A cave with agency: Ochre, blood and women at Keurbos 4

Abstract

Keurbos 4 is a located on the Rondegat River in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Rich in painted imagery, it is distinctive for several reasons. Its morphology and position atop a steep incline offer views from inside looking out, but not outside looking in, and afford a level of inaccessibility and seclusion. Within the cave, the rockface is pigmented by a prominent geologically formed red smear and, whilst having little by way of Later Stone Age domestic content, has a notable painted assemblage. The assemblage is predominated by female figures, particularly rows of splayed-legged, squatting or crouching figures shown in the front-facing perspective with one arm extended towards the groin. Alongside these squatting women are an elephant herd, and a series of parallel vertical lines of geologically formed and applied ochreous pigment. Given the location, morphology, geology, and painted contents of the site, we suggest that Keurbos 4 was a place chosen by women for women in the context of ritual and didactic events. Further, we believe the transformation of the space into this place is accompanied by an invoking of agency from the cave, which was far from a passive accident and much more an active participant.