Welgelegen Shelter re-excavation

Thin walled pottery and cattle remains at Welgelgen Shelter (Schoonraad & Beaumont 1971) and geometric art near Bethal (Ouzman 2009; Nel 2013; Maseko 2021) might be hunter-gatherer thin ware (see Sadr & Sampson 2006), related to the earlier spread of pastoralists mooted by Smith and Ouzman (2004; also see Sadr 2015), or it might relate to the use of the site by Early Iron Age farmers around 1200 AD. My team’s research aims to clarify the sequence for the arrival of livestock in northeastern South Africa. My excavations at Welgelgen Shelter form part of this pursuit.