Beginsel I 812

Brief description of site: This site is located on the hill on the 1460 m contour immediately behind the RSA BGN1 farmhouse. This hill is comprised mostly of dark black and brown dolerite rocks (also known as Ventersdorp diabase, with admixture). The hill has a good view of the surrounding countryside, including the engraving sites on RSA KRB1. This area falls between the known rock-painting areas to the east and south and the known rock-engravings areas to the west and north.

There are a few lithics (stone tools) located on the surface of the site. These stone tools are mostly made from hornfels (also known as indurated shale or lydianite) and dolerite. There are a few crypto-crystalline slilicate rock pieces (also called opalines) that formed in volcanic pipes and which occur as nodules in the dolerite rocks. These rocks have a very fine grain and make excellent cutting tools. There are some flakes - general purpose tools; scrapers - used to work leather; and adzes - used to work wood. There are also chips and chunks left from the manufacturing process and which tell us that Beginsel was a favoured home or living site of the San and Khoe in times past. There is no bone preserved and no ostrich eggshell was observed. There may be pockets of archaeological deposit among the rocks but generally not.

There are over 20 rock-engravings scattered over 200m2. The engravings are concentrated on the western side of the hill with 5 engravings on the eastern edge.
Brief description of art: The RSA BGN1 rock-engravings have a reasonably varied subject matter and fall into two major rock-art traditions - that of the San and that of the Khoe:

San rock-engravings: These engravings are made in a fine pecked technique where one rock is securely hammered against another rock to make a pecked outline, which is sometimes then filled in with further fine pecks. The major focus of this site is a huge engraved eland (Tragelaphus oryx) that is over 1.35 m long and fully pecked. Around this eland are at least 3 and perhaps 4 smaller eland. In addition to the eland there are engravings of smaller buck, a possible human figure and what look to be ostriches.

Khoe rock-engravings: These are the geometric, rough-pecked images. They do not represent humans or animals but consist of concentric circles. The heart-shaped engraving with the circle in the centre and two lines coming off represents a leather apron.