Weekend Outing to Bushman Rock Shelter and Heuningneskrans
By: 
Aurore Val & Guillaume Porraz
Date: 
Sat, 11/10/2025 - 09:00 to Sun, 12/10/2025 - 13:00
Branch: 
Northern
Meeting Place: The Caltex Oasis, Ohrigstad, 9am
How to get there: Insert this Google plus code 6HX4+97 into the search bar on Google Maps.
Bring: Bring a hat, sunblock, and drinking water and wear comfortable walking shoes although little walking will be required.
Charge: R330 for members | R380 for non-members 
Booking: Please email Anne Raeburn on anner@mweb.co.za to book
**Space is limited to 25 participants so it is advisable to book promptly if you wish to participate in this outing.

PLEASE NOTE:  This tour is self-drive and members are responsible for booking and paying for their own accommodation and catering.

About Bushman Rock Shelter
The Bushman Rock Shelter and Heuningneskrans sites are in the district of Ohrigstad (Limpopo Province), in the North of the Drakensberg range. Both sites are less than 4 km apart and are located on each side of Ohrigstad River Valley. Excavated in the late 1960s and 1970s by Prof. Hannes Eloff, Bushman Rock Shelter has yielded well-preserved evidence of human occupation dating back to the Middle and Later Stone Age. The mineral (stone tools, pigments) and organic remains (bones, shells, charcoals, seeds, korms), preserved across the 7 meters deep sequence, are key proxies documenting behaviours and lifeways of hunters-gatherers in a changing environment spanning the last 200,000 years.


The research programme led by Doctors Guillaume Porraz and Aurore Val was developed to reinvestigate the tempo and the mechanisms behind the technological and behavioural changes amongst late Pleistocene and early Holocene hunters-gatherers. The project is part of a long-term strategy of collaborative research between scientists and students from France, South Africa and neighbouring countries. It aims at conjointly training students and producing multidisciplinary scientific publications.

About Our Guides
Our tour guides are Dr Aurore Val, Aix Marseille Université, France, and associated with the Evolutionary Studies Institute, Wits University. Dr Guillaume Porraz is with the CNRS and French institute in South Africa.

Itinerary
It is recommended that members arrive at their accommodation on Friday 10th October.
Saturday 11th October – We will be met by Dr Aurore Val at the Caltex Oasis in Ohrigstad at 09:00am to make our way to Bushman Rock Shelter. The Oasis centre is directly behind the Caltex garage on the R36 as you come into town from Lydenburg. We will make our way by convoy to the first site.
Note: both sites are an easy walk from the parking area.
Drs Aurore Val and Guillaume Porraz will conduct the tour of Bushman Rock Shelter after which we will take a picnic lunch (participants must bring their own picnic lunch) and head over to Heuningneskrans.
Saturday evening – We will have an informal braai with the excavation team at their accommodation just outside of Ohrigstad.
Sunday 12th October, morning – Depart for home.


Directions to Ohrigstad
The simplest way to get to Ohrigstad from Johannesburg/Pretoria is to get onto the N4 eastbound. From Johannesburg you can take the N12 east and connect to the N4 at Witbank (signposted as eMalahleni). The N4 bypasses Machadodorp (signposted as eNtokozweni) and you will need to take the slipway shortly afterwards onto the R36. After approximately 15 km you will need to turn left towards Lydenburg (now signposted as Mashishing) to stay on the R36. Continue through the centre of Lydenburg, staying on the R36. Ohrigstad is about 48 km further along the R36. Note: place names are subject to change at government whim.

Accommodation Options
There are few accommodation options near Ohrigstad. We recommend Ploughman’s Rest (click here to view Ploughman's Rest) and The Royal Palm B&B (click here to view The Royal Palm B&B)

Booking


Protocol for Outings
Please take note of the following guidelines for outings.
1. Arrive on time and immediately report to the committee member who has the attendance register.
2. Sign the attendance register and indemnity immediately.
3. Only people who have booked and pre-paid may come on outings, we do not accept bookings or cash on the day.