Weekend Outing to Rose Cottage Cave
By: 
Viola Schmidt
Date: 
Fri, 14/11/2025 - 09:45 to Sun, 16/11/2025 - 12:00
Branch: 
Northern
Meeting Place: The Heritage House
How to get there: Insert this Google plus code into Google Maps QFW5+GM Ladybrand
Time: 9am
Bring: Bring a hat, sunblock, drinking water and comfortable walking shoes although little walking will be required and once inside the cave there is plenty of shade. Comfortable socks that you don’t mind getting dirty. No shoes allowed in the cave itself. Bring a picnic lunch for Saturday. Note: there is a short but very steep walk over uneven, rocky ground to reach the cave. A good level of mobility and moderate fitness is 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 early 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.

This excursion allows members the unique opportunity to participate in a large-scale multi-national excavation at one of the most impressive, deep-sequence archaeological sites in South Africa.

About Rose Cottage Cave
Rose Cottage is a high-altitude cave in the interior of southern Africa. Despite its size (20 m long by 10 m wide) it is well hidden behind a large boulder and dense vegetation. Its six-meter-deep sediments contain a Middle Stone Age record that began close to 100 ka ago, and repeated pulses of occupation occurred until about 30 ka ago, after which there was a long Later Stone Age sequence.


Fine-grained local minerals were used for lithic assemblages throughout the sequence that includes a Howiesons Poort tradition. Charcoal identifications provide a long vegetation record that spans both cold and warm conditions. Although high-altitude taxa is not present in the area nowadays, it occurred during the last glacial maximum. Rose Cottage was first excavated in the 1940s by Berry Malan and later by Peter Beaumont (1960s) and then most comprehensively by Lyn Wadley and her students (1987–1998). The site is currently being re-examined by a multi-national team led by Dr Viola Schmidt.

About Our Guide
Our tour guide is Dr Viola Schmidt, Austrian Academy of Sciences and associate with the Evolutionary Studies Institute, Wits University.

Itinerary
It is recommended that members arrive in Ladybrand on Friday 14th November.
Friday 14th November: Those in Ladybrand  invited to meet for an informal dinner at the Cranberry Restaurant (37 Beeton St) at 6:30pm at participant’s own cost. Following dinner, we will then make our way to Heritage House (1 Collins Street) for a talk by Dr Will Archer of the National Museum, Bloemfontein. This should be around 8pm. Dr Archer will talk about Human Origins in Southern Africa’s Freshwater Shallow Lake Ecosystems.
Saturday 16th November – meet outside Heritage House by 09:00 to make our way to Rose Cottage Cave.
Note: there is a short but very steep walk over uneven, rocky ground to reach the cave. A good level of mobility and moderate fitness is required.
Dr Viola Schmidt will conduct the tour of Rose Cottage Cave and there will be an opportunity for interested members to participate in some of the excavation activities. A picnic lunch will be had at the site with the excavation team. After lunch, members will be free to look around Ladybrand at their leisure. There is the Modderpoort Cave Church nearby, and for those interested (and who still have energy), a guided tour to Tandjiesberg (25km from Ladybrand) can be arranged with tour guide Mr Jan Oberholzer. Members interested in visiting Tandjiesberg should indicate so to Anne Raeburn when they book. Costs to be settled privately with Mr Oberholzer.
Saturday evening – informal braai with the excavation team at Heritage House.
Sunday 17th November, morning – depart Ladybrand.

Directions to Ladybrand
There are many ways to get to Ladybrand from Johannesburg. We recommend traveling via the N1 to Bloemfontein and from there taking the N8 to Ladybrand. There are several “shortcuts”, which we do not recommend as those roads are in very poor condition.

Accommodation Options
There are several places to stay in and around Ladysmith. We recommend Heritage House (click here to view) and Cranberry Cottage (click here to view)

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.