Item NASMUS-RSA-BIS1-13.jpg - NASMUS RSA BIS1 13

Brief description of site: The most notable of these marks is the presence of rock paintings (see description below), stone tools made on indurated shale and silcrete and a very rare instance of ancient mining. The mine takes the form of a short, 8 m stope angling upwards on 12° in a south-southwesterly direction against the far wall of the large inner cave, which itself may have been mined. The most probable substance mined is mica, which occurs in seams in the shelter. There is also a very thick calcite present, which may have been used in some of the rock paintings at the site.
Brief description of art: The Biesfontein rock shelter is unusual in that the 40 m long shelter also has a deep inner cave-like space. There is also a well-developed ledge at the southern end. The shelter consists of friable aeolian Clarens Formation sandstone that has been weathered by wind and water action to form the shelter. Given that the shelter is within the Beaufort and not the Stormberg Series, there is a considerable admixture of fossiliferous mudstones, which have aided the formation of the deep inner cave within the shelter. Given the general scarcity of rock shelters within a radius of 50 km2, this shelter would have been attractive to past peoples, some of which have left visible artefacts at the site.There are 3 types of rock art at Biesfontein:'Bushman' or 'San' hunter gatherer fine-line paintings: This is the oldest painting episode, executed in exotic micaceous pigment that was applied with a brush. There are 2 red, black and white eland (Taurotragus oryx), the largest of which is 33 cm. To the south of the eland is a row of 6 human figures painted in white, the largest of which is 12 cm. There are also at least 5 red human figures interspersed with the row of white human figures. All these paintings occur in 2 panels immediately to the south of the large inner cave. Though these are the only Bushman rock paintings at the site, it is highly likely that there were more painted on the now collapsed northern section of the site. Khoe Khoe herder finger paintings: The finger paintings differ from the Bushman fine-line paintings in 3 respects. First, they are painted using a finger rather than a brush. Secondly, they are exclusively geometric with no recognisable representational motifs. Thirdly, the finger paintings are painted in unusual locations (ceiling, inner cave, recessed ledges) while the Bushman art is on an open, public rock face. Both on the southern Ledge an in the inner cave there are more than 36 geometric finger paintings - mostly in white, though there are black, reddish and orange instances - very thickly applied to the ceiling. Some geometrics are curvilinear but most are angular. To the north of the inner cave there are red finger dots and lines. Still further north, at the narrow passageway is a cluster of 27 white finger dots. In the upper ledge in the northern part of the cave is a white grid-like painting underneath a < 1.97 m long red snake-like motif. White settler rock art and graffiti: There are numerous instances of engraved, scratched and painted names and dates; all of which seem to have been made by White settlers and their descendants. Here are some late 19th century inscriptions, some large 1908 period names and dates and other marks from the 1950s, 1960s, 1980s and a '1997' mark. The earlier inscriptions provide historical information, though it is difficult to draw the line between 'rock art' and 'graffiti'.

Gender: M
Nationality: South African
Created by: willem
Created on: 11/03/2003