{"id":7575,"date":"2025-02-21T10:39:16","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T08:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/?p=7575"},"modified":"2025-03-04T14:53:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T12:53:20","slug":"report-on-ifas-research-mission-brs-hnk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/uncategorized\/report-on-ifas-research-mission-brs-hnk\/","title":{"rendered":"Report on IFAS-Research mission at Bushman Rock Shelter and Heuningneskrans (Limpopo)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Retour de mission de l\u2019IFAS-Recherche \u00e0 Bushman Rock Shelter et Heuningneskrans (Limpopo)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Situ\u00e9s sur les hauts plateaux du Limpopo, \u00e0 limite du Grand Escarpement, les abris de Bushman Rock Shelter et de Heuningneskrans livrent des s\u00e9quences stratigraphiques exceptionnelles par leur profondeur \u2013 plus de 8 m\u00e8tres \u00e0 l\u2019heure actuelle \u2013, par la qualit\u00e9 de pr\u00e9servation des vestiges arch\u00e9ologiques et organiques, et par leur chronologie, couvrant les 150 000 derni\u00e8res ann\u00e9es.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located on the Highveld of Limpopo, at the edge of the Great Escarpment, the sites of Bushman Rock Shelter and Heuningneskrans have yielded exceptional stratigraphic sequences due to their depth\u2014more than 8 meters at present\u2014, the quality of preservation of archaeological and organic remains, and their chronology, spanning the last 150,000 years.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Emplacement des abris de Bushman Rock Shelter et de Heuningneskrans | Location of Bushman Rock Shelter and Heuningneskrans<\/em> (cr\u00e9dits : G. Porraz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

D\u2019abord fouill\u00e9s dans les ann\u00e9es 1960 et 1970, les deux sites font l\u2019objet de reprises d\u2019\u00e9tudes et de nouvelles campagnes de fouilles, depuis 2014 pour Bushman Rock Shelter et depuis 2018 pour Heuningneskrans. Ce projet de recherche, coordonn\u00e9 par Aurore Val (CNRS) et Guillaume Porraz (CNRS), rassemble une \u00e9quipe internationale d’\u00e9tudiant\u00b7es et chercheur\u00b7ses, afin de reconstituer et comprendre les facettes de la vie des populations de chasseurs-collecteurs qui se sont succ\u00e9d\u00e9 au cours de la Pr\u00e9histoire du Limpopo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First excavated in the 1960s and 1970s, both sites are the subject of renewed studies and new excavation campaigns since 2014 for Bushman Rock Shelter and 2018 for Heuningneskrans. This research project, coordinated by Aurore Val (CNRS) and Guillaume Porraz (CNRS), brings together an international team of students and researchers to reconstruct and understand aspects of the lives of hunter-gatherers throughout the Prehistory of Limpopo.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n
Bushman Rock Shelter (cr\u00e9dits : IFAS-Recherche)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

L\u2019IFAS-Recherche soutient ce projet de recherche depuis sa cr\u00e9ation \u00e0 travers des allocations pour les missions de terrain de jeunes chercheur\u00b7ses associ\u00e9\u00b7es, l’accueil de Guillaume Porraz en d\u00e9l\u00e9gation CNRS entre 2013 et 2016, l’organisation de journ\u00e9es d\u2019\u00e9tudes, ou la publication d\u2019articles dans la revue Lesedi<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IFAS-Research has supported this research project since its beginning: providing grants for field missions to young researchers associated with the project, hosting Guillaume Porraz (CNRS) between 2013 and 2016, organizing seminars around the project, and publishing articles in the Lesedi <\/em>journal .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Heuningneskrans (cr\u00e9dits : IFAS-Recherche)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

En octobre dernier, l\u2019IFAS-Recherche a profit\u00e9 de la mission de terrain annuelle du programme pour rendre visite \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9quipe. En 2024, aucune fouille n\u2019a \u00e9t\u00e9 men\u00e9e, mais les sp\u00e9cialistes du projet \u2013 masterant\u00b7es, doctorant\u00b7es, post-doctorant\u00b7es, chercheur\u00b7ses, venu\u00b7es d\u2019Afrique du Sud, Zimbabwe, France, Suisse, Pologne ou encore des \u00c9tats-Unis \u2013 se sont retrouv\u00e9\u00b7es sur place, chacun\u00b7e avec sa collection d\u2019\u00e9tude, pour une \u00ab\u00a0retraite scientifique\u00a0\u00bb. Dans la perspective de publier un dossier sp\u00e9cial sur les r\u00e9sultats d’une d\u00e9cennie de recherches sur la pr\u00e9histoire r\u00e9cente (Later Stone Age<\/em>) de Bushman Rock Shelter, ils et elles ont pu se d\u00e9dier \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9tude du mat\u00e9riel pendant trois semaines. La pr\u00e9sence des divers sp\u00e9cialistes (de l\u2019outillage lithique, des restes osseux, de la malacofaune, etc.) a offert l\u2019occasion rare d\u2019\u00e9changer sur les probl\u00e9matiques et questionnements de chacun\u00b7e, vestiges arch\u00e9ologiques sous les yeux et site \u00e0 proximit\u00e9, et d\u2019ainsi compl\u00e9ter les discussions traditionnellement tenues lors de s\u00e9minaires ou colloques, plus \u00e9loign\u00e9s des paysages et des mat\u00e9riaux \u00e9tudi\u00e9s. Le projet s\u2019est aussi construit autour de la formation des \u00e9tudiant\u00b7es, notamment aux m\u00e9thodes de fouille. Cette retraite a ainsi permis de compl\u00e9ter cette formation de terrain\u00a0: les jeunes chercheur\u00b7es ont pu b\u00e9n\u00e9ficier des avis, conseils et expertises des expert\u00b7es sur place, l\u00e0 encore, avec leurs artefacts sous les yeux.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last October, IFAS-Research visited the team during the annual field mission of the program. In 2024, no excavation was conducted, but the specialists of the project\u2014masters and PhD students, post-doctoral researchers, and researchers from South Africa, Zimbabwe, France, Switzerland, Poland, and the United States\u2014gathered on-site, each with their collection for study, for a ‘scientific retreat.’ In the perspective of publishing a special issue on the results of a decade of research on the recent prehistory (Later Stone Age) at Bushman Rock Shelter, they were able to dedicate themselves to studying the materials for three weeks. The presence of various specialists (in lithic tools, bone remains, malacofauna, etc.) provided a rare opportunity to discuss each other’s research questions, with archaeological remains at hand and the site nearby, thus complementing the discussions traditionally held during seminars or conferences, more distant from the landscapes and the artefacts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Une partie de l\u2019\u00e9quipe a \u00e9galement profit\u00e9 de l\u2019absence de fouilleur\u00b7ses dans le site de Bushman Rock Shelter pour compl\u00e9ter la documentation des travaux men\u00e9s depuis 2014. En effet, un premier mod\u00e8le 3D de l\u2019ensemble de la tranch\u00e9e avait \u00e9t\u00e9 r\u00e9alis\u00e9 avant les premi\u00e8res fouilles du programme, lorsque seules les coupes des ann\u00e9es 1970 \u00e9taient visibles. Maintenant que l\u2019ensemble des couches sup\u00e9rieures du Middle Stone Age, et toutes celles du Later Stone Age<\/em> ont \u00e9t\u00e9 fouill\u00e9es, la coupe r\u00e9cemment mise \u00e0 jour a \u00e9t\u00e9 nettoy\u00e9e et enti\u00e8rement photographi\u00e9e afin de g\u00e9n\u00e9rer un nouveau mod\u00e8le 3D de la tranch\u00e9e, gr\u00e2ce \u00e0 la photogramm\u00e9trie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the team also took advantage of the absence of excavators at Bushman Rock Shelter to complete the documentation of the work carried out since 2014. Indeed, a first 3D model of the entire trench had been created before the first excavations of the program, when only the profiles from the 1970s were visible. Now that all the upper layers from the Middle Stone Age and all those from the Later Stone Age have been excavated, the new profile could be cleaned and fully photographed in order to generate a new 3D model of the trench, using photogrammetry.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Aurore Val (CNRS, co-responsable du projet) montre la coupe sud de Bushman Rock Shelter | Aurore Val (CNRS, codirector of the project) showing the south section of Bushman Rock Shelter<\/em>
(cr\u00e9dits : B. Cohen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Enfin, la mission de terrain d\u2019octobre 2024 a permis aux responsables du projet d\u2019envisager les prochaines ann\u00e9es de campagnes de fouilles, qui viseront \u00e0 \u00e9largir l\u2019\u00e9chelle g\u00e9ographique des questions de recherche. En effet, les \u00e9tudes ont jusque-l\u00e0 analys\u00e9 les sites de Bushman Rock Shelter et de Heuningneskrans s\u00e9par\u00e9ment, tentant d\u2019abord de comprendre les dynamiques culturelles propres \u00e0 chacun d\u2019eux. Il s\u2019agira d\u00e9sormais de comprendre la relation entre les deux sites et les modes d\u2019occupation de la vall\u00e9e de l\u2019Ohrigstad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the October 2024 fieldwork allowed the project coordinators to plan the upcoming years of excavation campaigns, which will aim to expand the geographical scope of the research questions. Until now, the studies have analyzed the Bushman Rock Shelter and Heuningneskrans sites separately, aiming to understand the cultural dynamics specific to each. The focus will now be on understanding the relationship between the two sites, and on the modalities of human occupation in the Ohrigstad Valley.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retour de mission de l\u2019IFAS-Recherche \u00e0 Bushman Rock Shelter et Heuningneskrans (Limpopo) Situ\u00e9s sur les hauts plateaux du Limpopo, \u00e0 limite du Grand Escarpement, les abris de Bushman Rock Shelter et de Heuningneskrans livrent des s\u00e9quences stratigraphiques exceptionnelles par leur profondeur \u2013 plus de 8 m\u00e8tres \u00e0 l\u2019heure actuelle \u2013, par la qualit\u00e9 de pr\u00e9servation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":7579,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7575"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7630,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7575\/revisions\/7630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}