Browsing by Author "Yates, R"

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    A rare example of a human burial with a stone-packed grave shaft in the Western Cape Province, South Africa
    (South African Archaeological Society, 2006) Stynder, D; Yates, R
    In June 2003, rescue work near the town of Wolseley in the Tulbagh District, Western Cape Province, recovered evidence of a grave containing human skeletal remains placed in a reclined, seated position, with the knees pulled up under the head (vertically-flexed). A layer of 16 stones sealed the grave shaft just above the head of the skeleton, but well below the surface. Red ochre powder lay around the feet and the skull. Graves with stone-packed shafts, where the individual is buried in a vertically-flexed position, are extremely rare in the archaeological record of the Western Cape Province, and are more commonly associated with probable Khoekhoe burials in the Northern Cape (Schapera 1930; Dreyer & Meiring 1937; Inskeep 1986; Morris 1992). Here we provide an account of this unique occurrence and speculate on the cultural and biological identity of the individual.