Item NASMUS-NAM-TWT8-9.jpg - NASMUS NAM TWT8 9

Brief description of site: Immediately above the spring on the 660 m contour there is a large, flat, sand-covered mini-plateau that makes for an excellent living area. This flat area is fringed by large rock blocs, two of which occur on the plain area as rock shelters, one of which is a large mushroom-shaped outcrop and the other a squatter but deeper shelter with Bushman rock paintings. Upslope to the south-east there is an arched cave-like space with Bushman rock engravings and a rock painting. There is also a shelter upslope and on the north-eastern edge of the flat area. The rest of the area has Bushman and Khoekhoen rock engravings. The view is very localised unless one goes to the edges of the flat are and gazes west over the valley.

Though disturbed by the construction of the visitor's path and illegal sampling by visitors, there remains a great deal of surface archaeology in the form of hornfels and quartzite stone tools of every description; especially in the less-visited off-path areas; ostrich eggshell fragments and so forth. There are also a number of surviving semi-circular, circular and oval small (diameter of 1 m - 1.5 m) stone circles that have been made by placing thin pavement-like stone slabs on their edges. These stone circles may represent Khoekhoen Architecture. The painted rock shelter was excavated by Dr. Eric Wendt and was filled with cultural material to a depth of about 400 mm.
Brief description of art: Geometrics.

This area has both Bushman rock engravings (,50) & rock paintings (,43) as well as Khoekhoen rock engravings (,70) located in five main locations.

North-eastern rock shelter: At the north-eastern edge of the flat living area there is a high but small rock shelter. At the back and to the side of this shelter on a sloping rock bloc there is a collection of geometric Khoekhoen imagery - primarily 9 rough pecked-outline circles, a cup-and-ring motif, some wavy lines and half a pecked-outline dumbbell motif

On the eastern edge of the flat area there is a jumble of large rock blocs and slabs. On one such large slab, sloping at a 40° angle, there is one of NAM TWT's best-known images. This takes the form of a 860 mm x 680 mm kudu ewe in what has become known as a 'dancing' posture. The kudu has been engraved and then abraded to a smooth polish - a most unusual technique for Bushman rock engravings. A cup-and-ring motif in front of the kudu has been similarly abraded and polished. A lighter abraded and polished line runs down from the kudu's snout. The kudu's tail has been re-engraved and there are at least three geometric motifs placed partially on top of the kudu. The rest of this large image cluster is dominated by geometric imagery - probably Khoekhoen in origin. These geometrics are in the form of rough and fine pecked-outline circles, dumbbell motifs, internally divided circles, a spindly star-like motif, meandering lines, a cup-and-ring motifs and 6 very singular crescent-cupule motifs. These motifs consist of a crescent or 'new moon' engraved shape that is surrounded in a circle by 24-27 cupule-like dots, though these are smaller than the typical cupules encountered at Twyfelfontein. The geometric imagery has variable patination, showing that the geometric forms were added to the slab over time. Below this slab there is an arc of 15 pecked-outline circles, other geometrics.

Adjacent rock blocs: Immediately west of the site there is an upright rock jumble on the back, western side of which is engraved a rare human figure, two ostrich in rough pecking as well as further geometrics and a possible human footprint engraving.

Located centrally and further south from the Fabeltier is an obvious squat mushroom rock with quite a large area of overhang with a convex shelter wall. On this wall are about 43 Bushman rock paintings, named after the two cross-legged and seated human figures painted in red. There is a third kneeling red human figure painted with a single bar infibulated penis and busy drawing his bow. Above these there is a row of at least 9 red human figures. 1 standing human figure has also a drawn bow. There is a nice white giraffe with red dorsal stripe and red patterning marks on the body. Its head is white and rather equid-like. There are then 3 small goose-stepping and bow-carrying red human figures. There is a large 370 mm ?zebra near 4 red bags and 4 red human figures with Brandberg-like head-dresses. There are two large human figures painted in red. On the shelter's ceiling there are 7 well-preserved light red antelope torsos and 8 red human figures. On the rock adjacent to the shelter there are some engraved animals.

Archway engraved shelter: Upslope and behind the Zwei Schneider shelter there is a massive leaning rock bloc at an entrance to a large rock shelter that has an arched and large passageway through it. Inside the shelter there is a rock-painted equid and a pecked-infill giraffe engraving. On the massive rock bloc outside are engraved a huge 1130 mm x 930 mm bull giraffe in deep pecked outline and partial pecked infill. There are also 8 other engraved animals - another giraffe, 4 antelope with twirly horns and thus probably representing kudu, a possible juvenile antelope, and equid and a ?kudu with a rhinoceros-like snout and tail up.