Heritage Cases

Aim/rationale: Since 2010, Dr Adelphine Bonneau and I have been running a project undertaken detailed chemical characterization of the inorganic composition of southern African rock art paints (Bonneau et al. 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017a, 2017b, 2022; Hoerle et al. 2016). This research has provided much new insight into the composition and manufacture of rock art paints and has led to us producing 43 new radiocarbon dates for southern African rock art. This permit application relates to a continuation of that work. This application is to export further samples for both characterisation analysis and radiocarbon dating. The sites from which samples were collected were chosen for specific reasons: Buterix 1 In a previous phase of this project we failed to radiocarbon date paintings in this site. The characterization of black pigments in the site showed anomalous compositions that we have not seen elsewhere. Given these anomalies, we should like to further investigate the composition of paints in this site. As yet, we have a very poor understanding of the composition of southern African rock art paints, but preliminary work has indicated that compositions are more complicated than had been assumed (e.g., Bonneau et al. 2012, 2022; Hœrlé et al. 2016). The proposed work would make a significant contribution to that work. In addition, test excavations have been undertaken in this site (Mallen & Pearce 2012). They have produced, amongst other materials, pigment covered grindstones and other pigment materials. We should like to compare the composition of rock art paints to pigments found in the excavations. Little work of this kind has previously been undertaken. Forest Reserve 3 Forest Reserve 3 is selected for the following reasons: 1. It has several paintings executed in black paint, thus allowing the possibility of radiocarbon dating. 2. Some of the black paintings are of cattle, which likely relate to interactions between hunter-gatherers and farmers, a topic of significant research interest 3. Some of the black paintings are of stick-fighting human figures, which likely relate to interactions between hunter-gatherers and farmers, a topic of significant research interest Paintings in the site are of interpretative interest. It would be of use to place chronological constraints on these interpretations. Highlands 1 Highlands 1 is the rock shelter from which the so-called Zaamenkomst panels were removed by Mandy in 1912 (Haughton 1927). These panels are now exhibited at the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town. The Museum has requested that we undertake analytical work on the panels in their collection. We feel that it is beneficial to work on both the slabs in the museum as well as the remaining imagery in the site from which they came. In this way, both imagery and paint composition from the overall original painted context can be studied, rather than just the sections removed and housed in the museum. Iziko South African Museum panels We have been approached by the Iziko South African Museum, based in Cape Town, to undertake radiocarbon and characterization studies of the four large, iconic painted panels in their collection, the Linton and Zaamenkomst panels. The four slabs, each approximately 2 m long, were removed from rock shelters in the Maclear District, Eastern Cape Province, in 1918 and 1912 respectively (Haughton 1927; Lewis-Williams 1988). They are the largest and iconographically most complex pieces of rock art held in a museum in South Africa. A painted human figure from the Linton slab was chosen by the South African government to form the centerpiece of the post-apartheid national coat of arms (Smith et al. 2000). The slab therefore has still greater value to the nation as the source of the central national symbol. Methodology (short): Highlands 1 and Iziko Museum panels Samples will be analyzed in order to determine their composition and their suitability for radiocarbon dating. To this end, a series of analyses will be conducted on each sample following already established protocols (Bonneau et al. 2012, 2017b). First, a sub-part of each sample will be embedded in epoxy resin to make a cross-section. This will make it possible to see and study each layer constituting the painting. Then, the unprepared part of the samples and cross-sections will be analyzed with the following techniques: - Microscope - Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with X-Ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) - Raman spectroscopy - Fourier Transform InfraRed (FTIR) spectroscopy Each step will reveal information on the composition of the paint, its suitability for radiocarbon dating, and weathering products naturally surrounding the paint layer which may interfere with the dating. Those results will be compared to geological local references of raw colouring materials with the aim to determine their provenance along with the age of the images. Buterix 1 and Forest Reserve 3 These samples will be prepared for AMS radiocarbon dating. Pre-treatment of the samples will be undertaken in Dr Bonneau’s laboratory at the Université de Sherbrooke using the protocols we have previously developed (Bonneau et al. 2011, 2017a, 2017b). The clean carbon will be AMS radiocarbon dated at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, University of Oxford. References Bonneau, A., Brock, F., Higham, T., Pearce, D. G. and Pollard, A. M. 2011. An improved pretreatment protocol for radiocarbon dating black pigments in San rock art. Radiocarbon 53(3):419–428. Bonneau, A., Pearce, D. G. and Higham, T. 2016. Establishing a chronology of San rock art using paint characterization and radiocarbon dating. In Gutierrez, M. et Honoré, E. (eds) L’art rupestre d’Afrique, Actualité de la recherche, Actes du colloque International Paris, 15 au 17 Janvier 2014, Université Paris 1, Centre Panthéon et Musée du Quai Branly:245–251. Nanterre: Editions l’Harmattan. Bonneau, A., Pearce, D. G. and Pollard, A. M. 2012. A Multi-technique characterization and provenance study of the pigments used in San rock art, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 39:287–294. Bonneau, A., Pearce, D. G., Mitchell, P., Arthur, C., Higham, T., Lamothe, M. and Arsenault, D. 2014. Comparing painting pigments and subjects: the case of white paints at the Metolong dam (Lesotho). In Scott, R. B., Braehmans, D., Carremans, M. and Degryse, P. (eds) Proceedings of the 39th International Symposium on Archaeometry, Leuven, Belgium:319–323. Leuven: Centre for Archaeological Sciences. Bonneau, A., Pearce, D. G., Mitchell, P. J., Didier, L., Nic Eoin, L., Higham, T. F. G., Lamothe, M. and Arthur, C. 2022. Characterization and dating of San rock art in the Metolong catchment, Lesotho: a preliminary investigation of technological and stylistic changes. Quaternary International 611:177–189. Bonneau, A., Pearce, D., Mitchell, P., Staff, R., Arthur, C., Mallen, L., Brock, F. and Higham, T. 2017a. The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates. Antiquity 91:322–333. Bonneau, A., Staff, R., Higham, T., Brock, F., Pearce, D. and Mitchell, P. 2017b. Successfully dating rock art in southern Africa using improved sampling methods and new characterization and pretreatment protocols. Radiocarbon 59(3):659–677. Haughton, S. H. 1927. Note on the Zaamenkomst slab. Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Africa 14(3):315. Hœrlé, S., Pearce, D. G., Bertrand, L., Sandt, C. and Menu, M. 2016. Imaging the layered fabric of paints from Nomansland rock art (South Africa). Archaeometry 58:182–199. Lewis-Williams, J. D. 1988. The world of man and the world of spirit: an interpretation on the Linton rock paintings. Second Margaret Shaw Lecture. Cape Town: South African Museum. Mallen, L. R. and Pearce, D. G. 2012. First interim report on excavations at Buterix 1, Maclear District, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Unpublished report, Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Smith, B. W., Lewis-Williams, J. D., Blundell, G. and Chippindale, C. 2000. Archaeology and symbolism in the new South African coat of arms. Antiquity 74:467–468.