- - -, THE DIGGING STICK Volume 6, No. 3 ISSN 1013-7521 November 1989 Rock engravings from the Bronze Age at Molteberg, landscape. There are two more pairs of feet to the right. south of Sarpsborg, N Olway. The engravings are found From a postcard published by Will Otnes, one of our on a horizontal rock overlooking an agricultural members who lives in Norway. (See also page 9.) South African Archaeological Society THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SETTING OF GENADENDAL, THE FIRST MISSION STATION IN SOUTH AFRICA A.J.B. HUMPHREYS Introduction monial threshold'. The period before the testimonial The mission station established in 1737 by George threshold falls entirely within the domain of archaeology Schmidt near what is today Genadendal has the distinc­ in that evidence of any events that occurred is recover­ tion of being the first such station in South Africa. Its able only through the use of archaeological techniques. purpose was, however, not simply to convert the local Once oral and written records begin to emerge, archaeo­ Khoikhoi to Christianity but, as Henry Bredekamp has logy becomes one of several different approaches to recently pointed out, Schmidt had as one of his primary studying the past of Genadendal. But despite the exist­ aims the complete religious and socio-economic trans­ ence of a testimonial record, archaeology can provide a formation of Khoikhoi society in that area. As Genaden­ dimension that would otherwise be lacking, particularly dal is situated within the region occupied by the Chain­ if the written portion of the record is the product of only oqua, Schmidt's efforts represent the first active Euro­ one of the parties involved in the interaction. pean interference with the traditional lifestyle of a Khoi­ khoi group, as distinct from the straightforward two-way The Chainoqua area and Genadendal trading that had hitherto been the pattern of interaction The Chainoqua are one of several Khoikhoi groups between the Europeans and Khoikhoi. The latter activity identified in the earliest historical records. According to may well have influenced Khoikhoi society but it did not evidence summarised by L.P. Maingard and Isaac Scha­ involve deliberate attempts at transformation. pera among others, the area occupied by the Chainoqua ~ Land above 500m. ;} Marsh Areas -- Rivers • Dams and 1 agoons Quoin Point Agulhas o Genadendal and other stations in the Chainoqua area can roughly be described as the area around Cape Agul­ have received a considerable amount of attention from has and inland to the Riviersonderend Mountains (Fig. historians such as Bernhard Kruger and Isaac Balie. 1). To the west were the Hottentots Holland Mountains Archaeologists, too, have been active in the Chainoqua and the Cochoqua, while to the east was the Breede area although Genadendal itself has not yet received River which divided the Chainoqua from the Hessequa. specific attention. The purpose of this discussion is to examine the archaeological setting of Genadendal both On the basis of historical information, Janette Deacon before and after what Martin Hall has called the 'testi- has calculated the Chainoqua territory to have been of The Digging Stick (6) 3 2 ISSN 1013-7521 the order of 12 242 square kilometres, which makes it sive research, although some hypotheses can be sugges­ one of the largest Khoikhoi areas. The size of this area, ted at this stage. Research by Andy Smith, again along combined possibly with its suitability for grazing, may be the west coast, has indicated that herders there might reflected in the fact that the Chainoqua (together with have followed a definite annual migration route geared their more easterly neighbours, the Hessequa) were by to seasonal fluctuations in the availability of suitable far the largest suppliers of cattle and sheep to the Dutch grazing. Seasonal patterns in the Chainoqua area have colonists during the period 1662-1713. been tentatively suggested by Graham A very. He points to traditional evidence obtained from modern people Genadendal is situated on the northern edge of the living in the Elim area who recall migrating between Chainoqua area. On 23rd April 1738 Schmidt, together Elim and Die Dam and Pearly Beach. Avery further sug­ with 18 'Hottentots', settled at the foot of the Baviaans­ gests that the stone-walled fishtraps built at intervals kloof. This was the beginning of Genadendal, although along the rocky coastline were an innovation introduced Schmidt himself never used the present name of the by incoming herders to exploit marine resources at parti­ town nor the name of the kloof; he always referred to cular times of the year. the place as Sergeants River. Identification of Chainoqua settlements also provides a The Chainoqua area before the arrival of Europeans particular challenge. It has been asserted that herders There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the are by and large archaeologically 'invisible' but there is Chainoqua area by San hunter-gatherers extending back some historical evidence as to location of major Chain­ thousands of years, but for the purposes of the present oqua settlements, and fieldwork at these localities might discussion the arrival of the Khoikhoi herders marks a reveal archaeological traces. Genadendal itself was est­ convenient starting point. There is unequivocal evidence ablished at an existing Cahinoqua settlement and is, from at least two sites in the Chainoqua area which moreover, situated close to the mountains into which the shows that sheep and pottery (generally regarded as re­ hunter-gatherers retreated, so there is the prospect of presenting the prehistoric arrival of Khoikhoi herders) studying group interaction in the immediate vicinity. first appeared around 2000 years ago. At the site of Die There are rockshelters in the kloof above Genadendal Kelders (near Gansbaai; see Fig. 1) the earliest occur­ which may preserve suitable evidence. George Schmidt rence of pottery and sheep is dated to about 1960 B.P. mentions at least one occasion when 'Bushmen' took (i.e. Before Present). Corroboratory evidence is avail­ away the domestic stock belonging to a settlement lo­ able from Hawston, about 5 km west of Die Kelders, cated near that of Africo (about whom more informa­ where pottery and sheep have been reported between tion is given below). 1860 and 1900 B.P. by Graham Avery. The Chainoqua area after the arrival of Europeans The impact of the arrival of domestic animals and a her­ The period of herder/hunter-gatherer interaction lasted ding lifestyle on the indigenous hunter-gatherers in the from about 2000 years ago until A.D. 1652 when a new Chainoqua area has yet to be elucidated but research on element entered the equation - the establishment of the the Cape west coast by John Parkington and his col­ European settlement at the Cape. It would appear that leagues has shown that the social and ecological impact almost immediately the Cape settlemeJ?t had a 'magnet' of the appearance of domestic animals is visible in a effect on the Chainoqua and other Khoikhoi groups. The number of different kinds of archaeological evidence. first Dutch contact with the Chainoqua took place on 14 One of these is the rock art which is prolific along the November 1657 and, as has already been pointed out, west coast but is unfortunately confined to three painted the Chainoqua became one of the main suppliers of sites in the Chainoqua area. There are, however, other domestic stock to the Dutch. What is also sigificant is archaeological patterns that should also be visible in the that within 20 years of their first contact with the Dutch Chainoqua area. These have led to the suggestion that the name 'Chainoqua' had begun to fall into disuse, and along the west coast hunter-gatherers were forced by the the people became known by the name of their chief, introduction of pastoralism to shift the focus of their Sousa (or Soeswa, Soesoa, etc.). This must reflect im­ settlement into the mountains where pasture was less at­ portant changes in the general organization of the tractive. In the mountains the hunter-gatherers concen­ Chainoqua which mayor may not ultimately be identifi­ trated on plant foods and small but abundant animals able in the archaeological record. such as tortoises and dassies rather than the larger, more mobile game species which they had hitherto ex­ ploited. According to Bernhard Kruger, 'Bushmen' were A significant crossing of the testimonial threshold known to be living in the mountains to the north of occurred in September 1737 when George Schmidt, in Genadendal at the time of Schmidt's arrival and so a the company of Africo and Kibido, two Khoi wagon dri­ pattern of interaction similar to that in the west might vers, set off for Africo's home. Africo apparently had also have existed in the Chainoqua area, although this considerable influence among the Chainoqua in the vic­ has still to be tested archaeologically. inity of a miltary outpost on the Riviersonderend River and. this provided an opportunity for Schmidt to make contact with the people in the area. Schmidt immediately The adaptation of the early herders in the region linked erected a borrowed tent next to Africo's hartbeeshuis historically to the Chainoqua also requires more inten- which was located about half an hour's travelling time The Digging Stick (6) 3 3 ISSN 1013-7521 from the military outpost. It is interesting to note that had succeeded in transforming the lifestyle of the Africo had a hartbeeshuis rather than a traditional Chainoqua under his immediate control, and the Gen­ matjieshuis like the rest of the people in the area. The adendal community took on a unique character within spot became known as Hartebeestekraal, a centre to eighteenth century Cape society. which the local Chainoqua were drawn once they real­ ised that, unlike other Europeans, Schmidt had not Schmidt's transformation of the Chainoqua lifestyle does come simply to obtain a few cattle and sheep from them.