LARGE-SCALE HUNTER-GATHERER EXPLOITATION OF MARINE RESOURCES IN SOUTH AFRICA, PART I: 'KREEFBAAI C' MEGAMIDDEN, LAMBERTS BAY AREA

The largest of all shell middens in South Africa are found on the West Coast between the Olifants River mouth and Vredenburg Peninsula. These 'megamiddens' appear to be the endphase of profound and earlier changes in subsistence and settlement among late Holocene coastal hunter-gatherers. These enormous sites have been minimally sampled, and some of the largest are located in the Lamberts Bay area. Here we report mainly on the Kreefbaai C (KFB C) megamidden and other nearby sites. Considering the visibly vast quantities of marine shells and estimated mass of vertebrate fauna, this site formed as a result of a focused, intense and sustained collecting effort on black mussels for immediate consumption, and also mass processing and drying. Domestic activities contributed to this record to a lesser but important extent. Shellfish foraging strategies changed through time as a result of for aging efficiency considerations, possible depletion of black mussel beds, and/or nearshore palaeoenvironmental changes. KFB C is one meaningful piece of a puzzle where settlement, demographic changes and reconfigurations in subsistence choice combine to present a unique period in the precolonial history of South Africa. The conservation of KFB C and other West Coast megamiddens needs the proactive and joint efforts of academics and heritage practitioners.