Item NASMUS-RSA-VRH1-2.jpg - NASMUS RSA VRH1 2

Brief description of site: RSA VRH1 is displaced with the engraved boulder having being removed from elsewhere on the property some years ago. There are Later Stone Age (c. 30 000 years ago - Historic times) lithics/tools in the area, mostly hornfels and crypto-crystalline silicates. The property is a residential one and has thus been very disturbed over the years and no other engravings have been located to date. However, the ridge running to the North North East of the site.

Being a displaced site there is no directly associated archaeology though the area was clearly favoured by Bushmen in the past. Within 5 km there are 2 additional rock engraving sites. The dolerite-dominated ridge makes for a good ecotonal interstice and is well watered; making for a good habitat for humans and other animals.
Brief description of art: The engraved rock depicts 5 animals and one area of unidentifiable engravings. All the engravings have been executed in a light pecked infill technique with a suggestion of scraping. All the engravings have a medium degree of patination or 'desert varnish' and are thus of some antiquity - at least 350 years old and perhaps much older. The similar degree of patination and the fact that all the engravings are on the same rock facet suggest that the images were engraved together in a single episode. Subject matter: There is a clear depiction of an ostrich (Struthio struthio) measuring 24 cm high x 14 cm wide). The ostrich has a strange projection from its chest - a non-real feature that is commonly depicted in Bushman rock engravings.

There are also 4 small-ish buck depicted, the largest measuring 17 cm x 10 cm. On the advice of Nico Avenant, mammologist at the National Museum, these 4 engravings - on the basis of the general gracile body shape - could represent one of three possible buck - the Vaal rhebuck (Palea carolus), the Mountain rhebuck (Redunca fulvorufula) or the Oribi (Ourebia ourebia). Of the 3, the Vaal rhebuck is the most likely candidate for 4 reasons: The long, large ears that are almost the same length as the head.
The raised tail so common to Vaal rhebuck, who raise their tails as a warning signal to others. The long, slender neck. The fact that 4 buck have been engraved. Vaal rhebuck move about in groups of 3-5 individuals, often without a ram. The generally rocky, bushy terrain in which the engravings occurs. Though Bushmen did sometimes depict exotic animal species and though the climate has changed markedly over the millennia, Vredenhof's and the surrounding area's terrain is ideal for Vaal rhebuck. Also, the fact that one buck is depicted jumping - as Vaal rhebuck do in rocky terrain - also suggests Palea carolus identification.

There is also an area of engraving on the LHS of the rock behind the ostrich, but this is too faded to identify. A recent scratch mark occurs below the buck on the RHS.