Visit to uMhwabane (eBusingatha) rock shelter, Ukahlamba-Drakensberg, KZN

Recently, staff and volunteers of the Human Sciences Department and Exhibitions Department of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum had the opportunity to visit the rock art site eBusingatha, or uMhwabane as it is known locally. The site is situated in the AmaZizi Traditional Authority area, adjacent to the Royal Natal National Park. Many rock art panels were removed due to concern over vandalism. They were taken to the Natal National Park Hotel where they were viewed by the British royal family during their 1947 visit. The rocks are now in the care of the KwaZulu-Natal Museum with one, portraying the well-known ‘elephant-man’, on display in the Hunter-Gatherer Gallery.

Only one large painted panel remains in its place at the site. Beautiful shaded polychrome eland, human figures, and the remains of a huge snake can still be seen (see image above). Unfortunately, the rock surface is exfoliating and slowly the images are being lost. Every time we visit we see more has flaked away. Below are two copies of this panel made in 1929 showing how the rock art has degraded over the last 90+ years.

This copy shows the snake and surrounding figures, many of which can still be matched up to what survives at the site. Use this image to spot the snake in the photograph above! Courtesy of the Frobenius Institute (Search for “FBA-D2 01574” (include the quote marks in your search)).

This copy, over 3m long, shows a detailed row of figures that used to adorn the stretch of rock below the snake. The white oval shows what is virtually the last fragment of this imagery (match to the white oval in the photograph). Courtesy of SARADA.

The site is open to the public. Those interested in visiting can contact Bawinile Mtolo of the Mdlankhomo Rock Art Monitoring Group on 074 724 7826.

Having an accurate picture of species diversity in a given habitat is critical for understanding and ultimately protecting our environment. However, the sheer volume of species means that simply counting them is not practical. Researchers instead rely on counting a subset of the population, which can predict species diversity and community composition. One commonly used method for terrestrial surveys is the use of a quadrat. This method requires researchers to define a much smaller area (quadrat) and identify the species found in that area. This is repeated either randomly or along a predefined line (transect). Collation of the quadrat data combined with statistical analysis provides an accurate picture of the community composition and species diversity without sampling the entire community. The application of this method to terrestrial habitats has now become straightforward. You take your quadrat, pencil, and clipboard, possibly a transect line, and survey the area accordingly.

But what about the less accessible ocean habitats? How are they classified? Until recently, surveying habitats deeper than 30 m was based either on extractive methods such as dredging (which are destructive) or predictions based on environmental variables and known species distributions. However, advances in technology now allow us to survey ocean habitats much more efficiently. One such technology called a jump camera places an underwater camera a set distance from the seafloor and takes photos of the habitat. These photos are called photoquadrats, and just like terrestrial quadrats, species and other habitat information captured in these photoquadrats can then be extracted and used to classify the habitat without any destruction. While photoquadrats go a long way to solving the ocean sampling problem, identifying species from photos is still tricky. Often, identifying smaller animals to species level requires access to the actual specimen.

Researchers at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum using the research platform RV Phakisa (South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity) are now comparing information obtained from photoquadrats to information gathered by dredging methods. This will allow us to determine what information can be reliably obtained from non-destructive photoquadrat methods. In doing so, we hope that we will be able to predict more accurately the types of species found in soft sediment habitats without the risk of damaging them further.

Figure 1. A dredge (left) and the dredgings (right) used to collect specimens from the ocean floor.

Figure 2. A jump camera system (left) and a photoquadrat (right) taken from soft sediment habitats in the Durban Bay area.

Lecture on the San communities of eastern South Africa

On Sunday 6 June, Dr Geoff Blundell, the head of the Human Sciences Department, gave a lecture to members of the Khoisan-descendant and related communities at the Eston Farmers Club, south of Pietermaritzburg. Dr Blundell was one of several speakers, which included Troy Meyers and Dr Bronwynne Anderson. Dr Anderson spoke on Natal Coloured Identity in the context of Wentworth and Greater Durban, while Dr Blundell spoke about the nineteenth-century San communities living in the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces, as well as their relationship to the Lochenberg family. In particular, the talk discussed Hans Lochenberg, who was a prominent chief throughout the Eastern Cape, with elements of the San, Mpondomise, Bhaca and Mfengu recognizing him as their leader. Hans was the son of Jan Nicolaas Lochenberg and a Khoe woman, Sarah. Jan Nicolaas himself was descended from Caatje Hottentin (born ca. 1710), a Khoe woman at the Cape Colony. Hans eventually settled near the Nqadu Forest, between Tsolo and Umtata, in 1870, where the Cape Colony also recognized his chieftainship. The history of Nicolaas, Sarah and Hans is the subject of a research paper recently submitted by Dr Blundell and Mr Meyers. Mr Meyers also spoke to the community about the way forward in relation to the Traditional and Khoisan Leadership Act, which seeks to recognise Khoisan and Khoisan-descendants, whose communities and lands were devastated by colonialism.

Dr Bronwynne Anderson (seated), Troy Meyers (right), Marilyn Couch (left), and Dr Geoff Blundell (centre, behind).