Waterval I 143

Brief description of site: The site is located on the 1650 m contour. The site is a large 25.15 m long bilobial (in two parts) overhang with and inner cave section that faces NNW onto an extensive plain below and the Dreunberg to the west. The shelter floor is mostly consolidated earth but there are two areas where large blocks of rock have fallen from the walls onto the floor. This site is obscured by dense vegetation and is difficult to find.

Because relatively few people have been to this site, the archaeology is still in good condition. Present as a surface scatter within the shelter are numerous hornfels (also known as indurated shale or lydianite) lithics (stone tools), fragments of ostrich eggshell, bone and at least half-a-dozen lower grindstone patches. The stone tools include side and end-scrapers such as were used to prepare leather for clothing. An adze shows that woodworking took place in the shelter and the numerous flakes indicate multi-purpose use. Cores, chips and chunks are present and suggest that stone tools were made on-site. The hornfels raw material is abundant in the area. The ostrich eggshell fragments are both from beadwork and from whole eggs that were used to store various things such as water, ochre and medicines. The bone fragments - some burnt - show that people prepared food within the shelter. The quantity of artefacts as well as their distribution suggests that this was an important living area for both the San (Bushmen) and for later groups such as Khoe (Khoi) herders. Despite is being somewhat difficult to reach, the site has an excellent view and is more easily accessed from above than from below.
Brief description of art: There are over 300 individual rock paintings discontinuously spread across some 21 m of the shelter's wall. These rock-paintings fall into two distinct rock-art traditions:

San (Bushman) rock-paintings: The majority of Waterval's rock-paintings (85%) were made by the San (Bushmen) who lived a gathering and hunting way of life and who followed a structured, seasonal round, moving across the landscape to favoured locations. The reason for this moving about was both practical - to follow seasonally available food resources - and spiritual, as the San believed they had to regularly visit and maintain certain special or scared places on the landscape. RSA WTL1 is one such place. The rock-paintings are numerous and their themes are varied. There are also very special paintings. For example:

Quagga and eland panel: Above the very large collapsed rock block is a panel of over 16 beautifully shaded eland (Tragelaphus oryx); the most important animal to the San in a spiritual and symbolic sense. Behind and above these eland are two equid or horse-like animals with stripes. Below there are a further two such animals. On showing the slides of these animals to James Brink, archaeo-zoologists at the National Museum, he confirmed that these were, indeed, depictions of the extinct quagga (Equus quagga), that was last seen in the Burgersdorp area in 1837. Depictions of quagga in the rock-art are very rare and this find rates as being of singular importance.

Rain-animal panel: In the eastern lobe of the shelter, in front of the second area of collapsed rock, is a very good 610 mm x 432 mm depiction of a grey, red and white rain-animal surrounded by at least 16 grey and red fish. This rain animal has red spots and the large body is modelled on eland and hippopotamus. Eland and human figures surround the rain animal.

Other imagery: Also of interest is a rare depiction of a human figure with an elaborate headress riding a horse. There are many eland as well as smaller antelope such as rhebuck; one of which is painted upside-down. There are depictions of Medicine or Trance Dances, processions as well as some strange animals best described as Spirit World animals. There are also at least 3 felines depicted.

Khoe (Khoi) rock-paintings: Distinct from the San rock-paintings - which were made with a brush are the red and black finger-painted geometric motifs. There are also the black apron-like motifs covered in fine white dots. Though not yet well-understood, these rock-paintings are the work of Khoe (Khoi) herders who moved into this part of southern Africa some 1600 years ago with their cattle and sheep. They had good relations with the San and there was a good degree of intermarriage and cultural transmission. Though new to science, this new rock-art tradition promises much and RSA WTL1 will be a key site in this new research.