Die Toon: a Late Holocene site in the Richtersveld National Park, northern Cape

Abstract

A small excavation in the arid eastern portion of the Richtersveld National Park has produced evidence of hunter-gatherer occupation during the period ca. 3800 to 3100 years ago. These are the earliest Holocene deposits to have been excavated in Namaqualand. The occupation layers are very ephemeral but include microlithic stone tools and evidence for the hunting of small game. The possible presence of blesbok indicates more grassveld in the vicinity of the site than at present

Late Holocene Archaeology in Namaqualand, South Africa: Hunter-Gatherers and Herders in a Semi-Arid Environment

“…In the extreme north, the excavated sites in the Richtersveld date throughout the latter half of the Holocene and support the sequence obtained from coastal sites (Orton 2007b;Orton & Halkett 2010;A. Smith et al 2001;Webley 1997a;Webley et al 1993).…”

“…Excavations at Die Toon, some 15 km from the Orange River in the eastern Richtersveld, revealed a shallow deposit with dates of 2457-2034 BC (Pta-5960) and 1451-1121 BC (Pta-5963; Webley et al 1993). Two potsherds on the surface indicated at least sporadic visits during the pottery period but most of the deposit is more than 3000 years old.…”

“…Publications have also resulted from research in the Richtersveld in the extreme north (Figure 1.1;Miller & Webley 1994;Orton 2007b;Orton & Halkett 2010.;A. Smith et al 2001;Webley 1997a;Brink & Webley 1996;Webley et al 1993), while new research projects there (Dewar & Stewart 2012) and in the far south (Mackay et al 2010;Orton et al 2011;Steele et al 2012) are also underway. Underlining the tremendous archaeological potential of coastal Namaqualand, Parkington (1993:3), in one of the earliest commercial reports, noted the poor state of research there "with only a few cubic metres of archaeological excavation along some 400 km of coastline that almost certainly houses hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of fossiliferous deposits".…”

Archaeological evidence for pastoralist land-use and settlement in Namaqualand over the last 2000 years

“…A burial from the mouth of the Groenrivier mouth dates to 2720760 BP (Pta-5617) while another from the Kleinzee area dates to 3750760 BP (Pta-2267). Webley et al (1993) have published radiocarbon dates for Kokerboomkloof (Die Toon), in the Richtersveld, of 3840760 BP (Pta-5960) and 3110760 BP (Pta-5963) which confirms pre-herding (i.e. hunter-gatherer) settlement in the region.…”

Biodiversity conservation and pastoralism—reducing herd size in a communal livestock production system in Richtersveld National Park

“…Traditionally, livestock production has been the main use of the Richtersveld communal rangeland (Smith, 1993;Webley et al, 1993) and is of paramount importance to the household economy of pastoralist in the Richtersveld (Berzborn, this volume). However, other considerations (such as conservation and ecotourism) have also become increasingly important in the region over the last three decades.…”