Rehabilitation of the Port Nolloth Infrastructure Project Port Nolloth, Northern Cape Archaeological Impact Assessment Report February 2017 Prepared for Frontline Occupational Safety Consultancy and Services CC 14 Falcon Crest, Howickslot, Tygerfalls Tygervalley Bellville, 7530. On behalf of: Agency for Cultural Resource Management No. 5 Stuart Road Rondebosch 7700 By Tara van Niekerk Maritime Archaeologist 5 Casa Toscana Parklands Cape Town 8001 (C)+27 83 245 5943 Email: tararae142@hotmail.com Contents 1. Executive summary…………………………………………………………..3 2. Introduction…………………………………………………………………....4 2.1. Terms of Reference…………………………………………………..4 2.2. Methods………………………………………………………………..5 2.3. Limitations……………………………………………………………..5 2.4. Legislative Framework………………………………………………..5 3. Historical Background 3.1. Brief history of the Port……………………………………..………..6 3.2. The Survey Area………………………………………………..…...10 3.3. Shipwrecks in Port Nolloth..……………………………………..…11 4. Findings 4.1. Revetment area………………………………………….………….14 4.2. Excavated archaeological material…………………….…………16 4.3. Significance Assessment…………………………………………19 5. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………..20 5.1. Recommendations………………………………………………….20 6. References………………………………………………………..…………21 2 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) is in the current process of rehabilitating the Port Nolloth infrastructure. Part of the work to be carried out in the port is the rehabilitation of the current revetment area south of the jetty with a rock revetment. In the process of preparing the area, the contractor Steffanutti Stocks Marine Pty. Ltd., excavated test holes along the current revetment area. During the excavations an object of potential heritage significance was uncovered. This has triggered section 35 of the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999 and comment was required from the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA). The heritage authority in turn requested that an archaeological assessment be conducted on the object removed from the excavation in December 2016. The archaeological impact assessment has been prepared for Frontline Occupational Safety Consultancy and Services CC. A site visit was conducted on 14 February 2017 to assess the object and to survey the current revetment area. The object has been identified as a boiler used during the late 19th to early 20th century rail works taking place at Port Nolloth. It has been recommended that cultural material of heritage value located in the revetment area be left in situ and mitigation measures put in place to minimise impact during the new revetment process. It has also been recommended that the boiler be removed to a suitable facility with the permission of the responsible heritage authority. 3 2. INTRODUCTION The following report is an archaeological impact assessment of an object removed from the revetment area located south of the jetty in Port Nolloth, Northern Cape Province. Ms Van Niekerk was contracted by the Agency of Cultural Resource Management to prepare a report for Frontline Occupational Safety Consultancy and Services CC. 2.1. Terms of Reference: identify the object recovered from the revetment area in December 2016; provide a statement regarding the significance of the object; provide a background on the history of the revetment area, its location relative to the old railway, and information on any vessels that may have run aground in the area, and; to recommend how further impacts to cultural heritage material may be mitigated. Figure 1: The above image shows the location of the revetment area within the proposed shoreline protection project area (highlighted in purple). 4 2.2. Methods The archaeologist was to conduct a site visit to inspect an object of potential cultural heritage value that was uncovered during the excavation of a series of test holes along the proposed revetment area in December 2016. Four test holes were excavated before the object was uncovered in a fifth test hole, which was approximately 3 metres deep. After discussions with SAHRA, the object was removed from its location due to safety concerns and placed in a stockpile along with other metal debris. A site visit was therefore conducted on Tuesday, February 14th 2017. A visual survey was conducted along the shoreline of the revetment area from the jetty south towards the old slipway and an assessment of the object undertaken. Photographs and gps coordinates were taken of any cultural material and basic measurements taken of the object in question. 2.3. Limitations The archaeological material was removed from its location and the excavation pit recovered. Further assessment of what could be under the current revetment area could not be undertaken and the context from which the material was removed could not be assessed. 2.4. Legislative Framework For the purpose of this report, it is important to note that any heritage or archaeological impact assessment is guided by and set in accordance with the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999. In terms of section 2 (vi) any object deemed to be of cultural significance is assessed based on its “aesthetic, architectural, historical, scientific, social, spiritual, linguistic or technological value or significance”. This assessment therefore takes all of these values in to consideration, and evaluations are made based on the object or sites significance, state of preservation and potential to add valuable information to further research. 5 It should be further noted that in terms of sections 2 (ii) (a) and (b) archaeological refers to: “material remains resulting from human activity which are in a state of disuse and are in or on land and which are older than 100 years, including artefacts, human and hominid remains and artificial features and structures;” and “wrecks, being any vessel or aircraft, or any part thereof, which was wrecked in South Africa, whether on land, in the internal waters, the territorial waters or in the maritime culture zone […] and any cargo, debris or artefacts found associated therewith, which is older than 60 years or which SAHRA considers to be worthy of conservation” And in terms of section 35 (2), all archaeological objects or material are the property of the State and subject to the protection as set out in the National Heritage Resources Act. 3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 3.1. Brief History of the Port Port Nolloth is a small town and domestic seaport located in the Namaqualand region in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The town has a rich history and played an important role in the development of large scale industrial infrastructure in the country during the 19th century (Davenport, 2010). Originally called Aukwatowa meaning “where the water took the old man away”, a name given by the indigenous Nama people who lived in this region, the area later became known as Robbe Baai literally meaning “seal bay”. Even though earlier explorers such as Bartomoleu Dias came across the bay in the 15th Century, it was only centuries later that the area became of interest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Nolloth, retrieved 13 February 2017). Before the copper mining industry began in the 1850’s, the bay which forms a natural harbour was used by sealing vessels and a small settlement, which started with a trading store opened by the De Pass family, grew around the sealing industry and the commercial exploitation of seal meat. 6 It was only later, when copper ore was discovered at O’okiep by James Alexander in 1852, that the first ship containing copper set sail from Hondeklip Bay in August 1852. Before this, Hondeklip similar to Port Nolloth had only been a trading station with a small farming settlement and became the more popular of the two settlements from which to ship the ore (Carstens, 2011). Robbe Baai was again surveyed in 1854 by Captain M.S Nolloth on behalf of the Cape Colony government and was chosen as a port because it provided a natural harbour and would make an “excellent anchorage for vessels of light draught”, (Carstens, 2011: 46). The area was later renamed Port Nolloth by Cape Governor, Sir George Grey, in honour of the Captain Nolloth, who later became the port superintendent (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Nolloth, retrieved 13 February 2017). In 1855, the first rudimentary wooden jetty was built to accommodate the original mule-drawn wagons, where gangs could off-load copper ore onto small vessels, and was later extended to 300feet in length by 1874 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Nolloth, retrieved 13 February 2017, Carstens, 2011). However, due to lack of water in Port Nolloth, its distance from the mines and the already established copper mining companies in Hondeklip Bay, growth in the town was slow. It was only in the 1860s, after the area was once again surveyed by Richard T. Hall on behalf of the Cape Copper Mining Company and the signing of the Port Nolloth Tramway or Railway and Jetty Act was signed in 1865, that the small settlement became one of the major seaports in South Africa. Permission was granted to the Cape Copper Mining Company and the building of the 2’6” narrow-gauge railway between Port Nolloth and O’okiep began in 1869 and the final section completed in January 1876, with an overall length of 93 miles. The railway ran all the way from the mines and onto the jetty where the copper ore could be off-loaded onto small vessels or lighters that would carry the ore to larger vessels waiting outside at anchorage. The railway was originally built for mule-drawn wagons with the use of steam-driven locomotives in certain sections, the combination of mules and steam was used to transport copper ore up until the 1890s (Carstens, 2011). The area around the jetty was built to 7 accommodate steam operated rail cranes, locomotives, warehouses, workshops and offices. Railway tracks ran around the entire area south of the jetty, approximately 50 to 100 yards (~45 to 90 metres) above the shoreline as illustrated in a report by A.W.