Heritage Cases

Welgelgen Shelter revisited Livestock keeping has been fundamental to the economy of northeastern (NE) South Africa for the last 2000 years. Direct evidence for livestock (from a farmers site) in the region dates to the middle of the first millennium CE, which is significantly later than in western South Africa where sheep (from an LSA / pastoralist site) have been present since the end of the first millennium BC (Lander & Russell, 2018). Thin walled pottery and cattle remains at Welgelgen Shelter (Schoonraad & Beaumont 1971) and geometric art near Bethal (Ouzman 2009; Nel 2013; Maseko 2021) might be hunter-gatherer thin ware (see Sadr & Sampson 2006), related to the earlier spread of pastoralists mooted by Smith and Ouzman (2004; also see Sadr 2015), or it might relate to the use of the site by Early Iron Age farmers around 1200 AD. My team’s research aims to clarify the sequence for the arrival of livestock in northeastern South Africa. My excavations at Welgelgen Shelter form part of this pursuit. Aim and Objectives My team intends to develop a finely resolved occupation sequence for northeastern South Africa with a specific focus on livelihoods and foodways. This includes the adoption of livestock by hunter-gatherers, the introduction of pastoralism in the region, and landscape scale vegetation continuities and change linked / due to the spread of livestock keeping into northeastern South Africa. The Lake Chrissie region is an important location in which to pursue the hunter-gatherers with sheep / pastoralist component of this broader regional economy. Cattle remains were previously found at Welgelgen Shelter, and therefore it is an ideal research site. Objectives: 1. Date the occupation phases at Welgelgen shelter. 2. Identify change and continuity in the lithic assemblage from Welgelgen shelter. 3. Analyse the faunal remains from Welgelgen shelter. 4. Analyse the pottery from Welgelgen shelter. 5. Identify the origin of the animal products cooked in ceramic pots at the site. 6. Identify what plant material was cooked in ceramic pots at the site. 7. Identify fungal spores, which might signal effects like soil erosion or animal herding. 8. Analyse microscopic charred particles (charcoal, charred grass cuticles) to understand the fire regime including practices like charcoal preparation or grassland management. 9. Identify the plants which grew in the region through macro archaeobotanical, pollen and phytolith analyses. Rationale Very little is known about the Later Stone Age in the region, with excavations only reported at two other sites thus far (Korsman 1991; Korsman & Plug 1992; Lombard 2003; Bader et al. 2019). In addition, the origins, nature and impact of livestock keeping in northeastern South Africa remain understudied by archaeologists. This is a significant oversight.