AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESKTOP STUDY FOR THE PROPOSED OYSTER BAY WIND ENERGY FACILITY, LOCAL KOUGA MUNICIPALITY, HUMANSDORP DISTRICT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE Prepared for: Savannah Environmental (Pty) Ltd Contact person: Ravisha Ajodhapersadh PO Box 148 Sunninghill 2157 Tel: (011) 234 6621 Fax: (086) 684 0547 Email: [email protected] Compiled by: Dr Johan Binneman On behalf of: Eastern Cape Heritage Consultants P.O. Box 689 Jeffreys Bay 6330 Tel: 042 2960399 Cell: 0728006322 Email: [email protected] Date: November 2010 1 AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL DESKTOP STUDY FOR THE PROPOSED OYSTER BAY WIND ENERGY FACILITY, LOCAL KOUGA MUNICIPALITY, HUMANSDORP DISTRICT, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE Compiled by: Dr Johan Binneman On behalf of: Eastern Cape Heritage Consultants P.O. Box 689 Jeffreys Bay 6330 Tel: 042 2960399 Cell: 0728006322 Email: [email protected] Note: This archaeological desktop impact assessment has been prepared as part of the scoping phase for the proposed project in accordance with the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999. SUMMARY The proposed site for development is approximately 23 square kilometres in size and is situated near Oyster Bay, in the Kouga Municipality and Humansdorp District (Maps 1-2). The area comprises a gently undulating plain deeply incised by rivers such as the Tsitsikamma, Kromme, and Klip Rivers and used mainly for agricultural activities. The archaeology of the coastal zone (5 km inland from the coast) is well-known and has been investigated in some detail by the author in the past. Heritage practitioners also conducted surveys along the adjacent coast for the proposed ESKOM Nuclear Power Station at Thyspunt. These studies indicate that the coastal zone from the Klasies River in the west to the Krom River in the east is one of the richest and most important archaeological cultural landscapes in South Africa. Little, however, is known about the archaeology of the adjacent inland area, mainly because no systematic research has been conducted within the area proposed for development. However, the wider region is rich in archaeological sites, and similar sites and materials may be found in the proposed site for development. This may include stone tools dating to 1,5 million years old, fossil bone and stone tools from the past 120 000 years, campsites and material from San and KhoiSan people dating from past the 10 000 years and human remains. There are steep valleys which may house small shelters/caves where possible archaeological deposits and/or rock paintings may be found (see Appendix 1 for a list of possible archaeological sites that maybe found in the area). It is recommended that a full phase 1 archaeological impact assessment be conducted to establish the range and importance of the exposed and in situ archaeological heritage materials and features, the potential impact of the development and to make recommendations to minimize possible damage to these sites. 2 LOCATION OF THE PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT The proposed Oyster Bay wind energy facility and associated facilities is situated between the Impofu Dam in the Krom River (north) and Oyster Bay (south) (a distance of approximately 10 kilometres), some 15 kilometres south-west of Humansdorp in the Kouga Municipality and Humansdorp District of the Cacadu District Municipality. It is 23 square kilometres in size and will accommodate up to 80 wind turbines. The site comprised of relatively flat high lying agricultural land and the development will take place on the following farm portions (Maps 1-2): Portion 3 of Farm Klein River 713 Portion 1, 2, 3, 4 and the Remainder of Farm Rebok Rant 715 Portion 1 and 3 of Farm Ou Werf 738 Portion 5 of Farm Klippedrift 732 Portion 10 and Portion 12 of Farm Kruis Fontein 681 PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT The coastal foreland comprises a gently undulating coastal plain deeply incised by the Tsitsikamma, Kromme, and Klip Rivers. A striking feature of the landscape is the gravelled terraces at various contour intervals (200 m, 100 m, 60 m and 30 m) which are related to a descending sequence of high sea levels (Butzer & Helgren 1972). The coastal region is dominated by rocks of the Cape Supergroup, and Table Mountain quartzites and sandstones underlie most of the area. The coast is characterised by a series of halfmoon sandy bays, Slangbaai, Thysbaai, Seal Bay and St Francis Bay, all facing eastward. Adjacent to the coast are small dune areas, remnants of a far larger system in the past. These include the well-known Geelhoutboom dunes above the Klasies River Caves, Brandewynkop and the large dune field stretching from Oyster Bay to the mouth of the Kromme River. The latter is an extensive dune field of parallel longitudinal dunes which run in the direction of the prevailing winds (west to east), and are referred to as hairpin dunes (Tinley 1985). These large shifting sand dunes are underlain by ferricretes, calcretes and fossilized dune sands which are situated on top of Table Mountain Sandstones. Due to the continuous movement of the dunes, many archaeological and palaeontological sites are exposed all the time while simultaneously others are covered. ARCHAEOLOGICAL LITERATURE/RESEARCH REVIEW Except for two small portions, the proposed area for the development is further than 5 kilometres from the coast, and falls outside the maximum distance coastal related archaeological sites/material, such as shell middens generally would be found. The immediate coastline and adjacent shifting dune system have been investigated previously, and are rich in open archaeological sites, features and material representing Earlier, Middle and Later Stone Ages. Little is known about the archaeology of the adjacent inland area, mainly because no systematic research has been conducted there. Nevertheless, the following archaeological sites and materials are present in the wider study area. 3 Earlier Stone Age – 1,5 million to 250 000 years ago The oldest evidence of the early inhabitants in the region are large stone tools, called hand axes and cleavers and belong to the Acheulian Industry dating between approximately 1,5 million and 250 000 years old. These stone tools can be found scattered throughout the coastal region in the river gravels that cap the hill tops and slopes in the Humansdorp and Kareedouw regions and on the calcrete floors exposed in the dune systems (for example, on the farm Geelhoutboom) (Laidler 1947; Butzer 1978; Deacon & Geleijnse 1988;). Hand axes and cleavers are also common in the dunes east of Thysbaai, but only a few were observed in the dune system between Oyster Bay and St Francis Bay (Binneman 1996, 2001, 2005). These Earlier Stone Age stone tools are in secondary context and most often mixed with Middle and Later Stone Age material. Middle Stone Age – 250 000 to ca 30 000 years ago The large Acheulian stone tools were replaced by smaller stone tools called the Middle Stone Age (MSA) flake and blade industries. MSA stone tools occur throughout the region and may date between 250 000 and 30 000 years old. The most important occurrence of Middle Stone Age occupation not only of this region, but also in the world comes from the well-known Klasies River Caves 1 and 5, some 20 kilometres west of the study area. The archaeological deposits at the Klasies River Caves (1-5) date to 120 000 years old. The main site also yielded the world's oldest remains of anatomical modern people (Homo sapiens sapiens) dating to approximately 110 000 years old (Singer & Wymer 1982; Rightmire & Deacon 1991; Deacon 1992, 1993, 1995, 2001; Deacon, H. J & Shuurman, R. 1992; Henderson 1992; Deacon & Deacon 1999). Although humans were already anatomically modern by 110 000 years ago, they were not yet exhibiting 'modern behaviour' and only developed into culturally modern-behaving humans between 80 000 and 70 000 years ago. This occurred during cultural phases known as the Still Bay and Howieson's Poort time periods/stone tool traditions/industries. The Howison's Poort Industry is well represented at Klasies River Cave 2 (Deacon & Wurz 1996; Wurz 1999). Middle Stone Age stone artefacts are also found in the dune fields in the region. A few kilometres east of Geelhoutboom, in the Brandwynskop dune field, are large numbers of stone tools, but there is no other material associated with them. The Middle Stone Age sites in the dune field between Oyster Bay and St Francis Bay, however, are also associated with faunal remains. One such site is situated some two kilometres east of Oyster Bay. Here a large assemblage of fossilized bone and brown hyena coprolites were found in association with Howieson's Poort stone tools dating between ca 60 – 70 000 years old (Carrión et al. 2000). At the eastern end of the dune field are most remarkable Middle Stone Age ‘factory’ sites which consisted of large circular piles of flakes and cores. Most of the flake piles represent unique ‘moments in time’ where large numbers of flakes were produced from a single core. 4 Later Stone Age – last 20 000 years Some 25 000 years ago the MSA gave way to the Later Stone Age (LSA), a time period marked by large scale technological changes. The period between 20 000 and 14 000 years ago experienced extremely cold climatic conditions (Last Glacial Maximum - the last Ice Age). Archaeological and palaeo-environmental evidence from the wider Oyster Bay coast indicate that the cold temperatures created favourable conditions for grassland expansion, which in turn gave rise to large herds of grazing animals. The mammal remains from archaeological sites indicate that there were several large grazing animal species living on the grassland, for example giant buffalo, giant hartebeest and the Cape horse. After 14 000 years ago the temperature started to warm up again and caused the previously exposed grassland to disappear, causing the extinction of many grassland animal species including the giant buffalo, hartebeest and the Cape horse (Klein 1976).