Heritage Cases

The archaeological rock shelter site Varsche Rivier 003 (VR003) has been subject to excavation over five seasons between 2009 and 2016, led by Teresa E. Steele, Jayson D. Orton, and Alex Mackay. The site sequence is predominantly Middle Stone Age (MSA) with limited late Holocene Later Stone Age (LSA) in one area. The dating of the sequence remains problematic, with some key strata undated and others having produced internally inconsistent ages. We also have limited understanding of palaeoenvironmental change through the sequence and its relationship to changes in human behaviour. In this application we request permission to submit for destructive analyses 151 samples of unworked ostrich eggshell (OES) and two OES bead preforms from MSA and LSA contexts. Destructive analyses of these items will achieve three primary aims: 1) Refine the site chronology. 2) Refine the palaeoenvironmental sequence. 3) Explore changes in foraging ranges through the MSA and LSA. The two former aims will be achieved through isotopic analysis of unworked fragments found throughout the site sequence. Such fragments are abundant in all areas and sequence components at VR003, with more than 60 kg of unworked OES recovered so far. The two bead preforms we seek to destroy derive from a sample of 14 beads and preforms found in layers assigned to the Howiesons Poort and dated by OSL between 74 000 and 58 000 years ago (ka). OES beads have not previously been documented in the Howiesons Poort, nor in South Africa’s MSA more generally. However these beads were recovered from an area of the site where the MSA is overlain by Holocene LSA deposits which contain numerous OES beads. As such they may be intrusive. Our aim in destroying two bead preforms from these contexts is to clarify whether they are indeed of MSA antiquity. Splits of these preforms will be also used for strontium isotope analysis in pursuit of aim (3) above.