Page 8 - Bulletin 1 1997

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portable versions of these, which, along with facetted upper grindstones, were still coated in
ochre.

The amount of grinding necessary to create deep grooves in the bedrock can be estimated

from an experiment carried out by Margaret Jacobsohn, working with Himba ladies in

Northern Namibia. These women still coat themselves in a mixture of fat and ochre (see
Jacobsohn, 1990.) Dr Jacobsohn asked her friends how long it would take to form similar

grooves to that from Kasteelberg (this is called experimental archaeology). The slab was
passed around among the women in the camp, but unfortunately it disappeared after

approximately 40 women-hours of grinding on it. However, even after this time there were
still almost no marks on it from the grinding activity.

Why should such concentrated activities have taken place at Kasteelberg? We have several
clues to this. One was the finding of a small lamb skeleton with the bones covered in ochre

(all the other bones around had no ochre on them). It would appear that the lamb was

smeared in ochre, then wrapped in something, like a skin, before burial. The wrapping had
subsequently disappeared by the time we excavated the skeleton. We know African herders

will sacrifice animals on special occasions.

We were also surprised to find many mongoose bones on the site. A brief note by Col.
Robert Gordon, in charge of the Dutch garrison at the Castle in Cape Town at the end of the

th
18 century and who made a number of trips into the interior, stated that usually men were
the ritual slaughterers of animals (Fig. 1.2), although if none were available a senior woman
could do it, but she had to wear a piece of mongoose skin on her head while doing so (see

Smith & Pheiffer, 1992 for information on Khoikhoi ritual.) These little clues tell us that
ritual behaviour was being practised at Kasteelberg, and it may well have had great

significance as a place because of this.