Item NASMUS-RSA-CUL2-5.jpg - NASMUS RSA CUL2 5

Brief description of site: RSA CUL2 is on the same ridge as RSA CUL1, about 180 m to the west. This is a large, cave-like space 30 m long, up to 3 m high on the eastern end, tapering to less than 1 m on the western end and up to 3 m deep. The site faces north-eat in a curving krantz with concave back wall. View is slightly more localised than RSA CUL1, but is still superb.

The deposit is perhaps not all that deep - up to 1 m - but it is extensive and there are many stone tools. There are any number of stone tools present. These stone tools or 'lithics' all belong to the Later Stone Age, which covers the period from about 25 000 years ago until historic times. The raw materials used for these lithics are varied. Most are opalines - a crypto-crystalline silicate rock that forms in volcanic pipes and which then occurs either as nodules in rock strata or get washed down streams. There are also hornfels (also known as lydianite or indurated shale) stone tools and this raw material is everywhere available in the form of river cobbles. Every stage of stone tool manufacture is present at RSA CUL2. There are cores - large lumps of rock from which stone tools are made. There are flakes - general-purpose cutting tools. Adzes are present and were used for woodworking in much the same way as a spokeshave. End and side-scrapers, often in the shape of a thumbnail were used to prepare leather. There are also rare burins and awls - used to pierce. In addition to the stone tools, there are small pieces of grit-tempered, undecorated pottery fragments. There is also some bone and charcoal and a few metal items of recent vintage. The pottery may belong to herders or early farmers who used the site. There is also stone walling from the Historic period present.
Brief description of art: Though once perhaps more densely painted, this large site has about 22 surviving Bushman paintings. 8 of these paintings are of massive eland (largest measures 59 cm x 28 cm) in red, white and black and in the shaded polychrome technique. These eland form a 5 m long cluster (x 0.5 m high) of eland in a row. Two of the eland bleed from the nose. There are fine red lines on their torsos. Immediately below the row of eland is a 5 m long, thick serpent in white, red and black. There are also 7 or 8 red human figures - male, with sticks and bows and perhaps arrows. There are two ethereal white monster-like human figures and another 2 red human figures with sticks and flywhisks. There are also 2 orange human figures.