Accelerator radiocarbon dating of Natal Drakensberg

paintings: results and implications.

Introduction
The Natal Drakensberg, situated in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, is endowed with a
large rock-art heritage. Around 30,000 individually painted images have already been recorded
(Mazel 1984a) in some 570 rock-shelters. These rock-paintings have been the subject
of considerable research during the past century, especially in the last 40 years (see e.g. LewisWilliams 1981; Pager 1971; Vinnicombe 1976; Willcox 1956).
Other archaeological research in the area has focused on the excavation of rock-shelters. The most
recent, by Mazel (1984b; 1989; 1990; 1992) and Cable (1984), has led to the construction of
a relatively well-informed picture of hunter-gatherer history in the Natal Drakensberg which, for
the most part, dates from about 8000 years ago.
A problem confronting archaeologists in this area, as elsewhere, has been their inability effectively
to integrate the information derived from excavations with that from the rock-art. This has been
largely due to the inability to date the majority of paintings, and thereby to place them into a
chronological context derived from dating charcoal from layers of deposit. Attempts have been
made to date the Natal [TABULAR DATA FOR TABLE 1 OMITTED] Drakensberg paintings directly
through paper chromatographic dating (Denninger 1971) and by direct radiocarbon dating (van der
Merwe et al. 1987). The paper chromatographic dates are considered unreliable (Rudner 1989),
while the initial radiocarbon attempts were unsuccessful.
Recent advances in the direct dating of rock-paintings throughradiocarbon AMS dating have made it
possible to establish a jointproject in the Natal Drakensberg (Watchman 1993). To this end, 10
paintsamples were collected in the Cathedral Peak and Monks Cowl areas of thenorthern Natal
Drakensberg in November 1993 for analysis and dating.
This paper reports on the 10 samples and the first direct dating of rock paintings in the Natal
Drakensberg. It briefly comments on some of the implications.
Dating
Binocular and petrographic observations to identify minerals, and scanning electron microscopy
energy dispersive analyses to determine the presence of carbon and other elements, reveal an
assemblage of three paint types: calcite and quartz; gypsum-based paint with accessory quartz and
clay and either haematite or magnetite, and quartz and feldspar (TABLE 1). Calcite and quartz paint
mixtures at Clarke's Shelter are white, without colourant, and red because haematite was added.
Gypsum-based paints range from almost pure gypsum to colouring additions of magnetite (black),
clay (mauve/lilac and white), haematite (orange to red) and oxalate (maroon). While the sources of
these colouring agents are unknown it is interesting to speculate, although uncertain because of
inconclusive analyses, that the maroon-coloured paints at Junction Shelter may owe their colour to
the presence of carbon-bearing compounds possibly derived from carbon media or binders.
Finding magnetite, clay, haematite, calcite and feldspar in the paints may possibly reflect selection
of these natural earth colourants and extenders from different locations rather than from a single
source. These components, once mixed with gypsum, formed relatively thick paints that were

probably applied as thick slurries. It seems more likely that gypsum crystals were added to increase
paint volume; they are aligned sub-parallel to brush strokes, which suggests that the large
crystals were an integral component of the paint. Growth of gypsum as an efflorescent alteration
product is more likely to occur at right angles to the painted surface than to the direction of
brushing. Clear gypsum crystals up to 0.7 mm in length exist in the orange and white paints
at Esikolweni and Nkosazana Shelters, respectively, implying that crystalline gypsum was either
present in the natural earth material and was not ground before being used as a paint, or it was
formed in situ through post-painting reaction. Gypsum also occurs as the major component a hot
sexy in thin translucent films developed over Junction Shelter and Eland Cave paintings, indicating
that it crystallizes from moisture reaching those painted surfaces.
Of particular interest for radiocarbon dating the dates online free paintings is thepresence of small
amounts of plant fibre binders at the Esikolweni andNkosazana Shelters, the occurrences of calcite
paints at Clarke'sShelter and oxalate-rich paints at the Junction Shelter and Eland Cavesites. The
plant fibres are intimately mixed with gypsum, quartz, clayand haematite making up the orange
paint of the eland [ILLUSTRATION FORFIGURE 1 OMITTED], that overlies a white ground
consisting of a mixtureof granular quartz, clay and feldspar placed directly on the rock.Because of
the unambiguous association between cellulose fibres andcoloured paint components, a radiocarbon
determination for the carbon inthe plant fibres directly dates the painting. We cannot discard
thepossibility that the fibres are ancient hyphae, rootlets or othercellulose material that grew on the
rock face before paint was applied.Further research is planned to investigate chat to girls now the
connection between thedeath of the fibres and the painting event by identifying the fibres
andmeasuring the [[Delta].sup.13]C value.
The carbon in calcite paints at Clarke's Shelter could make them suitable for dating; the origin and
source of the carbonate would need to be positively identified to remove doubts about possible
geological contamination. Similarly, the minor carbon-bearing ingredients in Junction Shelter and
Eland Cave paints may make them suitable for dating as well, but the ambiguous nature of the
carbon determined in the preliminary studies requires clarification.
It was therefore decided to prepare four samples for AMS radiocarbon dating; ANDRA 3, 8, 9 & 10.
The direct association of plant fibres and pigments in ANDRA 3 and 10 made them ideal for reliably
dating the paintings, whereas the high carbon contents of the two calcite paints were likely to give
radiocarbon measurements; uncertainties over the source of the carbon made them less reliable,
but nevertheless important as part of the preliminary dating program.
Plant fibres in ANDRA 3 and 10 were hand-picked under binocular microscope, washed in warm
10% (v/v) hydrochloric acid, rinsed in sodium hydroxide and distilled water, and then cleaned of
clays and other silicate minerals in 50% (v/v) hydrofluoric acid. The cleaned fibres were combusted
with cupric oxide at 900 [degrees] C and reduced over zinc; the resulting graphite was pressed into
small targets for dating by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology
Organisation's accelerator, Sydney. Calcite paints ANDRA 8 and 9 were submitted for dating
without pre-treatment.
ANDRA 8 gave no result because the graphite failed to produce a satisfactory current at the ion
source in the accelerator, and insufficient graphite was obtained from ANDRA 10 to make a target.
ANDRA 3 (OZB127U) gave 330+90 radiocarbon years b.p. (calibrated to 507-297 BP or AD 14431653 and ANDRA 9 (OZB13OU) was measured at 420[+ or -]340 radiocarbon years b.p. (690-50 BP
or AD 1260-1900) (Stuiver & Reimer 1993). The dating measurement for ANDRA 9 is not considered
reliable because of uncertainties about the origin of the carbonate, possible presence of
contaminants and the very small sample size.

Implications
While the direct dating of Natal Drakensberg rock paintings is still in its infancy, it is possible to
discuss archaeological implications of the 330 b.p. date.
The dated orange and white eland from Esikolweni Shelter [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2
OMITTED] can be related to material recovered from Mhlwazini Cave, which is close in space and
time. A 320 b.p. date was obtained from Layer 3 at the unpainted site of Mhlwazini Cave
(Mazel 1990), about 15 km away from Esikolweni Shelter. The material recovered from Mhlwazini
Cave Layer 3 includes pottery, modified bone, ostrich eggshell and bone beads, leather, reed tubes,
slag, string, knotted grass, macro- and microfaunal and botanical remains, as well as a large stone
artefact assemblage whose formal tool component is dominated by scrapers and adzes. This
collection of material suggests the area around these sites was occupied by hunter-gatherers; slag
in the Mhlwazini Cave 320 b.p. deposits indicates contact with agriculturists who occupied
the grasslands adjacent to the Natal Drakensberg.
The dated painting questions the stylistic sequencing of the Natal Drakensberg paintings proposed
by Vinnicombe (1976). Vinnicombe developed her stylistic scheme in the southern Drakensberg but
it is safe to assume that it will also apply to the northern Drakensberg from where the 330 b.p. date
derives. According to Vinnicombe (1976) four stylistic phases are identifiable in the paintings,
where only the third and fourth contain orange or vermilion paintings. In the third phase orange is
associated with polychrome eland, while in the fourth and final phase, 'The portrayal of eland . . .
tends to revert to highly stylised bichromes and polychromes in yellow ochre or orange with white
heads, necks and linings to belly and legs, and the foreshortening and more naturalistic poses often
associated with shaded polychromes give way to stiffer, more block like representations'
(Vinnicombe 1976: 141). The Esikolweni Shelter orange and white eland appears to have been
painted during Vinnicombe's final phase, which also contains paintings relating to colonial
occupation, dated to the mid 19th century. Paintings with colonial images, absent from the
northern Natal Drakensberg, are to be found in the southern parts. The Esikolweni Shelter eland
pre-dates the advent of colonialism by around 200 years; Vinnicombe's fourth phase might indeed
represent two phases, with more than four phases of paintings represented in the Natal
Drakensberg paintings.
The analyses of the paints for dating has revealed the presence of plant fibres in the paint at
Nkosazana and Esikolweni Shelters. A similar occurrence has been reported from northeastern
meet website Australia, where Watchman & Cole (1993: 357) propose 'the deliberate actions by the
painter to prepare a durable paint using fresh plant material'. This information sheds new light on
paint preparation in the Natal Drakensberg, and also augurs well for the continued dating of
paintings.
Acknowledgements. Our thanks are due to Anne Solomon for help with fieldwork; Natal Parks Board
and particularly Mr Bheki Khoza for helping facilitate the collecting trip; The Anglo American & De
Beers Chairman's Fund for funding the project; the National Monuments Council and Natal Parks
Board for permission to remove the paint samples; and the Centre d'Etudes Nordiques for analytical
and sample preparation facilities.
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