African Negro female
groups.
It would thus seem reasonable to assign the Byneskranskop skeletons to a
San population.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The excavations were carried out under permit from the National Monu-
ments Council.
Funding in respect of transportation, accommodation and subsistence was
provided by the Human Sciences Research Council, which is not to be regarded
as responsible for or concurring with the opinions expressed or the conclusions
reached in this report. The cost of equipment, the provision of vehicles, and
other related expenses were borne by the South African Museum.
Mr P. van D. Swart, ‘Uilenkraal’, Strandskloof, gave permission for the
excavations to be carried out and Mrs M. Eyre, ‘Skuilplek’, Strandskloof,
permitted access to BNK 1 through her property. Mr B. Taylor, Palmiet River
Estate, Elgin, made available accommodation at Die Kelders. To these, and to
Mrs Swart and Mrs Taylor, thanks are also due for much hospitality.
Dr J. C. Vogel, Natural Isotopes Division, National Physical Research
Laboratory, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Pretoria, provided
the radiocarbon dates. Photography was by Mr O. Fourie, formerly of the
Department of General Anatomy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannes-
burg (Figs 9-25), Mr D. Halkett, University of Cape Town (Figs 2 and 7), Mr
L. Lawrence, Archaeology Department, South African Museum (Fig. 8), and
the late Mr F. R.. Schweitzer, Archaeology Department, South African
Museum (Fig. 6).
Misses Annelise Crean, Marianna Friedlander and Anne Solomon, and
Messrs David Halkett, Danie Keet, Johan and Marius Kemp, John Lanham
and Louis Lawrence assisted in the excavations.
Thanks are also due to the Director and Trustees of the South African
Museum for enabling the research to be carried out and published; to Dr Q. B.
Hendey, Cenozoic Vertebrate Palaeontology Department, South African
Museum, for assistance in technical matters; to Mr F. Grine, Karoo Palaeont-
ology Department, South African Museum, for helpful comments on the
manuscript; and to Mrs I. Rudner, Editor of the Annals, for preparing this
report for the press.
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP Doi
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BrAvuER, G. 1979. Some remarks on the interpretation of Penrose’s size and shape components.
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BROTHWELL, D. R. 1963. Digging up bones; the excavation, treatment and study of human
skeletal remains. London: Trustees of the British Museum.
DE ViLuERS, H. 1968. The skull of the South African Negro. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand
University Press.
De VituieRS, H. 1973. Human skeletal remains from Border Cave, Ingwavuma district,
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Taytor, H. C. 1961. Ecological account of a remnant coastal forest near Stanford, Cape
Province. J. S. Afr. Botany 27(3): 153-169.
VoicT, E. 1972. A burial on Groot Hageikraal, Bredasdorp district, Cape. S. Afr. archaeol.
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Watson, E. G. & Lowrey, G. H. 1969. Growth and development of children. Chicago: Year
Book Medical Publishers Inc.
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| Ris |
it a
- f 7 : ; ‘
i‘ : al 1
die hat
Pa oe alae ope
ie. ;
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 239
APPENDIX
DETAILS OF THE INDIVIDUAL SKELETONS FROM BYNESKRANS-
KOP, WITH METRICAL AND NON-METRICAL OBSERVATIONS
MADE ON THE SKULLS AND POST-CRANIAL SKELETONS
By
HERTHA DE VILLIERS
(With 3 tables)
BNK 1
Burial 1, AP6053
These remains consist of a fragmentary skull and post-cranial skeleton.
Cranial
A calotte, i.e., almost complete frontal parietal and left temporal bones;
fragmented right temporal bone and occipital squame. Although the facial
skeleton is missing and the mandible represented only by a fragment of the
right ramus, the greater part of the dentition is present:
deciduous: 8 very worn molars, 1 canine
permanent: 4 upper and 4 lower incisors, 1 upper and 2 lower canines, 4
upper and 4 lower molars, 5 premolars.
Roots are present only in the upper molar teeth.
Post-cranial
Axial: vertebrae—S cervical and fragments of 4, 6 thoracic, 4 lumbar; 9
ribs and 35 fragments; 3 fragments of sacrum; manubrium.
Appendicular: right and left clavicle, humerus and ulna; right scapula and
fragments of left; right ilium, ischium, pubis and fragments of left; shaft of left
femur; right and left tibial shaft and fibula; right calcaneus, talus, navicular and
cuneiform; 4 metacarpals and/or tarsals and 8 phalanges.
[A rib has since been included in samples from 50 skeletons in the
Museum’s physical anthropology collection which have been subjected to
carbon isotope ('*C:'*C) analysis by R. Rawlinson at the University of Cape
Town. M.L.W.]
BNK 3
Burial 1, AP6049
These remains comprise a complete skull and almost complete post-cranial
skeleton.
Cranial
The complete permanent dentition is present in the maxillae but of the
mandibular teeth the incisors and left canine are missing. This loss appears to
have occurred antemortem. The alveolar bone in the anterior region on the
right has been in part resorbed and on the left there is evidence of an apical |
osteomyelitis. The molar crowns show 3 to 4 degrees of wear.
240 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
Post-cranial
Axial: vertebrae—7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, sacrum showing partial
fusion between the upper two vertebrae; 22 ribs, sternum and manubrium.
Appendicular: right and left clavicle, humerus, radius, ulna, femur; left
tibia, fibula, os coxae and patellae. The metacarpals and metatarsals are
complete. There are 7 carpal bones, 12 tarsal bones and 34 phalanges.
Osteoarthritic changes are apparent throughout the vertebral column but
are particularly marked in the cervical, lumbar and first sacral vertebrae. The
patellae also show osteoarthritic changes.
Burial 2, AP6050
This consists of a fairly complete post-cranial skeleton but the skull is
represented only by 6 isolated teeth.
Cranial
Upper incisors (lateral and medial) and canines. The teeth show marked
wear with dentine exposure.
Post-cranial
Axial: vertebrae—2 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 pieces of sacrum and
coccyx; 24 ribs, eroded manubrium and sternum; 7 of the thoracic and 2 of the
lumbar vertebrae are represented by the vertebral arches only.
Appendicular: right and left scapula, clavicle, ulna, femur; right humerus
(shaft and distal extremity), radius, os coxae, tibia (distal articular area defec-
tive), fibula (shaft and distal extremity), patella; left humerus, radius (shaft
only), acetabulum and ischiopubic ramus (fractured and incomplete), tibia,
fibula (shaft and extremities, fractured); 5 carpals—scaphoid, lunate, trapezoid,
right and left trapezium; 9 tarsals—right calcaneus, right and left talus, cuboid,
navicular and 4 cuneiforms; 20 metacarpals and metatarsals, and 39 phalanges.
The post-cranial skeleton, axial as well as appendicular, does not show
unusual or distinctive features.
Burial 3, AP6051
This is represented by an almost complete skull and a somewhat fragmen-
tary post-cranial skeleton.
Cranial
A complete permanent dentition was apparently present at the time of
death but the left upper central incisor and right lower lateral incisor have been
lost postmortem. In addition the right zygomatic arch is defective and the
mandible has been fractured in the region of the right lateral incisor. The molar
crowns show 2 to 3+ degrees of wear.
Post-cranial
Axial: vertebrae—6 cervical, 8 thoracic and 10 fragments of vertebral
bodies; 2 complete first ribs and 51 fragments.
Appendicular: right and left clavicles, scapula (fragmented), humerus
(right lower extremities missing); right radius, ulna (upper extremities missing),
left radius, ulna; os coxae, right and left ischium, right pubis, left ilium; right
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 241
and left femur (right fragmentary); right tibia and fragments of both fibulae; 1
metacarpal, 8 carpals, 8 tarsals, and 13 phalanges.
Burial 4, AP6052
This consists of an almost complete cranium and post-cranial skeleton.
Cranial
The left parietal and sphenoid are fractured, the ethmoid and inferior nasal
concha are missing. The cranial bones were disarticulated and slightly warped.
The cranium has been reconstructed. The mandible is complete but fractured in
the region of the left canine and lateral incisor. The deciduous dentition is
complete and fully erupted. Crowns of the first and second permanent molars
are also apparent.
Post-cranial
Axial: vertebrae—7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, fusion of sacrum (3
pieces only); 24 ribs, manubrium and 3 sternebrae.
Appendicular: right and left clavicle, scapula (fragments), humerus,
radius, ulna, ilium, ischium, pubis, fibula and talus; left femur, tibia, calcaneus;
9 metacarpals and/or tarsals, 7 phalanges.
Burial 5, AP6058
Two individuals are represented here and consist of post-cranial bones
only.
(i) Axial: vertebrae—3 cervical fragments, 6 more or less complete and 5
incomplete thoracic, 4 lumbar and a fragment, 5 pieces of sacrum, coccyx;
7 ribs and 19 fragments. The intervertebral joint surfaces show lipping and
this is particularly apparent in the lumbar vertebrae. Appendicular: right
and left os coxae; left scapula, humerus (distal portion of shaft and
extremity), ulna (proximal portion of shaft and extremity), radius (frag-
ment of proximal shaft and extremity); right fibula (shaft and distal
extremity); 2 carpals, 3 metacarpals, 3 phalanges, calcaneus, talus and
navicular. The calcaneus has a spur on the inferior surface.
(ii) Appendicular: tibia (distal and proximal epiphyseal fragments).
Burial 6, AP6060
The remains comprise a fragmented skull and partial post-cranial skeleton.
Cranial
The cranial vault bones, i.e., frontal and parietal are fragmented (33
fragments) as well as somewhat distorted. The occipital bone is complete,
consisting of the squame, basilar, and lateral parts. The temporal bones are
represented by the petrous portions and there are also two fragments of the
sphenoid. The facial skeleton consists of the maxillae: the alveolar portions are
fragmentary and the frontal processes are broken laterally. The mandible
consists of the anterior portion of the body including the sockets for incisors,
canine and first molar, also a portion of the right mandibular angle. The teeth
are fully formed deciduous incisor crowns and partially developed roots: 4
242 ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
upper and 3 lower; partially developed crowns of the upper canines and first
molars.
Post-cranial
Axial: vertebrae—14 bodies, 6 vertebral arches, 34 arch elements; 21 ribs,
manubrium, and 4 sternebrae.
Appendicular: right and left scapula, clavicle, humerus, os coxae, ilium
and ischium, femur and tibia; right radius, ulna, pubis, fibula; 5 epiphyses of
long bones; 4 metacarpals and/or metatarsals, 8 phalanges.
Burial 7, AP6059
These remains consist of a fragmentary skull and post-cranial skeleton.
Cranial
The cranial vault bones are fractured, fragmented and somewhat distorted.
The cranial base is represented by the occipital (basilar and lateral parts), body
and left lesser wing of the sphenoid, as well as both greater wings of the
sphenoid and right and left temporal bones. The facial skeleton consists of a
fragment of the frontal bone including the superior orbital margins, right and
left zygomatic bones, right and left maxillae including the sockets for the
deciduous teeth. The mandible is complete and includes sockets for the
deciduous dentition and a partial socket for the first permanent molar. The
teeth consist of mandibular in situ crowns of central incisors and left lateral
incisor, isolated crowns of upper incisors, canine, and 4 molars.
Post-cranial
Axial: vertebrae—18 bodies, 3 fragments, 45 arch elements; 14 ribs and 22
fragments; 4 sternebrae.
Appendicular: right and left humerus, radius and ulna (right fractured, left
complete), femur, tibia and fibula; fragment of right scapula, left scapula; right
os coxae, ischium and pubis; 12 metacarpals and/or metatarsals, 19 phalanges.
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP 243
TABLE |
Measurements, indices, and non-metric variants of the cranium.
Biometrical symbols and
morphological features AP6052 AP6049 AP6051 AP6053
Jy. icici eae ee 169? 177 180 174??
1B Sg Ss Ae ere eres 141? 143 145 1452?
1? 9 none none none
MMMBACtE MK Ay hes. 5 athens ety scsew none none none
Miutilationy « si s3.0. eed none none none
245
AP6053
19,0
pointed
absent
below m,
directed
superiorly/S
absent
absent
single pit
absent
absent
absent
absent
Note. All measurements are in millimetres.
Explanation of abbreviations is given in the key, after Table 3.
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HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP
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Measurements, indices and non-metric variation of post-cranial skeleton.
AP6052 AP6049
9v7
AP6051 AP6050 AP6053 AP6058 AP6059 AP6060
HUMERUS eippivec: ne = a diaphyses
Pi lieecrapiers net cca, der te gee te 139 287 258 283
SUID). oer at ie Sn arte a eee — 34,1 28,1 _ 188 = 11 11
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a ee A ae right Se
ccc eS fate cease tetas raaemane ens ae 217 146 os
roa a Jett left right Se =
SCAPULA : 240 235 156 = 66 a
Acromial articular facet ............ = a a
Suprascapular foramen ............. = a A 5 4 7a = =
Circumfiex sulcus .................. as a > s i a = is
Se eae left left left right =
1 RE: Bar oe eee 194 401 402 407 = au 82
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(OOMCIDy BED, cc giowin eecceeue: 100,7 125,5 1195 ica = = 7] 9,6
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, ’ ; 37,1 _ oe as
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Sciatic notch ........-.0.:s0s00-+-+> wide narrow wide — wide narrow _— —
Sub-pubic angle.............-+-+-+- — acute ? _— — acute =a a
TALUS
Os trigonum..........--++eeneeeeee —_— a a a = a =a =
Medial talar facet ............----- _— a a a a a = —
Lateral talar facet .........--.--+++- —_ a a a a a — =
Lateral talar extension..........---- — a a a a a = os
Inferior talar articular surface ....... — a a a a single = a
CALCANEUS J J
Anterior calcaneal facet..........--. — single single — single single —_ —
Peroneal tubercule .............---: — a a a a present = =
Note. All measurements are given in mm.
Details of abbreviations are given in the key, after this table.
= absent.
WNaSAW NVOIWdAV HLNOS AHL JO STVNNV
dONSNVUASANAE WOU STVINNA NVWNH
LvT
248
mOZHOTOw
ANNALS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM
KEY TO INDICES AND NON-METRICAL OBSERVATIONS
Brachycranial
Orthocranial
Hypsicranial
Chamaecrania
Tapeinocranial
Metriocranial
Stenometopic
Mesene
Mesoprosopic
Euryprosopic
Orthognathic
Hypsiconch
Mesoconch
Chamaeconch
Platyrrhine
Mesostaphyline
Brachystaphyline
Platymeria
Eurymeria
Eurycnaemia
Mesocnaemia
Platycnaemia
Dh __Dolichohieric
Ph _-Platyhieric
Dp ___Dolichopellic
Sl Slight curvature
M Moderate curvature
Crypto Cryptozygous
Phaeno Phaenozygous
Inferior nasal margin:
S Spinal crest
t Turbinal crest
1 Lateral crest
Mental foramen:
position
direction of opening
number S = single M = multiple
Ossicles/foramina
r=right; c=central; | = left
Genial tubercules:
pit
2 superior and 2 inferior
2 superior and 1 inferior
ye t
=
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6. SYSTEMATIC papers must conform to the International code of zoological nomenclature
(particularly Articles 22 and 51).
Names of new taxa, combinations, synonyms, etc., when used for the first time, must be
followed by the appropriate Latin (not English) abbreviation, e.g. gen. nov., sp. nov., comb.
nov., syn. nov., etc.
‘An author’s name when cited must follow the name of the taxon without intervening
punctuation and not be abbreviated; if the year is added, a comma must separate author’s
name and year. The author’s name ‘(and date, if cited) must be placed in parentheses if a
species or subspecies is transferred from its original genus. The name of a subsequent user of
a scientific name must be separated from the scientific name by a colon.
Synonymy arrangement should be according to chronology of names, i.e. all published
scientific names by which the species previously has been designated are listed in chronological
order, with all references to that name following in chronological order, e.g.:
Family Nuculanidae
Nuculana (Lembulus) bicuspidata (Gould, 1845)
Figs 14-15A
Nucula (Leda) bicuspidata Gould, 1845: 37.
Leda plicifera A. Adams, 1856: 50.
Laeda bicuspidata Hanley, 1859: 118, pl. 228 (fig. 73). Sowerby, 1871: pl. 2 (fig. 8a—b).
Nucula largillierti Philippi, 1861: 87.
Leda bicuspidata: Nicklés, 1950: 163, fig. 301; 1955: 110. Barnard, 1964: 234, figs 8-9.
Note punctuation in the above example:
comma separates author’s name and year
semicolon separates more than one reference by the same author
full stop separates references by different authors
figures of plates are enclosed in parentheses to distinguish them from text- HCTENES
dash, not comma, separates consecutive numbers
Synonymy arrangement according to chronology of bibliographic references, whereby
the year is placed in front of each entry, and the synonym repeated in full for each entry, is
not acceptable.
In describing new species, one specimen must be designated as the holotype; other speci-
mens mentioned in the original description are to be designated paratypes; additional material
not regarded as paratypes should be listed separately. The complete data (registration number,
depository, description of specimen, locality, collector, date) of the holotype and paratypes
must be recorded, e.g.:
Holotype
SAM-—A13535 in the South African Museum, Cape Town. Adult female from mid-tide region, King’s Beach
Port Elizabeth (33°51’S 25°39’E), collected by A. Smith, 15 January 1973.
Note standard form of writing South African Museum registration numbers and date.
7. SPECIAL HOUSE RULES
Capital initial letters
(a) The Figures, Maps and Tables of the paper when referred to in the text
e.g. “... the Figure depicting C. namacolus ...’; *. .. in C. namacolus (Fig. 10)...’
(b) The prefixes of prefixed surnames in all languages, when used in the text, if not preceded
by initials or full names
e.g. Du Toit but A.L.du Toit; Von Huene but F. von Huene
(c) Scientific names, but not their vernacular derivatives
e.g. Therocephalia, but therocephalian
Punctuation should be loose, omitting all not strictly necessary
Reference to the author should be expressed in the third person
Roman numerals should be converted to arabic, except when forming part of the title of a
book or article, such as
‘Revision of the Crustacea. Part VIII. The Amphipoda.’
Specific name must not stand alone, but be preceded by the generic name or its abbreviation
to initial capital letter, provided the same generic name is used consecutively.
Name of new genus or species is not to be included in the title: it should be included in the
abstract, counter to Recommendation 23 of the Code, to meet the requirements of
Biological Abstracts.
HERTHA DE VILLIERS
&
M. L. WILSON
HUMAN BURIALS FROM BYNESKRANSKOP,
BREDASDORP DISTRICT,
CAPE PROVINCE,
SOUTH AFRICA
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