National Khoe and San Heritage Route
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Modern Khoi Language Distribution
In southern and eastern Africa, there must have been more than 100 distinct languages characterized by “original” click systems even a few hundred years ago. The thirteen languages shown on the present map are the last still spoken today. No proof supporting claims for a common ancestry of the “Khoisan” languages, as proposed by Joseph Greenberg in 1963 seems possible, at least not as present. Standard methodologies applied in linguistic reconstructions do not yield results, most likely because time depths in which the present languages might have diverged from each other are too deep. Another reason for not being able to reconstruct the evolution of today’s Khoisan languages are the many missing links, as most Khoisan languages have vanished without documentation.
The Khoe language family, however, is an exception in that as Rainer Voßen in 1997 successfully applied the comparative-historical method to establish this genealogical unit which includes Naro, Khwe-ǁAni, Ts’ixa, the Shua-Tshwa cluster, ǁGana-ǀGui and Khoekhoe. In addition two further language families have been proposed, namely Kx’a consisting of the two languages, !Xun and ǂHoan, as well as the !Ui-Tuu family with also two surviving members, i.e. Taa and Nǀuu.
All previous language maps exaggerate the settlement areas of present-day speakers of Kx’a, Khoe and !Ui-Tuu languages, and southern Africa is shown as being occupied by them while in fact, millions of people speaking isiZulu, isiXhosa, SeSotho, Setswana, Afrikaans and English dominate these regions. Similarly, the numbers given for speakers of these languages are generally far too high.
Matthias Brenzinger
Director of CALDi (Centre for African Language Diversity)
University of Cape Town
Driekopseiland
More than 3000 engraved geometric designs with a small number of animal images in two main clusters on glaciated andesite in the bed of the river. No displays or information boards
The more than 3500 individual engravings at this site, predominantly pecked geometric images, occur on glaciated basement rock exposed in the bed of the river and are submerged when the river rises. Archaeologists and geomorphologists have estimated that the engravings may have been made in two episodes – before about 2500 years ago and after about 1000 years ago.
Mr Ben du Plessis 0823776191 McGregor Museum, P.O. Box 316 Kimberley has provided interpretation
No facilities
Tussen die Riviere
The Cape's oldest recorded battle site is located near the Liesbeeck-Salt River Canal. In 1510, the Khoekhoe and Portugues sailors had their first serious confrontation. Portuguese commander, Francis De Almeida had sailed into the Table Bay with his fleet, in search of fresh water. Some of his crew decided to go to the Khoekhoe settlement near Salt River to trade for cattle and sheep. A conflict ensued when a few sailors attempted to kidnap two children and cattle. This caused the Khoekhoe to drive the sailors back to their ships. As a consequence of this event, De Almeida sent 150 men on an expedition to punish the Khoekhoe. They managed to set fire to huts but were then surrounded by Khoekhoe who were armed with arrows and assegais. The Portuguese men were overwhelmed and defeated by the Khoekhoe. The site is interpreted as a site of victory for the Khoekhoe over colonial tyranny. More than 50 Portuguese sailors including De Almeida, were killed by the Khoekhoe. This significant conflict led to the Portuguese avoiding the Table Bay area.
* There is no archaeological evidence at this site to support the claim that this was the site of a massacre. Investigations have been implemented.
Oude Molen estate
The crest of the hill near the current stable area is of symbolic significance for the First Nation. Although the mill was demolished, the Oude Molen site still retains the early eighteenth century farmhouse.
From 1652, Khoikhoi pastoralists seasonally settled in the area with their livestock, close to fresh water sources and abundant pasture. Over the next 300 years the area would became one of the main wheat producing farms, providing food for the Castle and citizens in the region. In 1693 the Dutch East India Company built the first mill in South Africa on the property. The mill house and remaining opstal were used by the state for a variety of purposes including the imprisonment of King Ceteswayo between 1879 and 1882.
The site was acquired by the Union Government in 1912, and by 1915 existing buildings were converted for use by black mental health patients (Valkenberg East hospital).
066 042 0062
Free
Oude Molen Eco Village, situated between Life Vincent Pallotti Hospital and Maitland Garden Village, was started in 1997 by a group of social entrepreneurs using empty buildings of the Valkenberg East hospital site. The land has since been developed into an environmentally-friendly village of micro-businesses, non-profit organisations and social enterprise services. Enterprises range from; backpacker accommodation to music studios, equestrian activities, a sports & jazz foundation, frail care services, metal, wood, art and craft workshops, public pool and braai facilities, urban agriculture, a restaurant and a waldorf school.
The Camissa River
The Camissa River, 'place of sweet waters', is also known as //ammi i ssa.The oldest marker of spirituality, rootedness and belonging for Indigenous people (Khoena) is the freshwater river system and the Camissa River which still flows underneath the city of Cape Town from the Hoerikwaggo Mountain (Table Mountain) to the Sea. The River mouth connecting to the sea would have been somewhere in front of the Castle in the vicinity of lower Strand Street around the entrance to Cape Town Station where the Grand Parade adjoins the Golden Acre Centre. The Camissa River Mouth was the place of the founding of Cape Town by the maroon Khoena clan known as the Goringhaikona, led at the time of Dutch settlement by Chief Autshumato. The Camissa Settlement was established some time during the 200 year period prior to the establishment of the Dutch Settlement as a trading/service point by
local Khoena (Khoi) to service passing ships. It was also the place of hospitality offered to Jan van Riebeeck’s party during the 7 months that it took for the Dutch to build the first Fort. The Camissa waters were diverted into the moat around the Castle de Goede Hoop. In the Golden Acre Centre one can also see an aqueduct which was uncovered during construction. The Camissa River and the Camissa Settlement is of utmost importance to the Camissa descendants today as it was a site of pride which then became a site of struggle as it was the first place taken over by the Dutch settlers. Van Riebeeck’s diary notes that the Goringhaikona did not voluntarily forsake their Camissa settlement, and for some time continued to remain alongside the Camissa River and on the embankments of the Fort. They are recorded as telling Van Riebeeck that they would not have been able to simply take over the land of the Dutch in their country so why should the Dutch feel that they could take over the Khoena land. The Camissa River mouth was also where the earliest shipments of slaves were landed at the Cape. In 1658 two shiploads of over 400 slaves from West Africa arrived in the Cape. Most were very young children.
Figure of 8:
Call +27 (0) 21 439 3329 for more details.
There are various tours that can be booked to view the underground tunnels (fee charged).
For the more adventurous contact "Figure of 8", a team-building and entertainment tour operator that organises underground tours in association with Reclaim Camissa, to uncover Cape Town's water history.
Autshumato: Leader of the Goringhaikona Khoikhoi
Autshumato was a leader of the Goringhaikona or so-called Strandloper Khoikhoi, and one of the first southern Africans to be taken by the English to Batavia where he learnt to speak Dutch. On his return in 1632 he settled together with twenty members of his community on Robben Island where he was postmaster for passing ships and a translator and interpreter. In 1640 he moved back to the mainland and became instrumental in facilitating trade between the Khoikhoi people and the Dutch. He was known to the English as Harry while the Dutch called him Herry. When Jan Van Riebeeck arrived in the Cape he relied on the language expertise of Autshumato to carry out trade negotiations with the Khoikhoi. Autshumato was aware of his power as interpreter and leader of his people and used this to undermine and resist Dutch occupation. For instance, on 19 October 1653 he overpowered and killed the Dutch East India Company cattle-herder David Jansz and took off with the company’s herd of cattle. On 10 July 1658 Jan Van Riebeeck banished Autshumato to Robben Island. In December 1659 Autshumato successfully escaped from the Island on a leaky boat. A year later Autshumato applied for and received permission to again live and work near the Dutch settlement, resuming his role as an interpreter. He died in 1663.
Doman: Leader of the Goringhaiqua Khoikhoi
Doman was a leader of the Goringhaiqua Khoi-Khoi, who in 1657 was also sent to Batavia to train as an interpreter. "Whilst there he learnt first-hand the capacity of the Dutch to reduce indigenous people to positions of servitude. This turned him into a freedom fighter. It is said that he deceived the Dutch by appearing to be loyal by converting to Christianity. However, as soon as he landed at the Cape he championed resistance against Van Riebeeck and the Dutch government’s colonial policies. He regarded Krotoa with suspicion and was critical of her perceived selling out of her own people to the Dutch. It is reported that whenever he saw her he would tell his countrymen: ‘See, there comes the advocate of the Dutch; she will tell her people some stories and lies and will finally betray them all.’ And whenever Krotoa tried to pass on information to the Dutch, Doman tried to stop her. When the Dutch planned trips into the hinterland, he tried to stop them. From his hut near the fort he tried to intercept all inland visitors. All these are indicative of his commitment and drive to resist the Dutch colonial settlers by any means necessary. He eventually led the first of the two Khoi wars of resistance against the Dutch. Doman made use of his knowledge of Dutch military science and tactics to the advantage of his Khoi countrymen. Thus, on a cold and drizzling 19 May 1659, he led a group of Khoikhoi in a raid on the cattle of the free burghers. Doman had waited for rainy weather, knowing that the Dutch matchlock muskets could not be fired in the rain with damp powder. Unfortunately for Doman, his earlier attempts to make Khoikhoi trade with the Dutch the exclusive preserve of the Peninsula groups left him dangerously short of allies. Thus, his attempts to persuade local chief Gogosoa to attack the Dutch were bluntly refused. Without the help of the inland Cochoqua, an attack on the fort was doomed to fail. Doman, however, was able to persuade some of the younger leaders to join him in what he regarded as a war of liberation. Commander Van Riebeeck responded with defensive tactics, withdrawing the free burghers to the fort, temporarily arming the slaves (an extraordinarily risky measure), and building a strong kraal to protect the colony’s remaining livestock. Lacking firearms and unwilling to storm the central fort, the Khoikhoi eventually signalled their willingness to parley. A peace was negotiated; the war had ended in stalemate. The Khoikhoi did not return any of the livestock seized in the war and paid no reparations. Yet they did accept the continued European occupation of the Cape peninsula, a threat to their perseverance as an independent people. The Dutch erected fortified posts and planted almond hedges (some of which still survive) to prevent cattle being driven off again. The Khoikhoi were obliged to use specified routes and paths, and to enter the settlement only at certain guarded gaps in the hedge. Horses which arrived from Batavia gave the colonists the mobility they had lacked in the war, and expeditions from the fort became longer and more frequent. As trading contacts were established with more Khoikhoi groups, the settlement gradually became independent of the Peninsular Khoikhoi, whose wealth and importance waned rapidly. The failure of the Khoikhoi to drive out the Dutch shattered Doman’s position as a leader, and he was tolerated only because his people needed him as an interpreter. When he died in December 1663, the Company diarist recorded: ‘For [his] death none of us will have cause to grieve, as he has been, in many respects, a mischievous and malicious man towards the Company'." (SAHistory, 2020).
Krotoa: South Africa’s pioneer diplomat and linguist
A niece of Autshumato, she was born around about 1642. As a young girl she worked in the household of Jan van Riebeeck. She learnt to speak Dutch and Portuguese and, like her uncle, she also worked as an interpreter for the Dutch in trade negotiations with the Khoikhoi. Krotoa was baptized on 3 May 1662 in the church inside the Fort, and on 26 April 1664 she married Pieter van Meerhoff, a Danish surgeon. She is said to have been the first Khoikhoi person to marry according to Christian customs. At the time the Governor at the Cape was Zacharias Wagenaer. In May 1665 Krotoa and Pieter van Meerhoff departed the mainland for Robben Island. Van Meerhoff died on 27 February 1668 on an expedition. On 30 September 1668 Krotoa returned to the mainland with her children. At this stage she was lonely and suffering from alcoholism. She decided to leave the Castle and go and live with her people for a while. In February 1669 she was imprisoned at the Castle and then, like her uncle Autshumato before, she was banished to Robben Island. In May 1673 she was allowed to baptise a child on the mainland. Three of her children survived infancy. She died on 29 July 1674 in the Cape and was buried on 30 September 1674 in the church in the Fort
David Stuurman: The last Chief of the Khoikhoi
He was imprisoned on Robben Island for leading resistance against the Dutch and the British and is one of the few prisoners to have escaped successfully from the prison. At the time of writing, attempts were under way to find and repatriate his remains in Australia back home to South Africa.
Bloubergstrand Beach
The beach at Bloubergstrand is a site of remembrance of the escaped prisoners from Robben Island who were Khoe Resisters from the Gamtoos led by Chief David Stuurman. Stuurman successfully escaped in that bid. But it is also the site of the death of the Chief and prophet Makana (Nxele) who perished in that escape bid in 1820. There is much detail about the revolt and escape from Robben Island and the three boats which overturned in the waves. A monument should be erected there telling this history of the Khoena and amaXhosa resistance fighters, especially in the light of a strong alliance between these two communities.
Blaauwberg Tourism Bureau: +27 21 557 8600/556 4399
Email: info@tourismcapetown.co.za
Free
Public beach with wide selection of restaurants located nearby. Amazing views of Table Mountain and the coast line.
Best to avoid traffic into and out of blouberg in the morning and the afternoon (work commute times).
Hurling Swinging Pump
The Hurling Swinging Pump remains at the corner of Prince and Sir George Grey Streets in Oranjezicht.
The Hurling Pump is also referred to as the Old Swing Pump and Prince Street Pump.
In the past, there was no piped water available in Cape Town, so slaves were sent on a daily basis to fetch water from public fountains or wells.
In the 1790s, the pump was erected for the owner of the farm Zorgvliet, JF Hurling. In 1812, as part of the improvement to Cape Town's water supply, the structure, as seen today, was erected. Above each well was a pump house with its swinging pump. It was fed by water from the Platteklip Stream (thus the association with the Camissa River). This pump was designed by a French architect, Louis Michel Thibault. The masked gargoyle is attributed to Anton Anreith, who was a german sculptor who made numerous sculptural embellishments for buildings in the Cape. The slaves worked the pump by swinging the long wooden handle, weighted to one side, side to side thus producing water from a pipe. In the case of this site, it meant water would be released through the mouth of the gargoyle.
TRANSCENDING HISTORY TOURS:
Contact Lucy Campbell: +27 (0)84 883-2514
Free to view.
No facilities are present at this site but the "Slave Walk" tour is an option to gain more information on this era. Lucille Campbell of Transcending History Tours is a Cape Slavery and Cultural Heritage Activist who is knowledgeble of unmarked slave sites around Cape Town.
Slave Washerwomen’s Stream
Platteklip Stream is an active stream that originates at the top of Table Mountain and flows through Deer Park. Archaeological excavations near the stream and the subsequent finds (artefacts), revealed that the washerwomen also made use of their time at the stream to socialise, trade and share with one another.
This site (also known as Platteklip Stream) forms part of the Camissa River System. Washerwomen tasks involved soaking, pounding, washing, rinsing and drying clothing from either private families or the Company. Often hundreds of women would spend the whole day washing clothing.
The Slave Washerwomen’s Stream is particularly important as it relates to the most tragic event in Cape History in 1713. This is when a Danish Ship arrived, on which there had been an outbreak of smallpox. The contaminated clothing was given to the slave washerwomen who washed the clothes in the stream and thus unconsciously contaminated the water-supply. They too became contaminated and smallpox spread, causing great devastation amongst all communities. Hardest hit was the indigenous people whose numbers dwindled from around 160,000 to around 30,000. The growing prosperous class amongst the Free Black community were wiped out too as were many slaves. This single event must count as one of the most devastating occurrences in slave and indigene history.
TRANSCENDING HISTORY TOURS :
Lucy Campbell: +27 (0)84 883-2514
Free to view.
The site can be easily accessed via a path, although it is recommended that people do not hike in the area alone. For tours that include "Slave Walk" contact Lucille Campbell of Transcending History Tours. She is a Cape Slavery and Cultural Heritage Activist who is knowledgeble of unmarked slave sites. No toilet facilities or information panels are present at this site.
The Grand Parade
The Balcony of the Cape Town City Hall houses a statue of Nelson Mandela in his honour in the same place where he made his iconic speech overlooking the Grand Parade. There is also a statue of Edward VII on the Grand Parade outside of the City Hall.
The Grand Parade is deemed to be South Africa's most historic public open square and has been a national monument since 31 August 1962. The site is symbolic of the heritage of Cape Town and is associated with trading, debate, protests, celebrations, parades and entertainment. It is bounded by Darling, Lower Plein and Castle Street and bordered by the Castle of Good Hope, the Cape Town Public Library and Cape Town Station.
The Parade is inseparably associated with the Castle of Good Hope as "it was used by its garrison as a training ground" (SAHistory, 2019). The Dutch built their first fort here in 1652. Slaves were sold and punished here too.
The Castle of Good Hope and the Grand Parade were built by slave labourers and the original Fort de Goede Hoop and the Castle de Goede Hoop were places of abode and places of imprisonment of Khoena and slaves, including Kratoa and the first 11 slaves at the Cape. It is also the place of trials held by the Council of Policy, place of treaties robbing the Khoena of Land, and place of incarceration of leaders from Chief Autshumato right through to King Cetshwayo. Sheik Yusuf was kept here for some time on his arrival in the Cape.
In addition, the site has been a place where numerous political rallies and meetings were held. It was for centuries the public face of Cape Town’s spirit: a place where citizens gathered to celebrate, protest or seek refuge. It was here too that crowds gathered to hear Nelson Mandela address the world upon his release from prison in 1990 and again in 1994 following his election as president.
Over the years a number of buildings have built on its fringes, and today it has shrunk to about one half of its original area.
Free
The site is centrally situated and enjoys high levels of accessibility. It is bordered by the Castle of Good Hope, the Cape Town Public Library and Cape Town Station. The square is generally used as a market place and a parking area.
Justitie Plaats and the Strafpaal
No evidence of the site remains.
The Justitie Plaats (Justice square) and the Strafpaal at the corner of Darling Street and Buitekant Street was a place of punishment and execution of slaves, Khoena, and others. People were brought here for torture and execution, following their trial at the Castle. There was a post to which the convicted slaves and persons were tied while the were punished in public. Whipping, hanging, crucifixion and a host of other cruelties took place at this site, which is unmarked. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was situated to the south of the Castle, on De Buitenkant outside the Dutch East India Company’s settlement. According to historic maps this area had been an open piece of land on the Table Bay shoreline. In the 1760s it also appeared to have been the site of gallows. For most of the 18th century the area had been used as a site for execution (Justitie plaats). Authorities hoped that public executions would deter crime and resistance by slaves.
Today it is a spiritual centre.
The area of the site is now used by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
Silvermine
Between 1675 and 1685, Silvermine (OuKaapseweg), the site of a "silver" mine was mined by slaves, soldiers and sailors as no actual miners were resident in the Cape. In 1675 it was thought that these mountains contained silver and so shafts were sunk to try and find it. There was, in fact, no silver to be found.
San Parks:
Tel: +27 (0)21 780 9002 (Gate)
Tel: +27 (0)21 712 7471 (Office)
Conservation Fees for 1 November 2020 to 31 October 2021 (cost per day):
South African Citizens and Residents (with ID): Adults- R35 Children- R15
SADC Nationals (with passport): Adults- R70 Children- R35
Standard Conservation Fee (Foreign Visitors): Adults- R140 Children- R70
The Silvermine Nature Reserve is located in the central section of the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP). It offers some of the best hikes in the Park with beautiful fynbos landscapes. There is plenty to take in, in and around Silvermine – a short and wheelchair-friendly boardwalk around the dam, a beautifully therapeutic river walk, a light walk to the Silvermine waterfall, bird spotting, picnics, dog walking and mountain biking, to name but a few.
Goedverwacht
The church and parsonage were built by the villagers and are constructed of local stone and clay. Other interesting buildings include the school, the Mission Store and the watermill (Mill Museum).
Originally called Burgershoek, Goedverwacht is a town rich in historical history.
The Moravian mission station of Goedverwacht ("High Expectations"), which was established in 1881, is associated with both slaves and the Khoe.
The land originally belonged to Hendrik Schalk Burger, a widowed farmer. When the emancipation of the slaves was close to being achieved, he asked his slave and their family to stay on the farm with him and care for him until his death. Maniesa was originally from Bengal (India), she had five children and son-in-law. In Hendrik Schalk Burger's will, he left the farm to Maniesa with the instructions that when all her children had passed on that their descendants should sell the farm and divide the proceeds. The will was challenged twice in court by his own children, but the agreement was upheld. The property remained in Maniesa's family's hands until 1888 when her last child, Hester, died. The grave of Maniesa can be seen in the graveyard. Subsequently, the descendants decided to sell the propoerty to the Moravian Missionaries for 750 Pounds.
From Cape Town, take the N7 towards the R399. Then take Goedverwacht Main Road in Goedverwacht. It’s about an hour and a half from Cape Town
The Peerboom ("Pear Tree") Hiking Route starts from the old graveyard through the mountains behind the village to emerge above the neighbouring village of Wittewater. The route can be walked in a day, accompanied by a knowledgeable guide, and features beautiful views over the Berg River valley, indigenous Fynbos vegetation and amazing rock formations. There are many spots for picnicking on the outskirts of the town or at the nearby settlement of Wolfkloof. Guided tours and meals can be arranged.
In June/July there is a Snoek and Patat festival.
Mamre
Mamre is home to South Africa's 5th oldest church in the Moravian Mission Station. The original church and parsonage were listed as national mounuments in 1967. The watermill has been restored and the church is still used for Sunday services.
In the late 1600's, the site was originally established by Cape Governor Simon van Der Stel as a military and cattle post to protect settlers from the local Khoikhoi. From 1701 to 1791, it was a Dutch East India Company cattle farm and military outpost called "Groenekloof" (Green Valley).
In 1808, the British granted the right to German Moravian missionaries JF Kohrhammer and JH Schmitt to establish a mission station in the area. They took over abandoned buildings and built a church, school and watermill.
In 1818, the completed church (Groenekloof) opened its door to freed slaves.
Groenekloof was the second Moravian mission station in southern Africa. On 2 December 1838, the mission station held a thanksgiving ceremony to celebrate the end of the four-year apprenticeship of slaves. Mission records show that approximately 700 former slaves had sought permission to settle at Groenekloof between January 1839 and December 1852. Although slaves formed the majority of the newcomers at Mamre, the Moravians original plan had been to focus on converting indigenous Khoi groupings. Even before freed slaves arrived at Mamre, there is evidence to suggest that there were close working and family relationships between free Khoi communities and slave apprentices who worked together on farms in the area before they were emancipated.
In 1854 the mission station was renamed Mamre.
For more information about the Heritage Walk:
Visit: westcoastway.co.za
Call: West Coast Way on 0861 321 777
Free
Mamre lies a mere 50 minutes from Cape Town, just off the R27 West Coast Road.
The Mamre Heritage Walk is part of the West Coast Way Culture Route. The heritage walk starts at The Old Shop (1880), goes to various historical locations such as The Mill (1830), the Lobensaal, the Parsonage (1679), Die Bakhuisie (1700), The Moravian Church (1818), the Old School (1876), the Cemetery Hill (1808) and ends at The Longhouse (1697).
The Twin Gables Guest House offers comfortable accommodation in Mamre.
Pacaltsdorp
The stone church was built in 1825 from stone quarried from the nearby Outeniqua Mountains with the help of Khoekhoen labourers. Near the church stands the original parsonage which was erected in 1835.
The mission station at Pacaltsdorp was initially called Hooge Kraal, as the land was under control of the Khoe chief Dikkop. He had requested that a missionary be sent to his kraal to teach his tribe western tradition and skills. Subsequently in 1813, a small mission station was founded by the London Missionary Society (LMS) who had previously visited the area the previous year. Reverend J Campbell promised chief Dikkop that a missionary would come and stay among them. Chief Dikkop went personally with his ox-wagon to fetch Reverend Charles Pacalt and brought him to Hoogekraal.
In 1819, Hooge Kraal was renamed Pacaltsdorp after the death of Reverend Pacalt who had served at the mission and built up a congregation of about 300 Khoekhoen, slaves and free labourers.
More slaves settled in Pacaltsdorp after emancipation.
General Enquiries:
Tel: 044 801 9411
E-mail: info@george.gov.za
Address: Pacaltsdorp Tourism Office, Mission Street, Pacaltsdorp, George, 6529
Free to view.
The Pacaltsdorp Historical Walk starts at the Pacaltsdorp Information Centre. You can park here and get a map of the walk.
The walk goes past the Kaptein Dikkop Amphitheatre, the First Post Office (1971), the First 'Board' House (1890s), the First School (1837), the Old Stone Church (1825), the Congregational Church (1963), the Atkinson Manor, Die Patat Huisie (1813), the JB Anderson Memorial Hall, the Grave of Kaptein Dikkop, the Missionaries'Acre, the Tree of Meeting and the House of Meeting.
San and Khoikhoi Genocide Memorial at Graaff-Reinet
Memorial.
The little-known memorial stands on a hill outside Graaff-Reinet. It was constructed as a reminder of the genocide of the Khoikhoi and San peoples in the Eastern Cape in the period 1702-1809. The memorial was originally erected as an initiative of the Eastern Cape Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture. It is now being upgraded and enlarged by the national government.
Free
There are no facilities present at this site.
Bethelsdorp Mission
One of the significant sites which emerged from the 1799-1803 war was Bethelsdorp Mission. In 1803, the mission settlement was established for Khoikhoi people on the Cape’s Eastern frontier by the London Missionary Society. Missionaries Dr Johannes Theodorus Van der Kemp and Rev James Read built alms houses once they had convinced the colonial government that they needed to establish a settlement to educate and provide religious and social instruction to the indigenous people. Several historic structures, including the Van der Kemp Memorial Church, alms houses, and David Livingstone Cottage, can be seen today. The Van Der Kemp memorial church may have been the earliest congregational church in built in southern Africa.
Fort Fordyce and Waterkloof
Fort Fordyce and the general area of the Waterkloof (Mtontsi) represent one of the most bitterly contested areas of the frontier wars. It was a violent battle ground during the 8th Frontier War (1850-1853).
For three years during the war of Mlanjeni the Xhosa and Khoikhoi under the leadership of Maqoma fought a bitter guerrilla war against the British and colonial forces. The Infantry under Colonel Thomas Fordyce had marched before daylight to the head of the Waterkloof and the cavalry had followed suit at dawn. A large number of Xhosa under Maqoma's personal command were concealed among inaccessible rocks which gave them the advantage to attack the British troops. The present Fort Fordyce is named after Colonel Fordyce who was killed there in November 1851; the British troops called it ‘Mount Misery.’
Today, the Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve is home to a large number of historical sites exist in the area, including the remains of a fort, graves, a military road and the cliffs and forests from which the Xhosa and Khoikhoi fought which are all located within a compact area. These sites provide a convenient platform for telling the story of the longest and bitterest of all the wars.
Eastern Cape Parks Board:
Email: reservations@ecparks.co.za
Tel: 043 705 4400
Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve Manager:
Tel: +27 (0)43 742 4450
Perched on the Amatola escarpment, the Fort Fordyce Nature Reserve has amazing views of surrounding landscapes encapsulating the Katberg and Hogsback mountains. Bird watching, bass fishing, horse riding and hiking are some of the many activities visitors can enjoy in the reserve.
Reservations can be made at the Eastern Cape Parks Board.
There is a range of accommodation on offer in the area which includes camping, bungalows and cottages.
Post Retief
This reasonably well preserved military fortification is located at the foot of the Didima peak and guarded the entrance to the Blinkwater valley. With the 6th Frontier War, there was a greater need for a more robust fortification thus Post Retief was established in 1836 on the orders of Sir Benjamin D’Urban and named after Piet Retief, the veldkornet in that part of the Colony. The fort which was designed by Major C. Selwyn, was built to protect the Winterberg District.
The remains of what is reputed to be Piet Retief's house are located nearby. The site served as an important strategic base during the 8th Frontier War (War of Mlanjeni; 1850-1853). Post Retief supplied campaigns in the surrounding areas, served as a hospital for the wounded and became a refuge for the farmers who fled the surrounding areas in panic. Its location, although scenic, proved to be inadequate and it received considerable attention from rebel Kat River Khoikhoi who harassed the inhabitants of the fort (The Siege of Post Retief). In early February 1851, during the 8th Frontier War, the fort was held under a tight siege by these rebels and it was cut off for days from all supplies of food and water until it was relieved by a force of Mfengu and burghers.
There are old war graves located nearby.
Free
There are no facilities or services provided at this site.
The remains of the old military stronghold, are situated approximately 45 km north of Fort Beaufort. The road winding through the hills can be very rough and muddy in places during the rainy season, so a 4x4 is recommended. There are a number of Guest Houses and Self Catering accommodation located nearby.
Zonnebloem College, 1858
In 1704, the first deed of the farm on which the school stands was issued. Zonnebloem (The Sunflower) was one of three farms situated on the slopes of Devil’s Peak. The other farms were Lilliebloem (The Lillyflower) and Rhodebloem (The Redflower). Around 1740, the manor house on Zonnebloem Estate was built. It was one of the original Dutch H-shaped gable houses in the country. Originally, the estate was a wine farm and the building which houses the college chapel was a wine store. A number of people owned and lived on the estate over the years. At one stage, the estate was owned by a slave-trader Mr Tennant who, when slavery was abolished was forced to sell the estate. In about the 1850s the conflict in the Eastern Cape between the indigenous people and the British colonial settlers was reaching a crisis point. The AmaXhosa and their independent economies had been weakened by the cattle killing incident inspired by the prophesies of Nongqawuse. In 1847, Bishop Robert Gray was consecrated the new bishop of the Anglican Church. He arrived in the Cape in early 1848, at a time when the governor of the Cape colony was the controversial Sir George Grey. Together they decided to establish Zonnebloem College. An educational institution for the sons and daughters of the paramount chiefs to provide them with a Christian education on the understanding that when they become the rulers of their communities they would be well-disposed towards the white settlers. And so with a weakened economy the AmaXhosa had capitulated to the British and the chiefs had no choice but to send their sons and daughters to be educated at Zonnebloem. However, there was also a recognition on the part of the chiefs that the struggle against the British colonial government now required education in the ways of the British including their laws and systems of administration. On the 11 March 1858, the school opened its doors. The school was initially situated on the outhouses of the Bishop’s house on the slopes of Table Mountain in Claremont. This was the original farm called Protea. The sons and daughters of chiefs came not only from the Eastern Cape but also from all over southern Africa. In 1860 the church bought the Zonnebloem farm for 6,000 pounds. The school moved to Zonnebloem and has been at this estate ever since. The curriculum was geared toward trade education and the boys were taught carpentry, metalwork, woodwork and printing. Whilst the girls were taught dressmaking and needlework. All learnt the basics of arithmetic and reading and writing as well as the study of the Bible. One of the first printing presses in the Cape colony was at Zonnebloem, followed by Lovedale, Alice, in the Eastern Cape. So in many ways Zonnebloem College represents the beginnings of a new phase of struggle of the African people in South Africa (and southern Africa); of recognising the key role of education in their struggle to adapt to and change their conditions under settler colonialism following their military defeat and land dispossession. Harold Cressy had attended Zonnebloem College from the age of eight. He was the country's first graduate of colour who qualified at the South African College in 1910. Additionally he was an education activist.
Free to view.
Typical school facilities.
Nahoon Point
There is an existing display explaining the relevance of the footprints, together with a model of a shell midden, at the end of a boardwalk that overlooks the site.
Human footprints made 120,000 years ago, among the oldest human trace fossils, which were found near Bats Cave at Nahoon Point. The original footprints are on display at the East London Museum. “Strandloper” shell middens where San and Khoe lived in the past are located along the beach.
Tel: +27 (0) 43 743 0686
Email: derekh@elmuseum.za.org
A road leads up to the cliffs underneath which the cave is located. Wooden steps have been erected along the steep slope for easy access.
East Griqualand Museum
There are also displays of the early economic history of Kokstad, notably, one of the cannons that came over the Drakensberg with the Griquas, a type of pony cart that Adam Kok III would have used, the original press from the then local newspaper, the Kokstad Advertiser, a cheese press, used to make cheese that East Griqualand was well-known for. Locally made Rocky Ridge cheese won medals overseas. There are various pieces of furniture from the Griqua history as well as the money and post stamp produced and used internally. Various publications and photos on Griqua history are also available at the Kokstad Museum. The statue of Adam Kok III is kept in the Museum. It was previously located on the street, where it was vandalised and later found in the local swimming pool. The Museum is in the process of cataloguing its contents and displays. The list will be made available as soon as the task has been completed.
The Kokstad Museum traces the story of the Griqua leader Adam Kok III, his followers as well as the eventual annexation by the Cape Colony
Kokstad Museum: 039 727 4975; admin@kokstadmuseum.co.za
Guides: Yvonne Mjoli: 073 139 3559
Audrey Steenkamp: 078 317 1253
The Kokstad Museum is easily accessible as it is situated on the main street of a tarred road town. There is sufficient parking on the street. Two qualified guides are permanently employed by the museum
Rietvlei Griqua Independent Church
There are two buildings in the site namely Griqua Church and Magaret Kok memorial hall. The church is situated on the Kokstad's Main Street and is the original structure built in the 1800s Inside there are displays of Griqua leaders and Ministers of the church in the 19 th and 20 th century
The church is the reflection of the praying point and worship point of the Griqua people
Kokstad Museum: 039 727 4975; admin@kokstadmuseum.co.za
Church Secretary: L Fortune: 083 4822 055
Guides: Yvonne Mjoli: 073 139 3559
Audrey Steenkamp: 078 317 1253
The church is accessible from the main street with parking. There is a Caretaker on the premises during the week.
Mount Currie
Monument
The Mount Currie reserve is filled with history. When the Griqua came to the end of their epic trek to Nomansland in May 1863, they settled on the slopes of Mount Currie. They built themselves small huts on the spot where they out spanned, although many of them continued to live in their wagons for a long time afterwards. The huts were made of unburned sod bricks and thatch. This was supposed to be a temporary settlement but, the Griqua ended up staying for almost a decade. It was here that the Griquas had their first encounter with the Basutos, the Pondos and the White traders, and were introduced to bank notes, buying and selling instead of bartering. During this time the Fort, the largest building in Mount Currie, was upgraded to a ‘Palace’ and, served as a point of assembly, for the people, as a school, a church and even a kraal for baby goats in times of extreme cold. From here, the first Mount Currie express; a private postal service, was established between uMzimkhulu, Matatiele and Mount Currie, first driven by carriage and later carried by a messenger.
Tel: (039) 727 3844.
Mount Currie is located in Mount Currie Nature Reserve. Access is off District Road D623. There is parking on site.
Buttermeade
The painted rock shelter at Buttermeade has paintings of birds in close association with a dying eland. It has polychrome images of eland and many interesting images, including a semi-circular arrangement of what appear to be kaross-clad anthropomorphic figures. An enigmatic bird painted in white is connected to an eland by a white line. On this line is a red zigzag. Where the line joins the eland at the nose, white lines emanate from the animal. Similar depictions of eland with nasal emanations are found throughout the Drakensberg. When eland are shot by a San hunter’s poisoned arrow, they froth at the mouth, and sometimes bleed from the nasal area. An eland’s death is considered an important occasion by the San because it is at this point that it releases its supernatural energy. Shamans believe that they can harness this energy in order to enter the spirit world. The close association between the bird and the dying eland is a puzzling feature of this painting that is repeated at the site of nearby Martindell. This association is not perfectly understood.
The town of Rhodes is situated in the district of Barkly East, one of the most remote parts of South Africa. It is an interesting tourist destination for three reasons. First, the buildings in the town are not greatly changed from when they were first built. Indeed, it was only in the 1990s—and not without a significant amount of opposition—that the town’s inhabitants voted to have electricity installed. Secondly, the town is situated close to the spectacular Naude’s Nek—a dirt road pass that is one of the highest in South Africa. Thirdly, there are many rock art sites close to the town, some of which are open to the public. Buttermeade is one of these sites.
Mr. Gawie Naude: Buttermeade Farm, Rhodes.
Cell: 082 897-9555; gawien@telkomsa.net
Buttermeade is a ‘quick and easy’ public rock art site that allows visitors to gain an appreciation of the rock paintings of the area without too much effort. The site is on private farm land and it is important to get permission to visit.
Chamisso
Although they are now somewhat faded, the sheer quantity of images on the walls at Chamisso hints at the spectacle that it must have presented shortly after being painted. It is almost impossible to count the numerous eland that adorn the two walls of this shelter. The density of the eland brings to mind the words of Qing, a San man, who told the colonial official Joseph Millerd Orpen, in the early 1870s, that wherever God was, eland were in droves like cattle. Scattered about amongst the many eland are other, very interesting images. In the lower centre of the panel is a boat-like object, interpreted by some as the Grosvenor, a ship that sank off the Transkei coast in 1782. It is highly unlikely, however, that the image represents a ship. Researchers do not yet know what this enigmatic painting signifies though it has been well established that the art is full of imaginary, in some cases hallucinatory, images. It therefore seems that this image depicts something far more symbolic than simply a ship.
Chamisso is famous because images at the site were once thought to represent the survivors of the famous wreck of the Grosvenor. Chamisso is an outstanding example of how San painters sometimes covered large areas of the rock face with depictions of eland.
PG Bison’s North-East Cape division, Chamisso, P.O.Box 432, Maclear 5480;
Tel: 0459 32 1862; hlechmereoertel@gmail.com
It requires a 4X4 to visit and in winter, if there is snow, the dirt road can be extremely dangerous. It is possible to drive very close to the site and then undertake a short, but steep walk to visit the site. Booking is essential.
Craigmore
Craigmore has many paintings of eland. One unusual painting of an eland in white situated towards the centre of the shelter has one of its horns twisted forward and one of its rear legs is much shorter than the other and ends in a bloody mess—the animal appears to have an amputated leg. The amputated leg and the twisted horn strongly suggest that this is a painting of a deformed animal. There are other cases of deformed animals in rock art but they are rare. Certainly, there is no other painting so far discovered of an eland deformed in the same manner. The most intriguing images at Craigmore, are of a painting of a wagon being drawn by oxen, around which are painted Europeans who fire weapons. It is difficult to see what they are shooting because many of the images on this side of the shelter are faded owing to the action of water. In paintings such as this one at Craigmore, the San, ironically, recorded their own demise.
The steep and remote hills around these towns hold some of the best preserved and most interesting rock paintings in South Africa and the area is steeped in San history. This area was one of the last places that San rock art was made and it was one of the last places that San people existed as autonomous and independent entities. The local legend that the mountain is named Prentjiesberg (Picture Mountain) after all the rock art sites found there is incorrect, and the mountain is probably named after Jan Apryntje, a raider, possibly of Khoe and San descent, who frequented this area.
Craigmore, P.O. Box 432, Maclear 5480
Tel: +27 (0) 45 932 1862; hlechmereoertel@gmail.com
The trail is only open in the wet season, which is in summer, when there is no fire hazard. To see the art, it is necessary to head off the beaten path from time to time. The effort, however, is certainly worth it. While there are smaller sites to be discovered, Craigmore is the most easily accessible and also contains some of the best preserved imagery. It is accessible from the nearby dirt road with a 4x4.
Dinorben
The site used to have interpretative materials but these have fallen into disrepair. The paintings in the shelter are very clear, and the wall is covered with innumerable tiny white flecks, which are thought to detect of the supernatural potency that is said by San people to be used in fighting. This association is strengthened by an image of an upside-down “dying” eland. Eland were considered to be supernaturally potent animals that release this energy upon death. Close to the dying eland are figures with their arms stretched out backwards. This posture is adopted by dancers when they ask God to put supernatural potency into them. Any red meandering line outlined in white connects many of the images. Such thin lines are found throughout the Drakensberg, and often weave in and out of the rock connecting various images. However, new ethnographic work point to these thin red lines as depictions of the threads of light that connect the spirit world to this one.
It is a high-quality site with excellent paintings and is very easy to access.
Gavin or Merrily Small: Tel: (045) 9710112; Mobile: 0828979555; 0827800650; Email: gavin.s@vodamail.co.za
The site is easily accessible, but the viewing platform needs repair. It is essential to book in advance to visit the site.
Martindell
There is a painting of a bird in close association with a dying eland, and a painting of a wounded eland being separated from a group of
rhebuck and other eland by human figures holding spears.
Accompanying the human figures are three dogs, probably Basenji,
which originated in central Africa. When eland grow old, they turn a
greyish colour, similar to the colour of the pigment used here. Eland,
especially old ones are, in fact, relatively easy to hunt. They tend to
run upwind when there is any sign of danger. They also tend to run
out of breath quickly because they are large, fat and heavy animals. It
is consequently easy to run them down and kill them. When wounded
and close to death from exhaustion, eland spew mucus and,
sometimes, blood from their noses. This eland clearly bleeds from the
nose. Moreover, the hair along its neck stands on end. This is another
symptom of an eland in its death throes.
Martindell has for many years been open to the public as a rock art site. There are a number of unique and rare images including rare depictions of Basenji (indigenous) dogs.
Tel: 045-974-9201
Free
The site is fenced and there is no charge for visitors. It is easy to visit this site if you are staying over at Rhodes, which is a delightful town, with excellent fly fishing.
Storm Shelter
A visit to this site takes one through some of the remote and most spectacular parts of the Drakensberg but it is a long a steep hike that is not for the unfit or faint-hearted and the site can only be visited with a guide and requesting the farmer’s permission. The most striking feature of Storm Shelter are the large-headed anthropomorphic figures on the panel. There are two of these images at this site; the first is painted as if it is emerging from a large feline creature. This figure’s headdress is similarly shaped to a French beret and there are lines of nasal blood smeared over the face. The second figure is smaller than the first but has a distinctive white face with pointed ears and an eye that appears more eland-like than human in shape and a headdress that seems to be an animal skin draped over the head. Each figure has a unique face and headdress and each appears to depict a different person, even though they have similarly large heads. Archaeologists think that they are portraits of influential individuals as they appeared in the spirit-world given that the unique faces also have non-realistic features.
Storm Shelter, a site discovered by researchers in 1992 and published by National Geographic Magazine in 2001 is a remarkably important site in that it has evidence that San people painted a form of portraiture. There are some 236 visible images at the site, many of which are well preserved, owing to a large rock that fell from the roof preventing livestock from getting too close to the art and damaging it through rubbing.
Sheila Bell-Cross: Tel: +27 (0) 45 932 1437; sheilabc@xsinet.co.za
Clydesdale Mission Station
Old stone church with a brass cross and image of the missionary Thurthon Button
Clydesdale mission station is the place where the Griquas missionaries stayed
Clydesdale Mission Station: Congregation Steering Commite, Mr Cyrl Malanda: 082 560 2892, Rev Nomatshila 073 453 1510 P.O. Box 76, uMzimkulu, Kwazulu Natal
Clydesdale mission station is accessible as it is situated on the R56 from uMzimkhulu. The church is fenced
Didima Rock Art Centre
Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has built a rock art centre and a camp near the Gorge in the Cathedral Peak area. Junction Shelter is one of the large and spectacular sites recorded by Pager and is situated at the entrance to the gorge. A famous painting from this shelter appears to be a bridge with human figures crossing it. Close inspection of this ‘scene’, however, reveals that there are two women who are clapping—a common posture in the art and usually associated with a trance dance. The figures on the bridge are carrying flywhisks, which are used only on special ritual occasions, such as during the dance. The collapsed figure below the bridge is in the hands-to-nose position—this is also associated with the dance. Because it is associated with elements of a trance dance, it is doubtful that this is a painting of people crossing a bridge. Such winged figures are common throughout southern African San rock art and are prevalent throughout the rest of Didima Gorge. An excellent example is painted on the large fallen rock in the centre of the shelter. Its arms are clearly very identical to the ‘ropes’ of the bridge.
Didima Gorge (formerly Ndedema) has become famous for its rock art, largely owing to the work of Harald Pager
KZN Wildlife: Tel: 033 845 1003/1058/1064; tradedesk@kznwildlife.com Amafa Ulundi Office: P.O.Box 523, Ulundi, 3838 Tel: 036 488 8025 didima@kznwildlife.com
The Didima Gorge has been shut to visitation as the area is now a natural reserve. The centre has excellent facilities: parking, toilets, conferencing, restaurant, etc.
Natal Museum
There are excellent displays on the archaeology of the region from the Stone Age to the Iron Age and colonial era. San history is described in some detail, including a copy of a rock shelter with paintings and a display of rock engravings. Interaction between San and Zulu communities is described. There is no evidence that Khoe people lived in KwaZulu Natal. There are also displays of Dinosaurs, historical section of Pietermaritzburg settlers, Indian celebration for 150 years arrival in South Africa, San hunter Gatherers and Zimbabwe, Swahili and Portuguese historical culture displays.
Natal Museum is a National Museum tracing the story of cultural history, which includes San Hunters Gatherers
Natal Museum, 237 Jabu Ndlovu Street, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Tel: 033 3451404
Adults (over 17 years) R 10.00
Pensioners & toddlers FREE
Children 4-17 years R 2.50
School Learners on tour R 1.50 per child
The Museum is located in CBD city centre in Pietermaritzburg. The Museum is easily accessible . The entrance is through Jabu Ndlovu Street. Good facilities for school groups and tourists that are easily accessible, including travelling exhibits for schools in the area. There is no parking in the museum. There are Gallery guides and security guides on full time basis .
Battle Cave
The splendid battle scene is to the far right of the shelter. While it appears to be a fight, as with most San rock art, initial appearances are deceptive. One figure, for example, has an erect, infibulated (a bar across the member) penis. San did not go to war naked and there is no evidence that they pierced their genitalia. This figure may then represent a shaman in an altered state of consciousness who is being restrained from hurting himself. A figure in the pointing posture is an important clue to the deeper significance of this painting. The San believe that it is dangerous to snap one’s fingers and point at someone. They believe that supernatural potency or, “a fight” as it is sometimes called, travels along the arm and out of the finger. If this potency is shot at someone during a dance, especially at a child’s stomach, it can kill him or her. Painted dots or flecks in the rock art are known to depict potency. A crouching figure has a line of tiny flecks along its back. They probably represents potency ‘boiling’ up the spine. There are other fight scenes in the Drakensberg, including depictions of skirmishes between colonists and San; almost always though they are laced with non-real trance imagery.
Battle Cave is named after its famous fight scene and it is one of the few places where the public can see a rock painting in South Africa showing a ‘battle’ between San, Zulu and British.
KZN Wildlife: Tel: 033 845 1003/1058/1064; tradedesk@kznwildlife.com
Amafa Ulundi Office: P.O.Box 523, Ulundi, 3838
Tel: 035 8702050/1/2; info@heritagekzn.co.zaInjasuthi Camp site direct:
036 431-9000;
To visit the site, visitors will need to pay a fee to get into the park first, which is R20 P/P and R10 for children. The tours will cost R 55.00p/p, for a group of four or more people. If the group is made up of less than four people, the charge will be R220 for the group.
The site is approached from the Injasuthi Camp, operated by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. In order to visit the site, a long, but easy walk on a path is required. The conditions around the site are safe and accessible
Main Caves
Main Caves is one of the most densely painted rock shelters in the Drakensberg. Snake Rock is a large rock at the right of North Cave. Blood gushes from the snake’s nose in this image and can be associated with San religious beliefs as can be seen by the images of dancing shamans around the serpent. The Long Panel consists of densely painted areas. Most of the images are superimposed over one another, or over the exceptionally large eland painted throughout the length of the panel. Over the first large eland on the left of this panel are a row of kaross-clad figures wearing antelope-ear caps. Such caps were worn by shamans-of-the-game. Elsewhere in the panel is a feline with small dots painted along the spine. The spine was considered an important part of the human anatomy for it is along here that supernatural power travels from the stomach to the head where it explodes, thereby catapulting the shaman into the spirit world. Felines were, moreover, sometimes considered to be malevolent shamans in animal form.
It is an ideal place for one-day visits from Pietermaritzburg for tour groups and families. It is the most visited San rock art site in the country. Main Caves, in the Giant’s Castle Nature Reserve, is situated in an area that is steeped in South African history. It was close to Main Caves that, in 1873, the Hlubi leader, Langalibalele, made a bid for Lesotho just over the high mountains to escape the authority of the Colonial Government. His route can still be seen and is known as Langalibalele’s Pass. A magistrate, Joseph Millerd Orpen, was sent from the Eastern Cape Province in pursuit of Langalibalele to try to convince him to return to his lands and submit Colonial authority. A young San man called Qing accompanied Orpen as a guide. On their journey, they visited rock art sites in present-day Lesotho and Orpen recorded Qing’s comments on the paintings that they saw. Today, the Orpen material stands as an invaluable insight into the meaning of San rock art.
KZN Wildlife: Tel: 033 845 1003/1058/1064; tradedesk@kznwildlife.com
Injasuthi Camp site direct:
036 431-9000;
To visit the site, visitors will need to pay a fee to get into the park first, which is R25 P/P and R13 for children. . And it will cost R 30p/p and R15 for children (tickets available at Giants Castle reception phone 036 3533718).
The conditions around the site are safe and accessible, although the walk to the cave takes about 20-30 minutes. Booking is essential for large groups, but a guide is on duty at the site between 08:30 and 16:00 daily for individuals and families. There is a large wooden viewing platform and boardwalk to control visitor access.
Kamberg Rock Art Centre
There are many images at the site, some of which are strikingly clear. The “Rossetta Stone” panel shows an eland and therianthropic figures. The eland’s head is turned sideways. It has erect hair on the neck, hump, dewlap, underbelly and tail. The back legs are crossed as if stumbling. These show the effects of the poisoned arrows with which the San hunted, a painting, therefore, of a dying eland. The anthropomorphic figure to the right holds the dying eland’s tail. It's legs are also crossed, mimicking the eland and it also has black antelope hooves. This figure is therefore closely associated with the dying eland, a shaman that has partly transformed into an animal. The panel demonstrates the close connection to a dying eland and a San shaman experiencing trance.
Game Pass Shelter is one of the best preserved sites in southern Africa. It has become one of the most famous rock art sites in the world because of a cluster of images at the site that have been referred to as the “Rosetta Stone” of southern African San rock art. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, these images allowed researchers to interpret something of the code of San rock art.
KZN Wildlife: Tel: 033 845 1003/1058/1064; tradedesk@kznwildlife.com
Amafa Ulundi Office: P.O.Box 523, Ulundi, 3838
Tel: 035 8702050/1/2; info@heritagekzn.co.zaInjasuthi Camp site direct:
036 431-9000;
To visit the site, visitors will need to pay a fee to get into the park first, which will be R28 p/p and R15 for children. Before the journey to the site can begin, visitors have a choice to watch a DVD presentation at the state of the art interpretative Centre at Kamberg for R20 or start their journey to the site, which will cost R30 p/p.
Visitors access the site through the Kamberg Rock Art Centre where there is a coffee shop, a small theatre for showing a film about the rock art in the area, and displays; guides, which are compulsory, can be booked here for the long hike (about 2 hours) up to see the Game Pass and other sites along the way. The conditions around the site are safe and accessible.
Heuweltop
Tourists can see Bushman rock painting of two crabs, a beautiful shaded eland and human figures, animal spoors, and quivers.
Unique San rock art sites.
Golden Gate National Park: 058 255 0900
Access from the R712 from either Harrismith or Clarens through Golden Gate. Access permits can be obtained from the entrance office. Tourists can visit the Heuweltop rock art site with a guide. Accommodation is available at the Golden Gate National Park and at Clarens, about 10 kilometres away. Hikes are available.
Kiara Lodge
Rock painting of the dassie. There are also 47 paintings of eland, rhebuck, and human figures.
At Kiara Lodge there is a small and unique rock shelter with rock the only known Bushman painting of a dassie.
Kiara Lodge: PO Box 42, Clarens 9707. Tel: 058 256 1324;
kiaralodge@iafrica.com
The rock art site is located within Kiara Lodge and easily accessible. Accommodation and meals are available at Kiara Lodge, at Clarens and the Golden Gate National Park. There is also a wellness centre, a teambuilding course, and a curio shop. There are three nature walks, a 4x4 trail, and hiking trails. Other activities include bird watching, fishing, horse riding, and paintball.
Schaapplaats
Fine rock art paintings.
A rock art site which used to be the subject of a misguided debate about the potential Phoenician settlements in southern Africa
Denis & Christine Walwyn: P.O. Box 53, Clarens, Free State, South Africa
9707; Tel: (058) 256 1176
Clarens Tourism: Tel: 058-256-1542; www.clarenstourism.co.za
R50
Existing fence in poor condition. Site is dark and would require improved lighting in some way. For example, cutting of trees or installation of LED floodlights. There is a guest house on the farm and visits have to be booked in advance.
Honingkloof
Tourists can see human figures, a yellow antelope, and a red running
figure.
Bushman rock art site.
John Jordaan; Juan-Marie Naude: 045 932 1572
Other activities include fly-fishing.
Sehlabethebe National Park
San rock paintings and associated archaeological deposits as well as
unique stone herders huts
San rock paintings
Sehlabathebe National Park: Tel: (266) 2231 1767, 2232 6075
Sehlabathebe National Park can be accessed via the B46 from the north of Lesotho, or via the B45 from the west. The most suitable border crossing from South Africa is at Qacha’s Nek. Ramatseliso’s Gate border post is closer, but this road to the border post is only suitable for 4X4 vehicles. A trail from South Africa’s Bushman’s Nek border post links directly with Sehlabathebe National Park, but can only be traversed on foot or on horseback. There is a new but relatively rustic Entrance Gate; Unused border post buildings that have mostly fallen into disrepair; A 12 bed lodge with staff accommodation; 1.1m fence around the park, which has fallen largely in disrepair.
Old Library Museum
Rock art exhibition and Stone Age collection. Other collections and displays include the Lex Bremner fossil collection, the Mangaliso Robert Sobukwe exhibition, Slavery and the Long Road to Restitution exhibition, and Lucas Borman furniture.
The Old Library Museum houses a collection of stone artefacts and displays of rock art from early hunter-gatherer life in Graaff Reinet.
Old Library Museum: Tel: 049 892 3801; Fax: 049 892 5650;
graaffreinetmuseum@interkom.co.za
Entrance fees are R12 for adults and R5 for students.
Services include the museum shop, the Africana library, conference facilities, and a second-hand book sale. Guided tours are provided.
Karoo National Park
Excellent displays and information in the interpretive centre on Karoo geology and fossils; Stone Age artefacts; San hunter-gatherer lifestyle and plant foods; rock art; and Khoe herders.
This is a protected area which provides a visitor with a good idea of what the natural landscape in which the San, and Khoe groups, lived.
Karoo National Park: Tel: 023 415 2828/9; Fax: 023 415 1671;
brian.vanderwesthuizen@sanparks.org
The park charges a daily conservation fee of R27 for adults and R14 for children.
There are numerous hiking trails, as well as guided game walks and drives, 4x4 trails, and bird watching. Accommodation is available.
Murraysburg Cave
Cave with San rock art
/Xam rock art
Murraysburg Information Centre: Cell: 082 564 2814;
info@murraysburg.co.za
Vleiplaas: Tel: 049 844 9122
Viewing of the rock art and fossils is by appointments only. The town is famous for its arts and crafts. Activities made available include hunting, bird watching, hiking, mountain biking, and 4 x 4 trails and game drives. Accommodation is available. There is a hotel, guesthouses, and farm house
Nelspoort
Eleven San and Khoe rock engraving sites (named Klipkraal 1 to Klipkraal 11) can be visited with a guide. There is also a kraal and several rock gongs. Information about the rock engraving sites is available at the Central Karoo Regional Tourism Office and at the Restvale Primary School.
There are hundreds of /Xam San and Khoe rock engravings around Nelspoort.
Nelspoort Tourism Office Information
Telephone: 023 316 1287
E-mail: tourism@beaufortwest.net
Nelspoort Rock Art Site custodian: Laurence Rathenham
Tel: +27 (0)23 416 1648
Email: restvalemetprimary@gmail.com
Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
Tel: +27 (0)53 833 7069
Cell: +27 (0)82 222 4777 (David Morris, museum archaeologist)
Email: dmorriskby@gmail.com
Origins Centre
Tel: +27 (0)11 717 4700
At Nelspoort, there is no formal fee, but a donation is appreciated.
At Wildebeest Kuil, the entry fee is R24 for adults and R12 for children.
Fees for the Origins Centre are R75 per adult and R35 per child.
Tourists can visit the rock engraving sites with a guide.
Ganora Guest Farm
There is a rock shelter with Bushman rock paintings of eland, felines,
human figures with shields and spears. There are also examples of the lesser-known Khoe finger painted tradition that consists of finger dots, crosses and other enigmatic geometric motifs. Tourists are provided with guided tours to the Bushman rock art shelters and engraving sites. Along the walk tourists may spot fossils scattered on the ground. Tourists can also visit the artefact museum and the fossil museum.
Bushman rock painting and engraving sites.
Tel : 049 841 1302
Cell : 082 698 0029
Email : info@ganora.co.za
Tour guides are provided. The walk includes visits to Anglo-Boer War engraving sites, a woolshed, and a medicinal plant walk. Other activities include bird watching, hiking, mountain biking, and swimming. Accommodation and meals are available. Bookings are essential.
Hanover Hotel
The nearby Seekoei River Valley was surveyed by a team of archaeologists in the 1970s and 80s and thousands of places with stone tools, rock paintings and engravings and other signs of occupation by San and Khoe were identified. A map showing the distribution of these sites is being drawn up and could be displayed at the hotel to demonstrate the very large number of sites in the region.
The owners are keen to publicise San and Khoekhoe history.
PO Box 19, Hanover, 7005, Cnr Queen and Market Streets, Hanover Northern Cape, 7005, South Africa
reservations@hanoverhotel.co.za
Three star hotel.
National Museum, Bloemfontein
The Museum has a large rock art display. In the associated Oliewenhuis Art Museum there is Bushman diorama , depictions of hallucinatory rain- animals and displays covering the krchaeology of South Africa’s central interior.
Well developed display on San
direk@nasmus.co.za
+27 51 447 9609
36 Aliwal Street
Bloemfontein
South Africa
Adults: R5.00
Scholars: R3.00
Pre-school: R1.00
The museum is easily accessible as it situated in Aliwal Street in Nelson Mandela Drive. Facilities include a shop which sells relevant literature.
Florisbad (Slypsteenberg Rock Art)
A large Bushman/San engraving site with about with approximately 80 Bushman rock art paintings of baboon, eland, quadrupeds, human figures, and a rain-animal.
Easily accessible Bushman rock art site
National Museum, Rock Art Department: PO Box 266, Bloemfontein 9300
Tel: 051 447 9609; rockart@nasmus.co.za
The site can be accessed by appointment only.
Florisbad (Fossil Site)
There are three osteological collections at the site.
Florisbad is a fossil-bearing spring mound, the site is known for producing an archaic modern human skull, now dated to c. 260 000 years old. The mammalian remains from the Florisbad spring, dated to between 400 000 and 100 000 years ago, is the type assemblage of the Florisian Land mammal Age and it is a key site for understanding the appearance of modern environments as well as modern human origins in southern Africa. The site was declared a National Monument in 1995, but due to a change in legislation, it is now a Provincial Heritage Site, pending declaration as a National Heritage Site.
Florisbad Quaternary Research Station: General Assistance, Sam Mbolekwa
Tel: +27 51 831 1132
Site manager: Jaco Smith j.smith@nasmus.co.za
Tel: +27 51 831 1132
Adults: R15.00; Children: R5.00
Groups (more than 10) Adults: R10.00; Children: R2.00
Educational centre, aimed at primary school visits, offices, laboratories, and collections of the Florisbad Quaternary Research Department. The visit on site is only made by appointment.
Stowlands
The Cave contains San rock art panels. There is also a Cave Church visited by pilgrims from afar and demonstrating the sustained religious nature of the site. This is emphasised by the presence of the Anglican Church and a cemetery, with the grave of the prophet Mantsopa.
The site contains well-preserved San rock art and associated heritage.
Mr Roy Fourie
PO Box 2036
Potchefstroom
2520
Tel: +27 148 294 8780.
Conference Centre with Bed & Breakfast facilities, education center, Rock Art and stone age shelters
Riet River
Stone kraals believed to have been those of the Khoe herders are located 130 kilometres along the Riet River from Plooysburg to Kalkfontein Dam. There are approximately 78 Khoe settlements with the majority occurring between Kalkfontein Dam and Jacobsdal. Approximately 12 Khoe graves have been documented near Koffiefontein along the Riet River.
A number of Khoe stone kraals, graves, engravings, and archaeological artefacts such as pottery have been surveyed and documents along the Riet River. Other archaeological finds in the area of the Riet River include fossils, Stone Age sites, and Iron Age settlements.
David Morris, McGregor Museum, PO Box 316, Kimberley 8300.
Tel: +27 53 842 0099; dmorris@museumsnc.co.za
Tourists can visit Kalkfontein Dam Nature Reserve.
Accommodation is available at Kalkfontein, Koffiefontein and Jacobsdal.
Oppermansgronde
None at present
Prior to 1994, Oppermansgronde was proclaimed a ‘Coloured reservation’ by the apartheid government. The local community was restitutionally awarded their land back in 2003/2004.
Marica Coetsee, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State, PO
Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300; Tel: 051 401 2369; coetseem@ufs.ac.za
Unknown
Philippolis
Adam Kok’s house is the oldest surviving building in Philippolis. Museum Transgariep has exhibitions on the London Mission Society, the Griqua, and Emily Hobhouse. The museum is currently being renovated and is closed. There are also Griqua huts and a kraal. Other attractions include the cemetery, the old church and jail, the Emily Hobhouse Memorial, the kruithuis (powder house), and oom Japie se Huis. The library is currently being renovated and is closed. The Laurens van der Post Memorial Centre is also closed.
Griqua heritage. In 1823, the London Mission Society founded the mission station in Philippolis for local Khoe herders and San hunter-gatherers who were educated at the mission. Philippolis was the first settlement in the Free State. In 1826, a group of Griquas under the leadership of Adam Kok III settled in Philippolis until 1862 when they moved to East Griqualand which is known today as Kokstad. Many historical buildings in the town have been declared National Monuments.
Kirsten van Vuuren, Philippolis Tourism Bureau: 23 Colin Fraser Street,
Philippolis. : 073 157 1212;Tel: 051 773 0009; Fax: 051 773 0209
Adam Kok’s House: Tel: 051 773 0050
Old Jail: Tel: 082 550 4421
Old Church: Tel: 051 773 0014
Oom Japie se Huis: Tel: 051 773 0050
Laurens van der Post Memorial Centre: Tel: 051 773 0050
Accommodation and all other basic facilities are available. The sites are easily accessible and safe.
Hoekfontein
Three rock art sites. Among them is a panel of 14 dancing human figures.
Bushman rock art site
Mr Gerhard Wille
PO Box 354
Ficksburg
9730
Tel: +27 51 933 3915
The site can be accessed by appointment only.
Caledon Nature Reserve
Rock paintings of eland, cattle, hippo, a huge snake, and human figures.
There is a well-preserved Bushman rock art site located on the reserve.
Free State Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Welbedacht Dam; Tel: 051 583 1920
The reserve can be accessed from the R701. Access to the site is permitted only with a guide. Tourists must contact the Department in advance. Self-catering accommodation is available at two bush camps, which includes a 4x4 trail. Accommodation is also available at Wepener. Other activities include fishing, hiking, and bird watching.
Rose Cottage Cave
Old displays
This is an important archaeological site with well-preserved Middle Stone Age layers. The oldest layers at Rose Cottage Cave demonstrate a degree of local specialisation, there are several clear phases of tools found within the cave that suggest a clear chronology, covering pre-Howieson’s Poort industries all the way through the MSA-LSA transition and into the Late Stone Age proper.
Prof Lyn Wadley: Tel: 27 (0) 11 717 6049; Lyn.Wadley@wits.ac.za
The cave itself is only 10m wide and 20m long. Access is on foot. The cave has been fenced in to protect the site from vandalism, but this is inadequate.
Moolmanshoek
There is a large cave with 47 Bushman rock paintings of two felines, eland, a shaman, seven women with weighted digging sticks, and some enigmatic parallel red lines.
San rock art site
The Nel Family, Moolmanshoek, PO Box 332, Ficksburg 9730
Tel: 051 933 2220; Tel: 051 933 3792; Fax: 051 933 2444
info@moolmanshoek.co.za
Hiking Trails: Jacana Marketing, Tel: 041 366 2084
bookings@jacanacollection.co.za
Parking is available. Accommodation, conference and wedding facilities are available at the lodge on Moolmanshoek and at Langesnek. Day visits are by appointment only and the entrance fee excludes accommodation, meals and activities. Activities include game drives, night game drives, hiking trails, day walks, 4x4 trails, fly-fishing and fishing, hunting, a meerkat experience, abseiling, horse riding, and mountain biking.
McGregor Museum
Major exhibitions on archaeology, history and ethnography
The museum attends to a number of relevant collections and sites. The museum has nine satellites including Wonderwerk Cave and wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre.
GUIDED SCHOOL TOUR (By appointment only – tel 053 – 839 2717 / 839 2722 / 839 2700)
Physical address: Postal address:
5 Atlas Street PO Box 316
Belgravia KIMBERLEY
KIMBERLEY, 8301 8300
Telephone: +27 (0) 53 839 2700
Fax: +27 (0) 53 842 1433
Tour bookings: +27 (0) 53 839 2717
R25.00 per adult (also for adult tour groups)
R15.00 per child
R8.00 per person for SCHOOL GROUPS (No guide)
R12.00 per person for a GUIDED SCHOOL TOUR
The museum’s headquarters are in Atlas Street. Parking, security, toilets, an out-sourced shop and tearoom. There is a hall and auditorium. Staff provide tours (when possible in terms of reduced personnel) to satellites of the museum and sites in the area. Staff also perform heritage services including impact assessments. Displays, posters, brochures, etc are generated
Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre
A rock engraving site with walkway (guided tours) from a visitor centre containing displays and a film about the site and the history of the !Xun and Khwe people. Display room, auditorium, tea-room/arts&carfts shop, additional display room recently added for display specifically of !Xun and Khwe military history; kitchen, toilets. Facilities available for small conferences and workshops.
More than 400 markings on the rocks on the hill including more than 200 actual Khoisan rock engravings. Access walkway and lectern displays designed by the McGregor Museum and the Rock Art Research Institute. Displays and auditorium with a 20 minute introductory film that explains the history of the !Xun and Khwe and the rock engravings and their setting. Historical archaeology excavations within the servitude have revealed 1870s to 1920s hotel sites that tie the site into the history of the diamond fields. A memorial stone recommemorating the Khoisan resistance leader Kousop links the end of the Stone Age into archival records. The site may link through its Kousop association with the Liberation Heritage Route.
The site has rock engravings typical of those in the surrounding region, and stone circles containing artefacts, easily accessible. Other heritage traces include Stone Age material of Middle and Earlier Stone Age and colonial era remains of the Halfway House Hotel. The engravings were first copied by G.W.Stow, who also related the history of Kousop, resistance leader recorded as having lived at this site in the 1850s.
McGregor Museum, P.O. Box 316, Kimberley 8300
Kitchen, toilets. Facilities available for small conferences and workshops. The rock engraving site is a registered servitude in the name of the Northern Cape Rock Art Trust on land owned by the !Xun and Khwe Communal Property Association. The McGregor Museum currently sees to the daily operation of the site.
Rooipoort
More than 4500 engravings situated around a spring. No displays or organised interpretation
Large rock engraving site
De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd – game farm. McGregor Museum, P.O. Box 316 Kimberley
None
Campbell
Bartlett’s Church and reburial site (Cornelis Kok and Griqua remains): Reconstructed mission church on the site of the one built by Bartlett, 18261831. Remains of Cornelis Kok and 35 other Griqua reburied alongside. The valley below contains ‘Burchell’s Shelter’, the place described by William Burchell in 1811, where San (including the musical bow player) resided
Historic town, initially known as, associated with the Griqua under Cornelis Kok (1770-1858).
McGregor Museum, P.O. Box 316, Kimberley 8300
None – limited interpretive panel in church.
Mokala National Park
Engraving sites.
Several rock engraving sites exist on the property.
SAN Parks: Tel: (053) 204 0158
Site guides are available.
Taung World Heritage Site
No displays exist as yet but are projected. The site is to include walking trails and interpretation centre/s. Caves and finger painted rock paintings reflect the precolonial history of the KhoiSan.
Apart from the find site of the Taung Skull, there are several archaeological sites some of which are linked with the precolonial history of the KhoiSan in the area
Access control, ablution block, future display spaces and individual site experiences
Tswalu
Engravings. No displays
Distinctive rock engraving sites
None
Griekwastad
Mary Moffat museum features the history and culture of the Griqua community. Additional heritage sites in the town include the Griqua palace and hanging tree ( 23° 15' 6.59"S ; 23° 15' 10.12"E), and the Waterboer memorial with the pair of canon given by Queen Victoria (28° 50' 40.85"S ; 23° 15' 12.53"E)
Historic town, initially known as Klaarwater, then Griquastad, associated with Griqua polities of the nineteenth century. Seat of the early Kok and subsequent Waterboer Griqua captaincies.
Basic facilities at museum
Platfontein
Cultural performances against backdrop of grass houses: dancing, singing, fire-making, bow and arrow technology etc
Cultural activities, mainly for tourism purposes, are performed at cultural villages within the settlements.
!Xun and Khwe CPA:
Ds Mario Mahongo 0828221586
Mahongo, Mario jnr 0724704138
Wentzel Katjarra 0743142351
South African San Institute:
Meryl-Joy Schippers & Hennie Swart SASI 053-8322156
Recreated ‘traditional’ village setting. No other facilities.
Nooitgedacht
Distinctive rock engravings on Dwyka glacial pavement
Rock engraving site
Mr Michael Hall: 0824771919 McGregor Museum, P.O. Box 316 Kimberley
Walking trail over site with self-guide brochure. Damaged information boards taken down. Information provided at Wildebeest Kuil where a guide can be obtained.
Canteen Kopje
Open air display panels and walking trail with information boards (all vandalised and needing to be replaced). Nearby is the private Barkly West Museum, which elaborates on all the Canteen Kopje displays – precolonial and colonial history and has a self-guided tour with a brochure.
One of the richest Earlier Stone Age sites in the area. Upper unit in the sequence is of late Holocene age reflecting San history.
Barkly West Museum: Ms Ashley Bristow 073 377 8401
Brochure available through McGregor Museum for the site. Walkway on site (lacks regular maintenance).
Massouskop
Massouw’s grave, remnants of his house and fortifications on Massouwskop. Research is currently being conducted on these sites.
David Massouw Rijt Taaibosch van Masusa (Massouwskop) was the leader of the last functional Koranna polity in South Africa. There was conflict with Tswana and Boer and Baster groups. Masouw died on 2 December 1885 during a final battle with a commando of the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek. The town Schweizer-Reneke was established shortly after to commemorate the victory of the Boers and the death of two of the commando members during the battle. The Koranna community was captured after the battle and distributed among farmers as indentured labourers.
The sites are not commemorated in any way and no displays have been put up. The nearby town of Schweitzer-Reneke has accommodation and other facilities
Pniel
Several Stone Age and historical sites. No displays or organised
interpretation as yet.
Site of Berlin Missionary Society station of Pniel. Here missionaries including Wuras and Zerwick wrote word lists from the !Kora language. Along with ruins of the mid-nineteenth century mission are a mission cemetery, rock engravings and Stone Age sites spanning Pleistocene to Holocene.
Pniel Community Trust under administration by Dept Agriculture, Northern
Cape.
Not open to the public
Kathu Archaeological Sites
None
Some four clusters of sites at Kathu Pan, Kathu Townlands, Kathu Cemetery and Bestwood farm, mainly Earlier Stone Age
McGregor Museum
Physical address: Postal address:
5 Atlas Street PO Box 316
Belgravia KIMBERLEY
KIMBERLEY, 8301 8300
E-mail: dmorris@museumsnc.co.za
Telephone: +27 (0) 53 839 2706
Tour bookings: +27 (0) 53 839 2717
None
Tsantsabane (Blinkklipkop)
The specularite mine can be visited but no information is available on site.
Ancient specularite working visited and described in the early nineteenth century by Burchell, Campbell and others. Specularite use as cosmetic is described by these travellers, by Stow and others, and is found archaeologically in Later Stone Age sites and earlier, with evident ritual use in graves.
The Town Clerk
Tel: 053 313 0343
None
Bernau
Rock engravings. Urban encroachment, no information boards.
Rock engravings withing a threatened setting or urban encroachment that could be developed for heritage route purposes
No facilities.
Origins Centre
It houses a large number of San rock art pieces as well as archaeological objects and San craft. Some 30 examples of original paintings and engravings removed in the early 20th century are on display. San craft including ostrich eggshell skirts, digging sticks with bored stones, tortoiseshell medicine pouches, poisoned arrows, etc., are on display. Interpretative films and audioguides on San rock art and way of life are available with interactive touch screens that have additional film material, computer games and information on the San. It also houses temporary exhibitions, lectures and film evenings. The Centre is planning a second development to expand the current exhibits.
This is the largest museum dedicated almost entirely to San rock art in the country.
Dr G. Blundell: Origins Centre Centre, University of the Wiwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein, Johannesburg; PO Wits, Johannesburg 2050 Tel: 011 7174700; Fax: 011 7174701; Email: geoff@origins.wits.ac.za
It offers secure visitation parking, toilets, a restaurant and giftshop.
Ditsong National Cultural History Museum
Displays on San rock art, including superb engraved examples; Exhibition on Marabastad; Art Gallery; A good range of temporary exhibitions; Photographic and auditory material on the so-called “Vaalpense”, recently identified as San.
A significant feature of the permanent exhibitions is one on the San and their rock art.
African Window Building, No 149 Visagie Street, between Bosman and Schubart Streets, Pretoria. Tel: 012 324-6082; Fax: 012 328 5173
Parking; toilets; restaurant; giftshop; auditorium; conference facilities
Bosworth
Images include geometrics, animals and humans. The animal images represent an astonishing diversity of species for a rock art site and include zebra, ostrich, sable/roan, springbok, porcupine, kudu, hartebeest, wildebeest, bushpig, rhinoceros, hippopotamus and elephant
This is one of the most spectacular rock engraving sites in the North West Province with over 600 images including both Khoe and San artistic tradition. An important national monument (one of only 12 rock art sites in the country to have that status).
The Orford Family: PO Box 131, Klerksdorp 2570. Tel & Fax: +27 (0)18 468 7527; E-mail: bosworth@gds.co.za
Access is by appointment only with the family-owners and a fee is charged to see the art. However, there are no facilities at the site
Redan
Rock engravings
The closest San rock engraving site to Johannesburg
Site is undeveloped for tourism and subject to poorly controlled access, leading to damage, litter and an unattractive visitation experience
Thaba Sione
Thaba Sione is a cluster of six rock engraving locale situated at in the North West Province of South Africa. The largest of the six engraving sites, comprises a low hill accented with many dolerite boulders and which rises to a height of 8.5 meter above the low arid surrounding plain. Three major foci will be used in the presentation of the sites:- shamanic transformation, gender and rain-making. Most of the rock engravings are pregnant with religious and symbolic portent and they are linked to the curing dance and hunting rituals. Through mythology there is a depicting that tells of the old being transformed into new, of animals into humans and vice versa, of protean tricksters assuming the guise of animals and even plans, of human, animals and plants transformed into stellar bodies, and bulls into rain and digging sticks and cloaks into trees and springboks. The evidence for the connection between art and ritual is either explicit or implicit as some panels show actual trance motifs, at times in the form of dramatic group scene depicting the healing ritual or initiation rites. Many rock engravings show that animals are an abiding presence within the art of the San art and myth and they constitute one of the two themes that are common to each expression. At Thaba Sione there are a number of animals that are depicted, they include:
Eland: The eland, the animal frequently depicted in the rock art of South Africa, is recognized as a moon symbol. According to literature including that of Mbiti, it is surprising that the Eland bull dance was part of the
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female initiation and fertility dance of San maidens; and lore of Batswana, the eland was the animal sacrificed during rainmaking rituals, as is evident in their rainmaking songs; Elephant: The elephant is linked to rain and rainmaking. The queen mother of many tribes in Africa with the title of “Great Elephant” or “Lady Elephant” and, significantly, the queen mother was hereditary keeper of sacred rainmaking objects. Elephant tusks were known s “wisdom sticks”. Not surprising therefore that King Solomon throne was made of Ivory, nor that four most important “bones” in a diviner’s bag are traditionally of caved ivory. In Africa the nerve taken from an elephant’s tusk was considered to be especially strong “magic”; Rhino: the rhino is linked more particularly to initiation, the time of emergence of the child into the world of the adult with all its responsibilities. As part of the Akamba initiation, the boys (and sometimes the girls) were required to face a frightening monster known as “mbusya” (the rhinoceros). This part of the ritual was linked to ritual sexual intercourse by the parents, and the supervision of the initiation school; Giraffe: Even in modern time, African grandfathers will often bestow on a grandson the blessing that he “grow as a giraffe”-tall and strong, but most particularly to be above his fellow spirituality, mentally, physically, and to be far-sighted in every way. To other tribes of Africa the giraffe was a fertility symbol.
Declared by SAHRA as a significant natural cultural site. It is a site with San and possibly Khoe rock engravings that depicts eland, elephant, rhino, giraffe and other animals and symbols.
Ratlou Municipality: Tel 0183307000
There is clear access road, not far from the by-pass road. No facilities on site. Parking is available. No security or toilets. Walking trails need renovation and there is no guide on site. The site is fenced off well.
Skukuza Museum
Minimal to none. This site depends on acceptance of a proposal
Skukuza is a central site which attracts a large number of tourists.
Skukuza has accommodation, petrol station, shops and restaurants
Bongani Mountain Lodge Rock Art
The site has human and animal figures, mostly in red
Little is known about the past social history in Mpumalanga, which makes this site important.
The site is located in a game reserve with limited access
Mthethomusha Game Reserve Rock Art
The paintings in this area, like most of Mpumalanga are of animals and human figures. It is dominated by eland. There are also kudu, giraffe, and elephant paintings. The site has human and animal figures, mostly done in red and occasionally in white and black, some paintings are bichrome and others polychrome. Photographs scanned from Peter Delius (2007:72).
Little is known about the past social history in Mpumalanga, which makes this site important.
The Mthethomusha Game Reserve
The rock art is inside a game reserve, close to a road. Parking, security and ablutions facilities are available at the gate. Access on foot is possible but controlled. Park guides are also available. Site itself is not developed
Polokwane Museum
The Museum is central to heritage tourism in the region
Marakele National Park
Wide range of San rock art sites and archaeological sites
The Park is central to heritage tourism in the region.
Easy access with parking, accommodation and restaurant
Mapungubwe National Park
There are Khoekhoe and San paintings and engravings. The San paintings comprise images of kudu, giraffe, impala and human figures, often superimposed.
The sites are of national significance and provide a microcosm of African Iron Age as well as Khoekhoe and San heritage
Toilets and parking is available at the main gate. Self-catering accommodation is available at lodges inside the park. Some sites are near to a busy road and others are far inside the park with difficult access.
Makgabeng
Many spectacular San rock art sites, including zebras with ‘rainclouds’. Many Khoe finger paintings and handprints in association with these San rock art sites. Pedi rock art dealing with initiation and political protest, also in association with the San rock art
The Makgabeng Massif has close on 500 rock art sites, including Khoe, San and Pedi rock art and is one of the few places where the interaction between these people can be illustrated
Blouberg Municipality: Mr Jonas Tlouamma; jtlouamma@gmail.com Makgabeng Lodge: Mr Fortune Mabeba; fortune@makgabenglodge.co.za
This seemingly remote area is a fairly easy drive from Johannesburg. However, it is difficult to access the massif and there are no organized tours and visits are uncontrolled at this point.
Machete
There are some three hundred paintings at the site, including, remarkably, more than twelve different species of animal. Enigmatic white Y-shaped images are superimposed over some antelope images. These were once thought to be Buddhistic “well-being” symbols or fish traps. Recently, researchers concluded that the Y-shapes are depictions of loincloths. They sometimes occur in association with spread-eagle motifs that are identifiable as animal skins worn by women. The site also contains a boulder with smoothed areas and deeply pecked cup shapes in an eight-byfour configuration. These are for playing the Venda game mafuvha. At some rock art sites, similar cupules are found on vertical surfaces, suggesting a more symbolic significance
Site is one of the best San rock painting sites in the Limpopo River Valley and has a range of unique images
Duncan MacWhirter: Machete Natural Heritage Site, PO Box 1100, Messina 0900. Tel: +27 15 575 1416 or +27 15 534 0433; 079 145-8004 hazelmacwhirter@blueyonder.co.uk
Booking a cottage is thus necessary. The site is on a private Game Reserve that borders on the Limpopo with no fencing; consequently wildlife wanders onto the property, including lions, from the Thuli Block in Botswana on occasion. Access is, however, safe and the site is well managed. The site is not open to day visitors at this point but is accessible to people staying in the chalets on the property
Talana Battlefield
The Talana Museum, set in a 20-acre heritage park, on the outskirts of Dundee, encompasses 10 buildings. Fascinating exhibits trace the history of the area, from the early San hunter-gatherers to the rise of the Zulu nation, the extermination of the cannibal tribes of the Biggarsberg, and, finally, the vicious battles of the South African War. The museum stands on the site of the Battle of Talana (October 20, 1899), the opening skirmish in the South African War, and two of the museum buildings were used by the British as medical stations during the battle. The military museum here is an excellent starting point for the Battlefields Route, along which you follow in the footsteps of the Zulus, Brits, and Boers as they battled it out for territory and glory.
The Battle of Talana Hill, also known as the Battle of Glencoe, was the first major clash of the Second Boer War. A frontal attack by British infantry supported by artillery drove Boers from a hilltop position, but the British suffered heavy casualties in the process, including their commanding general Sir William Penn Symons. The Zulu name "Talana" meaning "the shelf where precious items are stored" is a most appropriate name for this large and varied museum.
Tel 034-2122654. Fax: 034-2122376.
e-mail: info@talana.co.za Web: www.talana.co.za
R30 per person
The museum comprises 23 buildings, dedicated to subjects as diverse as war and agriculture, mining, industry and domestic life.
The Miner's Rest restaurant caters for individuals, groups or functions. The Sunday buffet lunch is very popular and requires a reservation (contact Jenny on 034 2121704 or 083 985 2220)
The museum shop is open 7 days a week and has a wide range of books, CD's, souvenirs and gifts available to purchase.
There are also 3 venues which can be hired out for workshops, training courses, meetings or weddings.
Secure parking.
There are numerous battlefield tours in KZN that include a visit to Talana Battlefield.
Iziko South African Museum
The rock art gallery has excellent displays of rock art in South Africa. The displays are informative and provide information about rock art distribution and chronology. They also explain the links between the paintings and healing and a rainmaking. There are displays of rock engravings as well as the Linton Panel with the original figure adapted for the South African coat of arms. Visitors can learn about the process of rock art painting and the materials commonly used. Currently on display is a 100,000 year old ochre preparing kit from Blombos Cave. The ochre preparing kit consists of an abalone shell, a seal shoulder blade, bone fragments and ochre fragments that were prepared for a variety of uses such as sun screen and body art. Also on display are the Bleek & Lloyd materials and a film based on the book "Ropes to God” by Bradford Keaney. In another gallery are displays of a traditional Nama Homestead and San material culture.
The South African Museum houses archaeological collections that illustrate and depict the history of the San and Khoe pastoralists in the Cape.
Iziko Museums of Cape Town, PO Box 61, Cape Town, South Africa 8000. Tel: 021 481 3800
R20 for adults (19 years and older); R10 for students and SA Pensioners; and free for children 18 years and younger. Free entrance on selected commemorative days
Parking with car guards available. Toilets, a restaurant and a gift shop. The Iziko South African Museum is located in the Cape Town city centre on Queen Victoria Street. The site is safe and accessible. The Planetarium is also housed in the South African Museum building. The Company Gardens on Queen Victoria Street also allows access to the Museum. The Houses of Parliament are located on Government Avenue which is parallel to Victoria street.
Peers Cave
Tourists can see the excavation site where stone tools, artefacts and human remains were found. Some of the excavated material can be seen at the Fish Hoek Valley Museum, 25% of the museum contain information and material on Peers Cave. Some archaeological artefacts like stone tools can also be seen lying on the ground. Although the parts of the cave wall are covered in graffiti, earlier documentation suggests that there are rock paintings.
Peers Cave was occupied by ancestral San some 70,000 years ago and was still being used within the last few hundred years. Human skeletal material found at the cave date back 12 000 years ago. There are rock paintings high up on the cave wall dating back to about 1000 years ago.
Jean Newport Fish Hoek Valley Museum: Tel: 021 782 1752
The entrance fee for Fish Hoek Valley Museum is R5 per person to view excavated material.
There are established trails that hikers could take from either Fish Hoek or OuKaapseWeg. Visitors can access Peers Cave by following a 20 minute trail from a parking lot on OuKaapseWeg that leads right to the cave. Alternatively, visitors can access the cave from one of the Silvermine parking areas. Visitors can make use of the Fish Hoek Valley Museum. The Fish Hoek Valley Museum does not offer guided walks to Peers Cave.
Klipgat Cave
Visitors can see the excavation site that began in 1969 by Frank Schweitzer of the South African Museum (now Iziko). The exacvation yielded Middle Stone Age artefacts and human remains as well as 2000 year old pots and other archaeological material associated with Khoe pastoralists. These artefacts were on display at the South African Museum. The area is rich with archaeology with shell middens occuring in other areas along the coast and the graves of early inhabitants at Stanford Cove.
The site was occupied more than 70 000 years ago and contains the first evidence that Late Stone Age Khoe pastoralists were already living in the Western Cape 1600 to 2000 years ago
CapeNature: 028 314 0062
R 40.00
Klipgate Cave is located within the Walker Bay Nature Reserve which is controlled by CapeNature. Access permits can be obtained from the Walker Bay Nature Reserve Monday to Friday from 08h00 to 16h00. Duiwelsgat Trail is a 7km hiking trail from Gansbaai to the start of the beach at Walker Bay. There are two entrances to the reserve, one at Die Kelders and the other at Uilkraalsmond. The site is safe and easily accessible.
Gordon's Bay Shell Midden
Visitors can see the shell midden with a simple display
Archaeological midden that is at least 5000 years old
Hendon Park Resort: 021 856 9620/22/23
The site is open to the public without access restrictions, and is located in is a municipal resort which is seasonally busy.
The Castle of Good Hope
Archaeological finds are on display in the granary. The William Fehr collection displays a variety of historic paintings and furniture. The Castle Military Museum portrays military history in the Cape and houses an impressive sword collection. Castle Forge is a replica of the real Forge that operated during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest surviving colonial building that was built between 1666 and 1679. Today it serves as an important heritage centre that documents the interaction between the Dutch settlers and the Khoe pastoralists in the Cape from 1666. The Castle of Good Hope and the Grand Parade were built by slave labourers and the original Fort de Goede Hoop and the Castle de Goede Hoop were places of abode and places of imprisonment of Khoena and slaves, including Kratoa and the first 11 slaves at the Cape. It is also the place of trials held by the Council of Policy, place of treaties robbing the Khoena of Land, and place of incarceration of leaders from Chief Autshumato right through to King Cetshwayo. Sheik Yusuf was kept here for some time on his arrival in the Cape.
Iziko Museums of Cape Town: PO Box 61, Cape Town, South Africa 8000. Tel: 021 481 3800
There entrance fees are R150 for adults, R100 for pensioners and R50 for children.
Guided tours are offered. The Key Ceremony is performed Monday to Friday at 10h00 and 12h00, followed by the firing of the Signal Cannon. Horse and carriage rides are conducted daily at 10h30, 12h45 and 14h45. Sunset rides are also offered. These rides take approximately one hour. There are toilets, a restaurant and a curio shop.
Krotoa Place
Nothing at present
The site commemorates Krotoa or Eva van Meerhof, who worked for Van Riebeeck and his wife Maria. She also learned Dutch and played an important role in the interactions between the Dutch colonists and the local Khoe groups. Krotoa was eventually banished to Robben Island.
Free
None
Robben Island Prison Landscape
Visitors can see the limestone quarry, the lighhouse and church that were built in the 1800’s, as well as the Kramat on the island. The oral and historical collection comprises archives of photographic material and artefacts that document the history of the island since the 1600’s.
Several Khoe leaders were banished to Robben Island in the 17th, 18th amd 19th Centuries. Nobel Laureate and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was imprisoned there for 18 of the 27 years he served behind bars before the fall of apartheid. To date, three of the former inmates of Robben Island have gone on to become President of South Africa: Nelson Mandela, Kgalema Motlanthe, and Jacob Zuma.
RIM: +27 (0)21 409 5100
R320.00
The island is safe and easily accessible.
Elim
Visitors can learn about the town’s history at the Heritage Centre and Museum. Near the church, there is a Slave Monument commemorating emancipation in 1838.A large water mill was built in 1833. The mill has the largest wooden wheel in the country. Visitors can also see the thatched-roof houses.
In 1824, Elim was a Moravian mission station where local Khoe and freed slaves were taught various trades and skills such as thatching.
Elim Tourism Bureau: PO Box 33, Elim 7284; Tel: 028 482 1806
Visitors are welcome to visit the church.Tourists can visit the Geelkop Nature Reserve and see the extremely rare dwarf fynbos that Elim is famous for. There is also an annual flower show. Tourists can learn more about the mill on the Water Mill tour. There is a bakery, a church, and a Bed and Breakfast.
Genadendal
Key attractions include a small museum and the Moravian Church with services on Sunday at 10a.m. and 5 PM (summer), and 6 PM (winter). It includes one of the oldest mission printing presses in South Africa at the Old Print Shop. The Moravian Restaurant serves traditional foods. A variety of products are on sale at the Arts and Craft Centre. All buildings in the Church Square were declared national monuments in 1980. The Mission Museum has 15 exhibition rooms displaying a collection of household equipment, musical instruments, medical equipment, tools, books, printing presses, the oldest fire engine and oldest pipe organ in the country. Bread made from stone-ground flower can be bought at the Water Mill. Church services take place at the Moravian Church.
Genadendal is the oldest mission station in South Africa. It was established by Georg Schmidt who became acquainted with an impoverished local Khoe group. It remains an intact community up to today.
Genadendal Tourism Bureau: PO Box 100, Genadendal. Tel: 028 251
8291: genadendalmuseum@xsinet.co.za
Dr Balie: Musuem Curator, 028 251 8582.
Sammual Baatjes, Cultural Guide, 028 251 8582.
Genadendal Municipality: Tel: 028 251 8582
Vrolijkheid Nature Conservation Station: Tel: 023 625 1621
It has an information centre. Parking with car guards available. Toilets, a restaurant and a gift shop. There is an art and craft centre, a gift shop, an information centre, a bakery, nursery and a watermill. There are also two guesthouses in the quare.Hikers can make use of the Boesmanskloof Hiking Trail which starts at the Moravian Mission Church. A permit must be obtained from Vrolijkheid Nature Conservation Station.
!Khwa-ttu San Education and Training Centre
!Khwa-ttu provides a San-guided tour of the past and present lives of the San. The tour includes a tractor ride, a nature trail, a visit to a replica traditional San village, an introduction on the San languages, a refreshing drink at the boma, and a visit to the photo gallery. There is also an exhibition about San storytelling that highlights the importance of these stories in Bushmen heritage.
!Khwa-ttu is a cultural centre that strives to preserve San heritage by enabling direct contact and exchange with people of San descent.
PO Box 348, Yzerfontein 7351.
Grootwater Farm, R27 Yzerfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa.
Tel: 022 492 2998; Fax: 022 492 3566; Email:info@khwattu.org
The tour prices are R240 for adults and R120 for children, students and pensioners. A family special is also offered at R480 for two adults and three accompanying children under 12 years.
San-guided tours are offered. !Khwa-ttu offers tours for schools, student groups and corporate groups. Accommodation facilities are offered ranging from guest houses to bush camps. There is a craft shop and a restaurant.
Ratelgat
Visitors can learn about the history of the Griquas at the living museum and at the Tourism and Cultural Information Centre.
Ratelgat is a farm that serves as a focal point within a project aimed to preserve and develop Griqua culture and heritage.
Tel: +27 (0)27 213 5472
Email: ratelgat@trusc.co.za
Free
There is also a traditional restaurant, a curio shop, and a nursery. Tourists can also visit the memorial for the Paramount Chief AAS le Fleur 11. Overnight facilities are available and visitors can stay in either chalets or in traditional Griqua matjeshuts. Ratelgat farm lies within the Knersvlakte Biosphere. The site is safe and easily accessible.
West Coast National Park
The footprints were removed by Iziko Museums in Cape Town.
The Park contains arechaeological sites of relevance to early San occupation of the area, has walking routes that could be used to demonstrate San medicianal plants. Human footprints were found dating to about 117 000 years ago.
Tel: 022 772 2144/5; Fax: 022 772 2607; ashrell.oliphant@sanparks.org
See website
Activities made available include bird watching, hiking, mountain biking, cycling along the Cycle Route Trail, picnicking at Kraalbaai and Tsaarsbank, whale watching, and various water sports. There is a restaurant and an information centre. Accommodation is available.
West Coast Fossil Park
Tourists can take fossil tour and learn about the past 5 million years. Visitors can also see an on-going excavation. The site contains a small display relating to the “footprints of Eve” found in the West Coast National Park.
The West Coast Fossil Park is famous for its well-preserved fossils that date to the Miocene, about 5.2 million years ago.
West Coast Fossil Park: PO BOX 42, Langebaanweg, 7375
Physical Address: R45, Langebaanweg, Vredenburg, West Coast
Tel: 022 766 1606; Fax: 022 766 1765
Email:info@fossilpark.org.za; wcfpark@iafrica.com
Adults R10, Students/Seniors R8, Children R5
The Park is closed on Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Good Friday. The entrance fee does not include the guided tours mountain biking, or the hiking trails. These are charged separately. Tours run on the hour from 10h00 to 15h00 and are 45 minutes long. Mountain bike trails are available and visitors can bring their own mountain bikes or they can hire from the park. There are nature trails for hikers as well as horse riding trails. There is a coffee shop as well as a picnic area.
Paternoster North Site A
Very large shell midden and has been fenced off within a housing
development.
Paternoster has an unusually large shell midden that accumulated over 5000 years. Khoe pastoralists arrived in the area between 3000 and 1000 years ago.
The site is fenced off.
Gonnemanskraal
The site is a private reserve with access to the beach.
Gonnemanskraal is an area that was used by Gonneman, a Khoe tradesman who is said to the cousin of the famous Harry the Strandloper. After a feud with Harry, Gonneman was forced to flee to the area where he started trading in livestock, alcohol, and tobacco with passing ships in Jacobsbaai.
Houses and property development
Elands Bay Cave
Visitors can see the excavation site where archaeologists uncovered archaeological material such as shellfish, stone tools, worked bone and shell, potsherds, and ostrich eggshell beads. Visitors can also see rock art site that dates to at least 10 000 years ago.
Khoe and San heritage sites at Baboon Point, such as Elands Bay Cave, have a long sequence of human settlement going back at least 100 000 years.
Free
Easily accessible and open to the public.
Steenbokfontein
Simon se Klip is a rocky hill where Simon van der Stel and his party camped on their way to explore the copper mine near O’Kiep and Springbok in the 1670s. The Steenbokfontein cave is in the same outcrop, facing the coast evidence of occupation by San hunter-gatherers more than 8000 years ago. It contains rock paintings of sheep.
The site as historic value because of the connection with Simon Van der Stel. It also contains rock paintings and evidence of habitation by San and Khoekhoen. The cave provided the oldest date for rock paintings in the Western Cape (3600 years before the present)
Steenbokfontein Boerdery: Herman Burger 083 633 0573, 027 432 2720 (t/f), herburg@telkomsa.net
Free
Access is via coastal dirt road and farm road. There is no security at the parking and entrance needs to be arranged with farmer. No entry fee is asked. There are no toilets, restaurants or accommodation within 2km of Steenbokfontein. The farmer’s wife who has a keen historical interest acts as a guide.
Olifantsdrif
Visitors can see artisanal fishers catching harders and making bokkoms, which are for sale locally.
Artisanal fishing activities could provide visitors with insights into ancient practices.
Free
Accommodation facility available in Papendorp and Ebenhaeser. Access via tar road to Ebenhaeser. Services like parking and security not an issue at this stage, and contact needs to be arranged with artisanal fishers; public toilets, a restaurant or accommodation are not readily available. Availability of guides has potential yet is not established at this time.
Ebenhaeser
There are many historical clay buildings in the town.
Ebenhaeser was established as a mission station in 1831.
Tourism Bureau: Tel: 027 215 1045, Fax: 027 213 3238,
tourism@matzikamamun.co.za
Dutch Reformed Mission Church Ebenhaeser: Tel: 027 217 1608, 027 217
1616
Ebenhaeser Guesthouse: Tel: 084 815 0526
Andre Cloete 078 837 6266 (EPIOS Co-ordinator, Ebenhaeser)
Free
Activities provided include bird watching, fishing, and boat rides.
The Ebenhaeser Guesthouse provides overnight accommodation.
Clanwilliam Living Landscape Project
The visitor to CLLP can expect to see a series of displays that deal with a million years of local history, relating to San and Khoe sites in the region and dealing explicitly with our understanding of the time dimension. CLLP has a Time Machine and are constructing a Time Path in the indigenous garden, both of which serve as curricula and both of which provide income generating opportunities for the trained guides.
This project takes advantage of unparalleled local rock art to explore and expose the achievements of pre-colonial hunters, gatherers and herders (KhoeSan) and to use these as the basis of job creation, training and a series of school curriculum-related activities. It is unique in its strict foundation on decades of internationally known archaeological research.
Tel: +27 (0)27 482 1911
E-mail: chap@lando.co.za
Free
CLLP has accommodation in the form of two dormitories capable of housing a total of 40 learners, a small guest house suitable for 3 to 6 visitors or teachers, parking for 8 cars. A hall with projection or workshop equipment, complete kitchen and ablution facilities, a gift shop and attractive grounds planted with plants that illustrate San and Khoe ethno-botanical knowledge.
Bushman’s Kloof
Daily guided tours to the rock art sites are available. Tourists can take and an early morning drive and a short walk with a guide to the rock art sites. There is a heritage centre with a collection of Bushman artefacts on display.
There over 130 San rock art sites in the reserve.
Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve and Wellness Retreat:
Tel: 021 481 1860; Fax: 021 481 1870; info@bushmanskloof.co.za
The rock art sites can only be accessed by guests staying at the reserve, archaeologists and researchers. There are various hiking trails and nature walks available. Other activities include mountain biking, canoeing, swimming, and fly-fishing. Accommodation is available.
Gifberg
The Gifberg site has some of the best preserved images in the Cederberg, including images in what are described by researchers as ‘processions’. Human figures walk in lines that give them the appearance of being in a procession. Some of these figures have ‘hook-heads’, which is a feature of the art throughout South Africa. Typically, faces on human figures are painted White, which is the most fugitive colour, followed by Black and then red, which lasts the longest. It is thus normal to find red figures in shelters that appear to be some strange shape; however, when one considers that the White and sometimes also the Black pigment has disappeared, they are not so strange after all. What these so-called processional figures are doing is also debated; some scholars think that they are depictions of ritual activities, possibly initiation events, while others think that they are a linear depiction of the San Great Dance (also known as the trance dance, healing dance or curing dance). In a small hollow at this site, are depicted five clusters of people in red and yellow. Surrounding these figures are paintings of equipment that include hunting bags, quivers, bows and carrying bags. This remarkable scene is very similar to other paintings farther south in the Cederberg.
The Gifberg is so-called because it is the only place in the world where the highly poisonous ‘gifboom’, Hyaenanche globosa, is found. The Gifboom is a large evergreen fynbos shrub or small tree endemic to the northern Bokkeveld Escarpment just south of Vanrhynsdorp. The fruits are highly toxic and were formerly used by the San for their arrows and also by local farmers to kill hyaenas. The area is rich in other rare plant species as well. The Gifberg also has some of the most brilliantly preserved rock art in the whole of the Western Cape Province.
Hela or Jan Huisamen, P.O. Box 126, Vanrhynsdorp, 8170
Tel: +27 (0) 27 2191555 / Fax: +27 (0) 27 2191555
The site is close to the town of Vanrhynsdorp. The conditions around the site are safe and accessible. The site is on private farm land and visitation can only happen by phoning and requesting the farmer’s permission.
Wupperthal
Tourists can visit the Shoe and Glove Factory that was started by the Germany missionary, Johann Gottlieb Leipoldt. There is a Rooibos tea factory that is operational in the summer, an old thatched church that was built in 1835, Leipoldt House, and workshops, schools, and old thatched cottages. There are also rock art sites in the vicinity.
Wupperthal is a 200 year old mission station where the Khoe, freed slaves, and descendants of slaves were converted to Christianity.
Wupperthal Tourism Bureau: Tel/ Fax: 027 492 3410,
peters@lenok.co.za; Open Mondays to Fridays from 09h00 to 16h30 and
Saturdays from 09h00 to 12h00
Church Office: Tel: 027 492 3004
Accommodation, Restaurant, 4x4 route and hiking and bird watching:
Tel: 027 492 3410
At Christmas time there is a festival of carol singing. The local produce on sale includes dried tobacco that is worked into rolls, dried fruit, dried beans and rooibos tea. The town has a popular off-road 4x4 route as well as hiking trails and cycle
routes. Accommodation and restaurants are available.
Kasteelberg
Tourists can see the excavation site on the summit of Kasteelberg where archaeologists uncovered archaeological material such as marine shells; seal, sheep and tortoise bones; potsherds; ostrich eggshell beads; and stone tools from the Early, Middle, and Late Stone Age. There are several other places on Kasteelberg where early Khoe herders camped more than a thousand years ago.
Kasteelberg is the best documented site of early pastoralist occupation in South Africa after 2000 B.P.
Not open to the public except by special request.
St Helena Bay
The memorial consists of concrete slabs with some text surrounded by a pole fence.
St Helena Bay has a cross that was erected by Vasco da Gama in 1497 after a skirmish with the local Guriqua in which several were wounded.
Vasco Da Gama Memorial: Tel: 022 715 1142
Vasco Da Gama Nautical Museum: Tel: 022 742 1906
Access is directly from the main road. There are no other facilities.
Kuboes
Visitors can experience Nama culture as the locals share their storytelling and show their traditional Namastap dance and music. The local school, named after the missionary Reverend Johan Hein, teaches the Nama language. The church is a historical building that was built in 1893 and is soon to be declared a National Monument.
The Rhenish Missionary Church established a mission station at Kuboes in the late 1800s. The nomadic Nama eventually came to settle in Kuboes and the town became one of the first settlements in the Richtersveld. Today, Kuboes is an important site that ensures the preservation of the Nama culture.
Tourism Information Centre: Lorenza Josop. Tel: 027 831 2013
Richtersveld Municipality: Tel: 027 831 2375, Fax: 027 831 2375
Accommodation:
Johanna Obies: Tel: 027 831 2363
Katriena de Wet: Tel: 027 831 1940
Carmen Cloete: Tel: 027 831 1648
Email:kubnor@lantic.net
Mountain Valley Guesthouse (Plantasie): Tel: 027 831 1185
Jacoba de Wet: 027 831 1212
Accommodation is available at the Kuboes Guesthouse and at the Mountain Valley Guesthouse (previously known as Plantasie). Visitors can see and stay in a traditional Nama matjieshuis at the Mountain Valley Guesthouse (prior arrangement is essential). Ablution facilities are available. Meals can be provided by the guesthouses but visitors are advised to make prior arrangement. A hiking trail goes past wondergat, a large sinkhole said to be the home of the ‘Big Snake’ that features in the Nama stories, to the top of Cornellskop where the largest population of the threatened Baster Quiver Tree can be found. 4x4 trails are available as well. Visitors can arrange for a guided tour through the town of Kuboes and to the Richtersveld National Park.
Kharkams
Visitors can experience various 4x4 heritage routes in the Kamiesberg. Kharkams is in close proximity of the magnificent Bethelsklip, where the Nama people established the first Methodist Church in South Africa. The Nama leaders went to the Cape to invite a missionary to the Kamiesberg. They met Barnabas Shaw in the Clanwilliam area and invited him to start the Kamiesberg Missionary Station at Bethelsklip. It is also an entry point to the Spoegrivier Caves, where the Nama people lived and farmed with the Namakwa Afrikaner sheep breed, approximately 2000 years ago. It is also close to the Letterklip, where Simon van der Stel and the Nama leaders celebrated the birthday of Van der Stel in 1685, for two weeks.
Kharkams is the village where the “Hamba Kaya”the bus which transported people from Bitterfontein Station to the Springbok area, used to make a stop-over. The Waiting Room still exists, as well as the old General Dealer and the Butchery. The old “Nama Parliament”, which was used during the 1800`s, is also situated in Kharkams. Kharkams is the entry point to other heritage sites, like Bethelsklip, where the Nama leaders established the first Methodist Church in South Africa.
Kamiesberg Municipality (Mr J. Cloete) – 027 652 8000 josephc@kamiesberg.co.za
Namakwa DM (Mrs S. Baartman) – 027 712 8000 sandrab@namakwa-
dm.gov.za
Northern Cape Tourism Authority (Ms S. Lewis or Ms D. Martin) dianna@experiencenortherncape.com
Namakwa National Park (Mr B. van Lente) – 083 640 4915
Frontier Rare Earths Mining Company (Mr J.S. Strauss) – 082 624 7352
The old General Dealer will house the Information Office and space and where local crafts can be purchased. There will be space available for a restaurant inside the building as well as outside, where it will be housed under umbrellas.
Eksteenfontein
Tourists can visit the museum and learn about the history of the Bosluis Basters. Visitors can also experience Nama culture as the locals show their traditional Namastap dance and music. Tourists can observe a local needle-work group who make textiles to sell. Tourists can go on a donkey cart ride to Rooiberg, a few kilometres out of town. There is also a town tour hiking trail.
In the 1840s, Reverend Eksteen built a church and established a mission station at Eksteenfontein. The Bosluis Basters settled peacefully in the area, coming to an agreement with the local Nama.
Tourist Information Centre: Volenti van der Westhuisen
Tel: 027 851 7108; Fax: 027 851 7108; tic@lantic.net or henleys@lantic.net
Richtersveld Municipality: Tel: 027 851 8619; Fax: 027 851 8619
The locals provide fresh bread and traditional meals and tourists are encouraged to arrange this in advance. Local artefacts such as ‘riempie’ chairs and t-shirts are on sale. There are several walks and 4x4 trails in the area. A one-to-three day hike can be arranged with the local guides. Accommodation is available at two community-run guesthouses: Kom Rus ‘n Bietjie is located in town. Rooiberg is located a few kilometres out of town and is also used as an environmental centre.
Kinderle Memorial
Tourists can see a well-developed memorial. There are ten pillars which represent the ten commandments of the Nama belief system. The chains that link the ten pillars represent the unity if the Nama. The coffin with the 32 White pebbles is a reminder of the 32 murdered Nama children.
The Kinderlê Memorial commemorates 32 Nama children that were murdered by San after a conflict between them and the Nama.
Steinkopf Information Centre: Tel: 027 721 8841; Fax: 027 721 8842; steininfo@lantic.net
Free
Parking facilities.
Spoegrivier Cave
There are sign posts at the cave which provide visitors with information about the archaeological significance of the site.
Spoegrivier Cave is an important archaeological site because it has provided early evidence of pastoralism on South Africa’s west coast. The archaeological excavations at the cave have yielded sheep bones dating to over 2100 years ago as well as Later Stone Age artefacts. The evidence suggests that the cave was either occupied by San hunter-gatherers who adopted pastoralism or by early Khoe herders.
Free
The site is a protected heritage site so camping, fires, digging, or vehicles are not permitted at the site. A fence was erected in 1997 by De Beers Namaqualand who undertook a project to develop the site. There is no accommodation on site but there are various 2-or-more-day hiking trails which pass through the Spoegrivier Cave site.
Nama Kerk Port Nolloth
The old church can be seen by tourists.
The Nama Kerk in Port Nolloth is one of the oldest buildings in the Richtersveld area and it represents the first merging of the Nama belief system and Christianity.
Mr Peter Cloete. Cell: 078 103 1982
Local guides who operate from the Port Nolloth Museum provided guided tours through the town to the Nama Kerk. Accommodation is available in Port Nolloth.
Port Nolloth Museum
Port Nolloth Museum houses displays of Khoe and San artefacts such as ostrich egg-shells and pottery.There are displays of porcelain shards from shipwrecks, slave bracelets, old medicine bottles, pieces of china dolls, and a Nama bible.
Port Nolloth Museum is set in the oldest historical building in the region that was built in 1880. Today, the museum presents the history of Port Nolloth from the time when the Khoe and San occupied the area about 2000 years ago.
Port Nolloth Museum and Tourist Information, Ann Allan:
Tel: 027 851 8350; pnmuseum@lantic.co.za
Tours: Conrad Mouton: Tel: 073 651 8833
Internet is available at the museum.There is a library and a museum shop which sells local crafts.The museum provides tourist information.Local guides, from the nearby Sizemile informal settlement, are available to take tourists on a walking tour through the town.Accommodation is available in Port Nolloth.
Namaqua National Park
Sites exist, but no heritage displays have been put in place.
The site contains a number of archaeological and rock engraving sites of relevant to the route.
Sanparks +27 (0)27 672 1948 elanza.vanlente@sanparks.org
Adults R37, Children R18
Accommodation and easy access along gravel road.
Matjieskloof cemetery
Several Nama graves
Nama graves
Volenti van der Westhuizen: 027 851 7108 (for accommodation)
Richtersveld Municipality: 027 851 8619
Site is situated on a relatively, level piece of ground with deep soils.
Alexander Bay graves
Tourist Information Centre: Volenti van der Westhuisen
Tel: 027 851 7108; Fax: 027 851 7108; tic@lantic.net or henleys@lantic.net
Richtersveld Municipality: Tel: 027 851 8619; Fax: 027 851 8619
Besondermeid
No heritage displays at Besondermeid. Steinkopf offers an intriguing variety of historical buildings and surrounding site with a lot of sentiment attached to them. It features the Rhenish Mission Station, old klipfontein with original water tower, the Nama people, Khoekhoen rock art, and Kinderle which is a tragic massacre of the Nama children by San.
The original Nama Settlement was situated at Besondermeid, 5km south of the present day Steinkop. In 1818 a Rhenish Mission Station was established, and in 1821 the Mission Station was moved to the current Steinkopf due to a perennial spring.
Tourist information: Tel: 027 721 8841
Tour guide (Henri Balie) 071 863 5044
There are half day or 1 day tours that are available, including donkey cart rides. There is an informative 2 day hiking trail which includes a sleepover night with traditional Nama food, hospitality and stories. Additionally, there are the Nama Cultural Tour, Steinkopf nature Walk, and flower tours.
Fish River Canyon
There are rock engravings which show evidence of the presence of people in ancient times. Writing of the missionaries in the 19th century claimed Nama people living there. There is an old Nama legend reflecting the origin of the Fish River Canyon. It involves a story of a large snake which dug deep with its curves in the canyon floor resembling the meandering canyon. The large snake is believed to consume the sheep and goats of the Nama people. The people in great numbers decided to encircle the snake with spears and shot arrows at the snake. In its death the snake tossed and turned. This is how the San and Nama people perceived the natural phenomena of the Fish River Canyon.
Second largest canyon in the world (after the grand canyon in United States), ancient history and substantial intangible heritage.
Karl Mutani Aribeb (International Coordinator) /Ai /Ais-Richtersveld
Transfrontier Park; PO Box 98152 Windhoek
Tel: +264 61 217643 or +264811485578; E-mail: 264811483026@
mtcmobile.com.na
Ministry of Environment and Tourism; Room 113, PZN Building, Ruhr
Street; Northern Industrial Area; Windhoek, Namibia
Namibia Wildlife Resorts at www.nwr.com.na
South African National Parks (SANParks) at www.sanparks.org
Trail fee NAM$130, National Park Entrance NAM$30
The Fish River Hiking Trail is approximately 90 km and stretches from Hobas to an area south of the /Ai-/Ais Hot Spring Game Park. There are no facilities and hikers sleep outdoors for the entire trip which usually takes 3 to 5 days to complete.
Apollo 11
The site is safe and easily accessible.
Luderitz, Captain Fredericks Cottage
The structure is still in its original form and has not changed. The cottage is built from flat stones and mortar, the roof was built with camel thorn beams, reed and clay. It has two doors and a window in the front, 1 door with 2 windows at the back; 4 rooms with stone floors. The surrounding walls are made up of flat stones and lime mortar.
Residence of the Nama leader Captain Frederick. The cottage was built by an unknown European in 1883, the same year Fredericks moved in. Joseph Fredericks signed a treaty (in the cottage) with Heinrich Vogelsang, setting out conditions under which Luderitz would own Angra Pequena and 5 miles of surrounding land. In the year 1951 the cottage was proclaimed a National Monument. The cottage has been let as a residential property to needy residents of the Bethanie community; it has also been used as a library and on occasions for council meetings.
Tourist information: Tel: 027 721 8841
Tour guide (Henri Balie) 071 863 5044
No facilities. Access off main road.
Calvinia Museum
The Calvinia Museum has interesting displays about the /Xam and the role of people of Khoe-San descent in the Boer War and other social struggles in the 20th century. Visitors can learn about the history of sheep farming in South Africa. There are also displays on early European settler life.
Displays about /Xam, Khoe-San and European settlers.
Calvinia Tourism Information: Tel: 027 341 8100, Fax: 027 341 8128
Calvinia Museum: Tel: 027 341 8500
The Tourism Office offers guided tours through the town.There are hiking and nature trails through the Akkerendam Nature Reserve. Tourists can experience the annual Hantam Meat Festival in the last week of August.
Upington Museum
Displays about /Xam, Khoe-San and European settlers.
Bitterpits
The farm includes rock engravings on Tafelkop hill as well as archaeological sites with stone tools in the vicinity of the Bitterpits. The engravings are relatively easily accessible
It is situated towards the northern end of the Flat Bushman territory where ǀXam-speaking hunter-gatherers still lived in the early 19th century but were under pressure from Khoe and European settlers and pastoralists. The Bitterpits, a water hole, was the property of //Kabbo, the oldest of the /Xam men interviewed by Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd in Cape Town in the 1870s.
Mr Frans Reichert, PO Box 168, Kenhardt 8900 Tel. 05462 and ask for Kenhardt 5131; Cell: 072 477 3629
The Reichert family offer basic accommodation in a separate farm house, either self-catering or B&B. Access to the Bitterpits and the rock engravings is by appointment only. Mr Reichert is knowledgeable about the /Xam and their folklore and also knows a lot about indigenous food and medicinal plants.
Springbokoog
The property includes a large number and variety of rock engravings of high quality as well as archaeological sites with stone tools. The engravings are relatively easily accessible
Springbokoog is well-known locally for its ǀXam San (Bushman) rock engravings dating back several thousand years. It is situated at the southern end of the Flat Bushman territory where ǀXam-speaking hunter-gatherers still lived in the early 19 th century.
Ms Rina van Wyk, Springbokoog, PO Box, Van Wyksvlei
Tel. 0533832 and ask for Van Wyksvlei 1212; Cell: 072 824 3858
Mr Charles Kemp
Access is along a gravel road of variable quality northwards from Van Wyksvlei. The landscape is generally dry and stony. There is a basic campsite for 4 or 5 vehicles with one toilet and one shower. Access to the rock engravings is by appointment only.
Kans se Vloer
Rock engravings
These are appropriate sites in the territory of the Grass Bushmen where Dia!kwain and ǂKasin lived.
Access is along a gravel road of variable quality northwards from Van Wyksvlei. No facilities. Access by appointment only.
Keurfontein
The farm includes a number of rock engraving sites on hills and ridges and a painted boulder site, together with several rock gongs, all relatively easily accessible.
Significant cluster of Later Stone Age rock engraving sites together with a finger painting site and several rock gongs, with scatters of Stone Age artefacts of varying ages.
Mr Pienaar Vivier, Keurfontein, Vosburg. Tel 0824577346; 0721257437
Tarred from the N12 at Britstown, the last circa 6 km from Vosburg on good gravel road, then on farm tracks within the property. No facilities. Access only by appointment with the farm owner
Melkboom
Several clusters of rock engravings with associated living sites.
San rock engravings
Mr Murray Connoon: 054-6510425
No facilities on site
Kenhardt camel thorn monument
A tree estimated to be 500 years old.
The most remote police and military HQ in the Cape Colony in 1869. Place of Northern Border Police HQ from 1869.
Kai !Garib Local Municipality
Memorial site is fenced and has a bronze plaque explaining significance
Renosterkop
Rock engravings
Gordon/ Wikar
Access by dirt road. No facilities. Access by appointment only.
Augrabies National Park
Although there are several sites on record, none stands out as specifically appropriate for tourist visits, but various aspects of the landscape, historical, tangible and intangible, are worthy of highlighting in information panels or brochures.
Gordon/ Wikar met with San groups in this area
SANParks
Augrabies National Park has comprehensive visitor management facilities, access and services.
Pella Mission Station
Mission station
Location of one of the last independent San communities in the province. Also the refuge of missionaries fleeing from Namibia, and later the town of the Witboois Oorlams. Transfrontier connections.
The town has basic facilities.
Pofadder Mission Church
Tourists can visit the Dutch Reformed Church and the Roman Catholic Church that were built by the missionaries.
A mission station established in Pofadder in 1875 and met with resistance from the local Korana people. The town was named ’Pofadder’ after the Korana Chief Klaas Pofadder who was killed by farmers.
Pofadder Tourism Bureau: Tel: 054 933 0063; Fax: 054 933 0061
Municipality: Tel: 054 933 0066
Pofadder Hiking Trail: Tel: 053 933 0066
Pofadder Hotel: Tel: 054 933 0063
Free
Hikers can make use of the Pofadder hiking trail.There are guided quad bike tours of the area and there are 4x4 trails.Accommodation is available at the Pofadder Hotel.
Papkuilsfontein
The farm contains several rock art sites. An unusual painting of a snake-like figure is situated in a small tunnel-like shelter and probably depicts an hallucinatory vision. The ‘snake’ has humps along its back and a number of San leather bags with tassels hangs from it. Bags in paintings often have religious connotations and play a role in human to animal transformation. This transformative aspect is emphasised by another image of human figure with wings. Such part-human, part animal images are common in the San rock art of southern Africa and are known as ‘therianthropes’.
There are numerous rock art sites on the farm Papkuilsfontein and some of the best examples of re-painted images can be seen in this area.
Papkuilsfontein, P.O. Box 46, Nieuwoudtville 8180
Tel: +27 (0) 27 218 1246;
info@papkuilsfontein.com
The conditions around the site are safe and accessible. Access by phoning and requesting the farmer’s permission. Papkuilsfontein farm offers several accommodation options and there are several activities to undertake, including a 12km hike through the interesting sandstone formations of the area, where animals such as small elephant shrew, African wildcat, baboon and caracal can be seen alongside the unique Cape flora (especially Bulbinella). A special tour of the farm, includes geology, and flora.
Perdekloof
Rock engravings on large expanse of rock in the hills in the eastern section of Riemvasmaak.
Rock engravings within a community conservancy
Riemvasmaak Community
None on site
Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve
14 rock art sites and archaeological and historical sites.
The gorge is called Oorlogskloof because of a battle fought between colonists and Khoe in 1739 over water rights and stock theft. There are numerous rock art sites within the gorge.
Oorlogskloof Nature Reserve: Telephone 027 218 1010;
Oorlogskloof@gmail.com
Access is only on foot along a difficult walk. Access only by booking a hike or for one of the day walks. Accommodation available in nearby Nieuwoudtville. Tents used on the hikes. Very basic facilities at the main camp. The province has allocated R18 million to build cabins at campsites and develop the reserve.
Kerkplaats
The site includes historic stone ruins and traces of the Sak River Mission, as well as Later Stone Age sites that reflect inter alia the interactions of local people to the colony.
A historically significant site of the late eighteenth century Sak River Mission with ruins and traces of the mission settlement as well as Later Stone Age sites.
None
Biesje Poort
Rock engravings spread over expansive gneiss exposures. In the vicinity are Later Stone Age (probably herder) sites with pottery.
Together with the site of Perdepoort in Riemvasmaak, these engravings are distinctive of the area north and north west of Kakamas in the Southern Kalahari.
None
Warmbad
Many historical buildings have been reconstructed and the remnants of the original fort and a more recent fort can still be seen. Buildings built by the London Missionary Society, the Wesleyan Church, the Rhenish Missionary Society and the Catholic church. Graves of among others German soldiers and the Bondelswarts Captain Jan Abraham Christian (Tôasib: |Nanseb Kaib #Naoxamab) and famous Nama leaders, such as Jakob Marengo.
The Oorlams Afrikaners (ǀAixaǀaen) from the Cape Colony established themselves here in the late 1700s, before establishing Windhoek; later building a fort called //Khauxa!nas from which the raids were conducted into other parts of Namibia and the Cape Colony. It was the first European-style structure in Namibia. The Oorlams expanded into the North, later establishing Windhoek.. A mission station, the first in Namibia, was established there between 1805 and 1810 by Cristian and Abraham Albrecht, but destroyed by Jager Afrikaner. A Rhenish mission station was later built on the same location. German troops occupied the location during the Nama and Herero uprising. Missionary activity was later disrupted by the Bondelswarts rebellion in 1922.
The Cardboard Travel Box: 15 Bismark Street
PO Box 873
Windhoek
Namibia, Phone: +264 (0)61 256580
Fax: +264 (0)61 256581
Email: info@namibian.org
N$25
Not known
Twee Rivieren Khomani Heritage Centre
Much living heritage and San cultural traditions and indigenous knowledge including bush-skills still to be shared as well as historical events including battle sites, movements of people, border skirmishes, etc.
One of the last areas in South Africa where San were able to live, hunt and gather freely, up until the establishment of the Kalahari Gemsbok Park in the 1930s after which people were gradually rounded up and finally completely evicted from the park in the mid 1970s. Subject of a historical land claim that was settled in 1999, initiated by Regopstaan Kruiper and finalised by Dawid Kruiper.
Phillipa Holden, technical advisor to Khomani San 083 774 5374 phillipahvz@mweb.co.za
Ms Luce Steenkamp, Bushman Council Office, 076 613 9095 bushmancouncil@khomanisan.com
Mrs Henriette Ferreira SANParks henriette.ferreira@sanparks.org
Despite the area’s remoteness, it remains relatively accessible for tourists travelling by road or aircraft. Air access is possible via Upington and Twee Rivieren. A recently upgraded, major regional airport is available at Upington, situated approximately 200km to the south east. In the park - parking, toilets, camping, guides, trackers, walks, guided trails and drives, range of accommodation options from camping and rustic to 4 star lodge, restaurants, shop, information centre, border post. The border posts in this area are essential infrastructure to enable the flow of tourists through the planning domain. Border posts in the area include Rietfontein and Mata Mata (Namibia), and Twee Rivieren, Gemsbok and McCarthy’s Rest (Botswana).
Andriesvale-Witdraai
The farm Witdraai contains several sites that need to be properly interpreted with sign boards and a route map, guided heritage trail, but this may also be the case for some of the other farms too. As the San were pushed into the farthest corners of the country and the frontiersmen were fighting over land, terrible injustices were done to the San. Witdraai Police Station was a camel post, and San were locked up in the caves and hung from trees in the area. Battles between Namas and Germans were also fought in this area. There were some local hero’s e.g. Skapie and bandits such as Scotty. Heritage material on the sites is currently being collected and collated for presentation.
This is one of the few areas in South Africa with an intact San community with a strong local history.
Phillipa Holden, technical advisor to Khomani San 0837745374
phillipahvz@mweb.co.za
Ms Luce Steenkamp, Bushman Council Office, 076 613 9095
bushmancouncil@khomanisan.com
Lodge, camping grounds, Witdraai bush camp, B&Bs, ablutions, small shop, tar road access
!Ae !Hai Kalahari Heritage Park
Much living heritage and San cultural traditions and indigenous knowledge including bush-skills still to be shared as well as historical events including battle sites, movements of people, border skirmishes, etc. Living heritage: tourists are able to view the natural environment through the eyes of the San, learn about their cultural traditions, hear about the lives of the San in years gone by, undertake activities such as tracking and trails together with the San.
The Heritage Park forms part of the land claim settlement that the Khomani San were awarded in March 1999. The 25 0000 ha of land that they own in the park is a contract national park (allowing for private rather than state ownership). The park was one of the last areas in South Africa where San were able to live, hunt and gather freely, up until the establishment of the Kalahari Gemsbok Park in the 1930s after which people were gradually rounded up and finally completely evicted from the park in the mid 1970s. Subject of a historical land claim that was settled in 1999, initiated by Regopstaan Kruiper and finalised by Dawid Kruiper.
Ms Luce Steenkamp, Bushman Council Office, 076 613 9095
bushmancouncil@khomanisan.com
Mrs Sofie Coetzee, Mier Municipality miermun@lantic.net
Mrs Henriette Ferreira SANParks henriette.ferreira@sanparks.org
Despite the area’s remoteness, it remains relatively accessible for tourists travelling by road or aircraft. Air access is possible via Upington and Twee Rivieren. A recently upgraded, major regional airport is available at Upington, situated approximately 200km to the south east. Main access roads into the planning domain. In Heritage Park: rustic camps Imbewu and Sebobugas (proposed), guided trails and drives, tracking, 3 star !Xaus Lodge www.Xaus.co.za (community owned, 50% by San, 50% by Mier)
Southern Auob Lodge
Scenically located overlooking the confluence of the Auob and the Nossob rivers. Access to the heritage park and sites of natural and heritage interest.
The Khomani San have commercial development rights in this part of the Kgalagadi Trasnfrontier Park and are accordingly exercising such rights in the development of a mid-market 24 bed camp (with another 24 beds in phase 2).
(0) 61 374 750 Marketing Enquiries: marketing@ncl.com.na
Central Reservations: reservations@ncl.com.na
R1591 per night
3 Star midmarket camp with en-suite rooms, central facility with lounge, bar and dining room, self-catering option, guided game drives, activities based on San exploring culture, walking trails
Living Museum
The farm Erin has recently been restocked with game and a tourism and hunting business has been launched. The Living Museum is an authentic open-air museum where guests can learn about San traditions and culture. Visitors are exposed to the following: The ancient art of tracking and demonstrations of hunting with bow and arrow; Traditional craft and clothes making; Heritage, medicinal plant and nature walks; Story telling (in Afrikaans), traditional song, music, dance and San games
The farm it is owned by the community and is in good condition. It is an ideal location for showcasing San culture and tradition.
Phillipa Holden, technical advisor to Khomani San, 0837745374
phillipahvz@mweb.co.za
Ms Luce Steenkamp, Bushman Council Office, 076 613 9095
bushmancouncil@khomanisan.com
Access from tar road approx 2 1⁄2 hours drive from Upington. Molopo Lodge in close proximity as well as various guesthouses, camping on Erin with rustic camp soon to be established, Witdraai bush camp, ablutions, small shop, tar road access
Imbewu Wilderness Camp
There are no displays, but ample scope for various activities and trails
relating to indigenous knowledge.
The camp was initially developed to enable San elders take young people into the veld. It is a unique opportunity to experience the Kalahari Desert in a traditional way.
Nondumiso Mgwenya
Tel: 042 233 8647; Fax: 042 233 8643
Email: nondumiso.mgwenya@sanparks.org
Sian Davies
Tel/Fax : (041) 3730450 or 072 2286711
Ms Luce Steenkamp, Bushman Council Office, 076 613 9095
bushmancouncil@khomanisan.com
The camp is very simple with no electricity or water
Rietfontein
The United Reformed Church, Lutheran Church, grave of Dirk Philander
Rietfontein was originally a San site, due to the water. The Philander Basters first joined the move of Jager Afrikaner to Blyverwacht in Namibia in the early 1800s and later became Captain of the community in Rietfontein.
Hendrik Bott: Rietfontein tourism information centre, Rietfontein, Mier,
Northern Cape Province, 8811
info@miertourism.co.za, +27 86 612 1010, +27 73 805 9469 / +27 72 159
6726,
Tourist information centre. There are a range of guest houses and hotels in the wider area.
Ngwaatle Pan
The communities living at Masetleng and Ngwaatle Pans count among the last San that still practice fairly traditional forms of hunting and gathering. Limited art and craft production takes place.
There is a group of about 70 adult !Kung San living across the border from South Africa at Masetleng and Ngwaatle Pans in Botswana. They originally lived next to the ‡Khomani in what became the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (KGNP). They were displaced by the KGNP and driven into Botswana, where they were once again displaced from the Botswana Gemsbok National Park. They have lodged a land claim in South Africa though they have yet to resolve the issue of their citizenship. !Kung is a Northern San language.
Unknown
Diaz Museum
Display of the meeting between Diaz and the Hessequa. Archaeological material from the Pinnacle Point excavation. A replica of the Caravelle in which deals round the Cape in 1488. Local history Museum.
The site commemorates the meeting of Bartholomeus Diaz with the Hessequa, a historically very significant event. This is also where Diaz realised that he had circumnavigated the southern tip of Africa
Museum: No 1 Market Street, Mossel Bay, 6500;
Private Bag X1, Mossel Bay, 6500
Tel: 044 691 1067 / Fax: 044 691 1915
E-Mail: info@diasmuseum.co.za
Erna Marx: Smamarx@pgwc.gov.za
Jaline De Villiers: Jdevilliers@pgwc.gov.za
Prof. Curtis Marean: curtis.marean@asu.edu
Mossel Bay Tourism Office: 044 690 3077
Adults: R40
Children under age of 18: R10
Pensioners: R20
Shell Museum: contains collection of shells from all over the world and living shellfish in their natural environment. Maritime Museum: The Munrohoek Cottages, built in around 1830, are among the oldest buildings in Mossel Bay. 500 year old Post Office tree used by Portuguese explorers: large milkwood tree next to a spring used by the explorers. Cultural Museum and ethnobotanical garden
Stilbaai Museum
The Khoe and San exhibition in the museum explains that recent excavations reveal the oldest artwork and necklace known to man. Based on this finding, this is of course of extreme significance to Khoe and San heritage, seemingly being the first human beings to roam the globe. Rock art tracings from the Hessequa region are also displayed in the museum, together with a brief story on each. Historical buildings typical of coastal fishing dwellings in the region.Tourists can see displays of information relating to the Blombos Cave, as well as tracings of rock art from the Hessequa region.
Display covering the oldest artwork known to man.
Dom. Arthur Stevens, Melkhoutfontein, 082 754 1680.
Hennetjie Ferguson, Stilbaai Tourism Bureau: P O Box 245, Still Bay, 6674,
028 754 2549 (t), 028 754 2602 (f), stilbaaiinfo@easycoms.co.za.
Dr Renee Rust (rock art authority), 021 844 0949, 082 394 5588,
rrust@sanggic.co.za
Dr Chris Heese (Stilbaai Archeological Committe Chair), 072 341 8664/754
3247.
Parking, toilets, availability of guides, walks, accommodations in the town.
Cape St Blaize Cave
There are sign boards at the site which provide tourists with general
information about the archaeology of Cape St Blaize Cave.
Archaeological excavations at the cave revealed shell middens and stone artefacts in deposits dating to 200 000 years ago. The archaeological materialindicates that the San hunter-gatherers and Khoe pastoralists, who occupied the cave at various points in time, had to adapt their hunter-gatherer and herder lifestyle according to the changing climate. The cave is also important for remembering the first close encounter with the Gouriqua described in detail by Bartholomeu Diaz in AD 1498.
Mossel Bay Tourism: PO Box 1556, Mossel Bay 6500;
Tel: 044 691 2202; Fax: 044 690 3077; admin@visitmosselbay.co.za
Open Monday to Friday from 08h00 to 18h00, Saturdays and Sundays
from 09h00 to 16h00.
The Cape St Blaize Cave is open to the public. There are signs providing general information as well as a viewing deck. The cave forms part of the St Blaize Hiking Trail. The trail is 13.5 kilometres long and leads west towards Dana Bay.
Pinnacle Point Cave
Archaeological content including MSA and LSA artefacts, deposit
Pinnacle Point Cave is an important archaeological site because excavations at the cave have revealed human occupation 164 000 years ago. The cave has the earliest evidence of shell, the best early evidence of people using pigments such as red ochre, and the earliest evidence of ‘heat treatment’ in stone tool manufacture.
Mossel Bay Tourism: PO Box 1556, Mossel Bay 6500
Tel: 044 691 2202; Fax: 044 690 3077; admin@visitmosselbay.co.za
Pinnacle Point Cave can only be accessed through the Pinnacle Point Beach and Golf Resort or via the Cape St Blaize hiking trail. Access is exclusively through a tourist agency.
Suurbraak (X’airu)
The first church, built by the London Mission Society, the Anglican church, a parsonage, school, old houses and buildings around the village square have been restored and are in use. The people still use traditional farming methods of horse-drawn ploughs, and the village has a traditional carpenter. The grave of the last captain of the Attaqua is located at the mission station.
Zuurbraak was founded in 1809 by the London Missionary Society and the 5,842 morgen were occupied by the remnants of the Hessequa and Attaqua.
Suurbraak Tourism Office, Rossouw Square, Suurbraak, 6743
Tel: 028 522 1806
The village contains an art and craft centre which sells honey bush tea, stone-ground baked bread and other traditional Khoe products. Guides are available for village walks and mountain hikes, and there are basic braai facilities next to the river. The village has a restaurant and accommodation with the local people is available. Horse and cart rides are possible.
Slangrivier
Slangrivier is one of the few farms granted in freehold to Khoekhoen during the colonial period in accordance with Ordinance 50 of 1828, in this case for providing military service on the East Cape frontier.
Hessequa Local Municipality, Van Den Berg Street, Riversdale, 6670
Phone: +27 (0)28 713 8000
Email: info@explorersgardenroute.co.za
Web: explorersgardenroute.co.za
Parking, restaurant, toilets, accommodation.
Amalienstein and Zoar
The church and historic graveyard at Amalienstein were recently restored and can be visited by tourists. At Zoar, tourists can see the Lutheran church as well as Khoe huts. Maans Fourie tells stories about the ‘watermeide’ (waternymphs) of the area.
The Zoar mission station was established in 1817 by the South African Missionary Society to convert local Khoe to Christianity. It was taken over by Berlin Mission Society in 1833. They bought the adjacent farm, Amalienstein, in 1850 and established their own mission station to accommodate the Zoar Mission community. Slaves settled at the mission station after emancipation in 1838.
Managed by the Development Company LANOK
Amalienstein Farm, Zoar, 6656: PO Box 36, Ladismith 6655
Tel: 028 561 1008; Fax: 028 516 1419; amalien@lando.co.za
Tourist Information: Tel: 028 561 1000
Accommodation is available at the Klein Karoo Valley Farm.
Cango Caves
Displays of the rock art and archaeological work in the region, including of nearby Boomplaas Cave.
The cave was used as a home by Middle and Later Stone Age people over at least 80 000 years.
Tel: +27 44 272 7410, Email: reservations@cangocaves.co.za, Fax: +27 44 272 8001, Website: www.cangocaves.co.za
Heritage Tour: Adults: R 100.00
Children: R 60.00
Adventure Tour: Adults: R 150.00
Children: R 90.00
There is an interpretation centre, and proper basic facilities such as toilets, parking, etc.
De Hoek
Several rock shelters with rock art.
Rock art
Easy access and cheap accommodation.
Minwater Nature Reserve
The farm contains a number of caves with rock paintings. These are not exceptional and in various stages of deterioration.
There are rock art sites at the nature reserve.
Minwater Eco Adventures: PO Box 1188, Oudtshoorn 6620
Tel: 044 279 1285; Cell: 082 481 3625; louis@minwater.co.za
Visitors can enjoy 4x4 trails, hiking, and wildlife and nature trails.
Kammanassie Nature reserve
There are over 500 rock art sites around Kammanassie and Uniondale.
There are numerous rock art sites in the Kammanassie caves.
tel: 083 233 2300
fax: 086 624 3874
email: philip.spies27@gmail.com
Kammanassie has a self-catering guesthouse in Uniondale. It sleeps 10 people and there is a lounge, kitchen, garage and braai area, and two bathrooms/showers. It is next to the reserve office where entry permits can be obtained.There are several other accommodation facilities in Uniondale which is not far from Kammanassie.The reserve has two day hikes.Kammanassie Backpackers offers guided tours to the San rock art sites in the area.
Attaquaskloof
The Attaquaskloof Hiking Trail follows the elephant trail. Permits can be obtained from CapeNature and from the Outeniqua Nature Reserve in George.
The Attaquaskloof pass was used by the elephants to cross Outeniqua from the coast to the Klein Karoo and it was well-known to the Khoe herders. The Khoe showed the elephant trail to the Dutch settlers who later used the pass to travel through Outeniqua. There are several rock art sites along the route.
CapeNature: Tel: 021 483 0190
Outeniquas-Witfontein: Tel: 044 870 8323 or 044 695 3175
Nico & Danette Hesterman, Bonniedale Farm, PO Box 168, Hartenbos
6520; Tel: 044 695 3175: Email:bonniedale@mweb.co.za
There are numerous hikes that cover parts of the ox wagon route. Guesthouse and self-catering accommodation, chalets, campsites, and toilets are available and Bonniedale Farm.
Groenefontein Nature Reserve
The Waterkloof is a steep sided gorge with permanent water and a number of San rock art sites, as well as historical outbuilding of archaeological interest of the early 19 th Century. The rock art it is fairly well preserved and shows dancing medicine men being transformed into
animals.
It is a unique site with in situ cultural and natural resources, including San rock art sites. It is located in a pristine environment bordering onto large conservancies, private and state reserves.
Tom Barry, CapeNature, Gamkaberg
Natasha Wilson at WWFSA
Farmhouse and outbuildings
Knysna Heads Midden
A shell midden at The East Heads Café in Knysna, was exposed when the coffee shop extended its deck in 1998. The midden was accumulated by Khoe herders who settled on the eastern shore of the Knysna Heads thousands of years ago. While you enjoy a meal, you can see a variety of shells in the midden giving you an idea of the species favoured by the Later Stone Age people who lived there over the last 5000 years.
Evidence of early San and Khoe
Telephone: 044 384 0933
E-mail: jerome@easthead.co.za
Free
Both inside and outside eating facilities are available. There is parking and toilets.
Nelson Bay Cave
At the entrance to the cave there are posters and signs providing information about the archaeology of the cave. There are information boards inside the archaeological excavation that show how the sea level dropped worldwide by 130 metres 18,000 years ago during the last glacial. At that time, the Robberg Peninsula was 80 km from the coastline. The visitors centre has displays of the archaeological material from the cave. Tourists can learn about the stone age artefacts, shell middens dating to 5000 years, and 2000 years old pottery at the visitors centre.
The cave is important an important archaeological site because the archaeological deposits have shown how people have adapted to climate and environmental changes in the Cape over a 120 000 year period.
CapeNature: Tel: 021 483 0190
Robberg Nature Reserve: Tel:044 533 2125; robkeur@mweb.co.za
Plettenberg Bay Tourism Office: Tel: 044 533 4065;Fax: 044 533 4066;
tourism@plettenbergbay.co.za
Free
Parking is available and there is a steep path from the road to the cave. The path continues for 240 metres down the slope till the entrance to the cave. Disabled people cannot access the cave. There is a boardwalk leading into the cave.
Plettenberg Bay Municipality
Display of porcelain and other items. The remainder of the material can be viewed in the Bartolomeu Dias Museum in Mossel Bay.
Display of items from the the Portuguese vessel Sao Gonçalo, which sank off the northern shore of the Robberg Peninsula in 1630.
Website:
www.plett.gov.za
Telephone:
044 501 3000
Cell:
086 124 8686
Fax:
044 533 6198
The facilities are fairly simple, with parking and access to toilets.
Kranshoek
The Andrew le Fleur monument, a Griqua church and a Griqua cemetery. Tourists can learn about Griqua history and culture on a historical walk to the Griqua National Head Office. The Aartmoeders symbolises three elephant pathfinders.
After leaving Kokstad in Griqualand East in 1927, a Griqua group followed their leader, Andrew Andreies Stockenstroom Le Fleur, and established a settlement in Kranshoek in 1927. Le Fleur’s grave is still visited every New Year by the Griqua people from all over South Africa.
Community Development Centre: Trekker Street, Kranshoek, Western
Cape Province.
Shereen Afrika: 082 406 5679
Guides are available. Hikers can use the trail from Aartmoeders, through the fynbos and to the coast. There is a restaurant, a craft shop, and a tavern.
Kogmanskloof Old Mission Church
The Old Mission Church (now Motagu Museum) houses a collection of bibles and church artefacts as well as an Indigenous Medicinal Plant exhibition of traditional Khoe and San herbal medicines.
Kogmanskloof is famous for a tunnel through Kalkoenkrans on the R62 that follows the Kingna River. The original path was used by the Khoe who named the path after the chief of the area, Kogmans.
41 Long Street, Montagu, 023 614 1950, mmuseum@telkomsa.net, http://www.montagu.org.za/information/montagu-museum/
Free
Now the Montagu Museum, with art gallery
Albany Museum
Replicas of a cave and rock paintings, as well as stone-age artefacts.
Contains displays covering San and Khoe history in the region.
Albany Museum
Somerset Street
Grahamstown
6139
Eastern Cape Province
Republic of South Africa
Tel : + 27 46 622 2312
Email: info@am.org.za
Parking; car guards; toilets; restaurant; giftshop. Local tour guides. Access: excellent.
Tsitsikamma Khoisan Cultural Village
There are buildings depicting Khoe heritage in their architectural style. There is some information relating to Khoe and Griekwa heritage within the accommodation facility. There is a plan to build a museum at the site so that visitors can view Khoe and San artefacts or replicas thereof.
The site is owned by the local community between Bloukrans River and Palmietvlei outside Clarkson. Many of the people living in settlements like Coldstream, Stormsriver, Thornham, Sandrift, Koomansbos, Hermanuskraal, Woodlands, Eerste Rivier and Clarkson are of probable Khoe and/or San descent. This is a good opportunity for direct community involvement in heritage tourism.
Khoisan Forest Village Trust, John Busakwe: 072 981 3038
Jackie Joseph, Manager for the Trust: 083 258 9870
042 281 1450
086 545 3565
info@tsitsikamma.org.za
Parking, toilets, restaurants, crafts, nursery, caravan park, chalets, bungi jump facility.
Storms River Mouth Cave
There is no information or display. The one cave that was open is now
closed due a recent fire.
Archaeologically important caves at the mouth of the Storms River, and shell middens along the coast
Richmond Gewers, SANParks Tsitsikamme Social Ecologist: 042 281 1607,
082 961 8743;
Stormsriver Village Tourism: 042 280 3561, info@tsitsikamma.co.za
R196 per adult, per day
R98 per child, per day
Parking, security, entrance fee, toilets, restaurants, availability of guides, day walks.
Koega Cultural Centre
Khoe and San Heritage is evident in the display of a single Khoe/San symbol placed on each of the 12 internal pillars within the dome-shaped auditorium. An artist of Khoe-San descent works from the centre.
The building is a contemporary design celebrating the rich cultural symbolism and African Renaissance. The building is unique landmark in design and well positioned to function as a tourism centre. The site was established from national funding as a Khoe and San related project. Site
Juline Prinsloo 073 588 3180 julineprinsloo@gmail.com Kouga FM, Marvin Terblanche, 042 2911570, 073 054 2155, kougafmradio@yahoo.com Chief Williams: 076 201 6283 ] (Kaptein Ronnie Booysen) Kobus Reichert: 072 800 6322 (does heritage research). Municipal tourism Jeffreys Bay, Karina Strydom: 082 894 8111 Tourism Portfolio Chair Council, Viginia Benjamin: 083 605 9392 Garrath Christian (artist working and exhibiting): 076 241 5546 Tourism
Parking and toilets available. An auditorium is available. The restaurant is non-functional. There are currently no other services. Kouga FM is currently establishing a broadcasting office and an NGO, SEDA, also has a functional office here. The facility as a whole seems to have fallen in disrepair, yet shows signs of recent revival. The Museum Society managers the adjacent Old Water Wheel.
Baviaanskloof WHS Interpretation Centre
Interpretation centre and rock art sites
The reserve contains rock paintings. The 2000-year-old mummified remains of a San man was discovered here in 1999.
CapeNature; Baviaans Municipality: 044 923 1702
Parking and access for a car, toilet. Camping and other accommodation avaibale in the reserve.
Sarah Baartman Grave
Grave and memorial.
Sarah Baartman is a national Khoe icon. The site is also in close proximity to Loerie, the place of residence of Chief Michaels
Kouga Municipality: 042 284 0302
Parking and access for a car.
Katrivier Settlement
None
Old Khoe settlements before being displaced to Friemersheim
Road access
Fort Armstrong
Ruins of the Fort
Story of Khoe, Xhosa and Fingo take-over of the fort. A large stone fortification consisting of high walls enclosing a number of buildings with a stone tower in one corner built in 1835. The fort became the headquarters of Khoikhoi rebels under Uithaalder who had taken it over in January 1841. Except for the tower which remains as a physical reminder of the history of the Kat River rebellion, the fort was demolished.
Unknown
Sugarloaf Hill
None
Site of ritual, ceremonial and spiritual importance.
Road access to foot of hill
Thomas River Rock Art Centre
Replicas of surrounding rock art site paintings, as well as many old historical artifacts some of which have Khoe and San relevance.
Rock art centre and private collection of Khoe and San related artifacts, including colonial material.
Andrew Rilley 045 843 1504 (w), 072 7188777 (m), info@oldthomasriver.co.za
Road, parking, restrooms, restaurant, accommodation.
Lowestaff Farm
None
Cave with rock art paintings.
045 843 1716 (w), robin@hogsback.co.za
Road and veld path. Accommodation facilities also on the farm.
Adelaide Museum
Rock art replica’s with basic information done in a tasteful manner.
Replicas of rock art paintings
046 684 0290 (w), heritagemuseum@bosberg.co.za
Road, parking, restrooms. Accommodation available in the town and surrounds.
Fort Beaufort Museum
Pictures of Khoe and San portraits, landscape and hunting artifacts.
Central site for the Amathole Heritage Initiative and the Maqoma Heritage Route
046 645 1555 (w), fbmuseum@procomp.co.za
Road, parking, restrooms. Accommodation available in the town and surrounds.
East London Museum
It contains information about the 37,000-year-old Hofmeyr Skull, one of the very few modern humans skulls in sub-Saharan Africa older than 20,000 years. Also on display are human footprints made 120,000 years ago, which were found at Nahoon Point, a display about shell middens where San and Khoe collect shellfish and a San diorama.
The site contains information about the Hofmeyr skull, which is some 37,000 years old. It has any closer affinity with the Cro-Magnon of Eurasia, than with skulls found elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. This supports the single-origin hypothesis according to which anatomically modern humans, including the ancestors of the San and Khoe, evolved in Africa before 200 to 100,000 years ago, with members of one branch leaving Africa between 65 and 25,000 years ago, spreading to the rest of the world.
Tel: +27 (0) 43 743 0686
Email: derekh@elmuseum.za.org
Adults: R12; pensioners: R8; children over 6: R5; children under 6: free.
The Museum is in the centre of town with sufficient parking and toilet facilities.