Smithfield Townlands II 277

Brief description of site: RSA SMI2 is a site that takes the form of a long, discontinuously curving rock shelter located on the 1 540 m contour high up in the small kloof that feeds into the Skulpspruit. The kloof is on the southern side of the mountain below and to the west of the peak. The shelter is comprised of debased Clarens Formation or 'cave' sandstone and is up to 8 m long, 1 m - 2 m high and is shallow, being less than 1.5 m deep. The site faces SSW and is on a steep slope with only a small, level living area. Vegetation is dense and access difficult from the southern side though there is a road from the northern side of the mountain almost to the site. The site is home to Bushman or an' rock paintings as well as what may be shepherd's charcoal drawings and European rock engravings.

The site has a small, gritty floor area, which does not appear to have any significant depth of archaeological deposit. There are a few stone tools or 'lithics' present on the surface. These stone tools are dominantly made from hornfels rock - otherwise known as lydiantite' or 'indurated shale'. 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. These stone tools and the paintings show that this site was a home and spiritual centre for Bushman communities in times past.
Brief description of art: Bushman rock paintings: The site has only a few remaining Bushman or 'San' rock paintings left. There may have been more paintings in the past but weathering of the brittle and thin case-hardened outer layer of sandstone means that preservation is poor. The dominant image is painted in red and represents a conflation of an elephant with long trunk and small tusks protruding, also in red; and a rather strange bovine-like body. This image is located between two patches of red paint that have a shape similar to that of the elephant, but which are not well-preserved. In the case of the leftmost smear and in the case of the rightmost smear, severe damage has been caused to it by an illegal attempt to try and chop out the central bovine-elephant image. There are three other smears of red, orange and white pigment to the left that probably represented eland (Tragelaphus oryx). Low down in the site to the left is a small inner cavern in which there are three white rock paintings. One of these paintings looks like a small rhebuck-like animal without front legs. The other two white images were probably meant to represent similar small animals.

Charcoal drawings: To the right of the central image cluster are two black charcoal drawings of animals with four legs. These charcoal drawings are rudimentary to a modern aesthetic and while their authorship is somewhat uncertain, they probably represent the work of shepherds sheltering in the site.

European rock engravings: On a large, free-standing bolder at the northern end of the site a number of what seem to be early and subsequent European or 'white' people have engraved their initials, names and dates of their visits to the site. Though there will be debate as to whether these engravings constitute 'rock art' or 'graffiti', as human-made artefacts they are also of interest to Archaeologists and other students of human nature and behaviour. In addition, these engravings do not deface the Bushman rock paintings or even the charcoal drawings and are thus not vandalistic in a narrow sense of the term. These engravings may contain information about early and subsequent inhabitants of Smithfield as well as their attitudes through time to sites like this.