25 June, 2017
Mosselbaai, South Africa
I
woke to the incessant beeping of my watch. Fumbling for my wrist, it took a moment
to realize that the portable heater, giver of the best night’s sleep I’d had in the last week, was
silent.
7
am was a bit later than I’d
intended to rise, but it was Sunday. I
contemplated returning to slumber, but that never worked and I did have goals
for the day. Hauling the faded, comfortable hoodie over my head, I stepped out
of the room, wondering why all the lights were off, although I could hear
someone in the front room.
It
wasn’t until I tried the
bathroom light that the truth finally penetrated my sleep fogged brain: load
shedding, the deliberate turning off of grids to ease the electricity load, had
returned to Mosselbaai.
Now
wide awake, I headed for the main room. Those of us awake had a quick meeting
and decided that we would drink the coffee, before it got cold (this didn’t quite work, but we tried). Next,
our committee brainstormed a breakfast braai. We’ve never done a braai for breakfast, but it sounded better
than cold leftovers or untoasted bread.
Given
how cold the house was, we cleared the kitchen braaipit of various random items
which shouldn’t be
burned. As soon as we finished this task, and stepped outside to bring in the
wood, we discovered how warm it was outside. Ten minutes later our fire was
lit, with a glorious view of the sunrise.
While
sipping rapidly cooling coffee, we compared notes on our sore bodies. I’m never sure which one bothers
my back and neck more—lab duty
(hunched over a laptop), or carrying heavy packs to site. Either way, yoga was
in order.
As
breakfast began cooking and others rising for the day, we discussed our plans. Most
of us were supposed to hike the St. Blaze Trail from Pinnacle Point to
Mosselbaai. After some discussion, eggs, and potatoes, we all got ready for
this hike. Despite several trips here, I (or anyone else in our group) had
hiked the trail. Every time I had plans to go, something would arise to prevent
the trip. Naturally, I was excited.
Our
first stop was the famous Pinnacle Point caves, not currently under excavation,
but with recent enough history that I had briefly participated in the excavation
of 5-6. The climb down involved a slick, steep wooden ramp. The view was
amazing. I've never hiked it at this time of day. During the field season, we climbed these stairs at the crack of dawn, and made our return trip shortly before sunset.
At
the beach, the remnants of a whale, beached in the early months of this year. Only
the skull, a handful of vertebrae, and two giant ribs remained. Lacking a
properly sized scale, Val and I improvised; using a measurement we call “the Hannah”.
Photo Credit: Val Contreras
Dr.
C gave us a brief talk on the significance and archaeology of the sites. The giant tarp covers PP 5-6, a Middle Pleistocene site. Recently, they added poster (photo
below) which sums up the discoveries at PP13B, an adjacent cave, with evidence for the earliest use of marine resources and pigments (ochre).
The
St. Blaze trail winds around the coast, clinging to the side of the cliff.
Brush and fynbos filled the landscape between multi-million dollar homes and
the clipped, bright grass of the golf course. We stopped for lunch on the peak
of a cliff, watching the crashing waves and blended sky and ocean.
The
dry brown vegetation turned swiftly to a field of dusty ground, ash and
blackened trees scattered across its seemingly lifeless surface. After a
moment, Dr C announced that we should take this opportunity to survey. Forcing one’s way through the vegetation is
difficult, and this bare stretch made the probability of finding archaeological
material more likely.
Following
a few false lithics, we found a probable core and definite flakes, all of which
were from the Middle Stone Age. After photographing them, we returned them to
the ground. It’s illegal
to remove cultural materials without a permit, and our permit does not extend
to Mosselbaai (or even outside of our cave in Knysna). These and similar stone tools can be found in South Africa, but please don't take them.
As
I was scanning the ground, I spotted the distinctive morphology of a dassie
(rock hyrax) dentition. The unfortunate beast had gotten caught by the flames,
and heavily charred bone was scattered across the landscape. Since this was not
archaeological, we collected it for comparative analysis. This was complicated, because the bones are extremely fragile at this point (the fire consumes the collagen (protein) and leaves the hydroxyapatite (mineral), removing the flexible property of bone). We ended up removing a chunk of earth, to separate back in lab.
The
burned area stretched for at least a kilometer. We combed the area, discovering
more bones and lithics, and discovering a fair number of both. Then, I discovered a gold mine.
Not
literally. What I first mistook for spent shells were actually coins,
splintering into a multitude of layers. They all appear to have a central point where the metal gave way, exploding out from the surface as the coin expanded. Many have a blue-grey sheen with hints of the original color.
We
regrouped, following the trail again. Or someplace the trail was supposed to
be, when Dr. C let out a panicked shriek and leapt several feet in the air,
dancing to avoid the frantically squirming snake under her feet. I yelled too, scrambling
back to try to avoid potentially venomous encounters. The snake went one way
and stopped, tightly clenched, trying the motionless trick which had hidden it
so well before. However, we weren’t
fooled by that one twice. We came close enough for photos, which may prove that the snake was more scared than we were, because it tried to keep up the illusion of invisibility.
The
rest of the trip proved uneventful. I think we all felt that last kilometer. However,
once we returned, the sun was shining, the power wasn’t on, and I found a good book
while my comrades planned D&D characters.
We
finished the day with a trip to Café Gannet,
and then the archaeologist's version of Netflix and chill: Scrubs and stickers.
Love your post. My grandson Clancey is in your group!!
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