Revisiting, redating, and reframing the earliest excavations at Paternoster, South African west coast: The archaeology of Fisheries Factory Midden
Main Article Content
Keywords
shell middens, foraging ecology, subsistence strategies, coastal exploitation, occupational intensity
Abstract
The Holocene archaeology of the South African west coast is arguably the most studied among other coastal stretches in this country. It has helped to understand the shifts in the lifeways and technology of coastal hunter-gatherers in relation to their environment, climate changes and cultural contact with herder groups. Among the momentous and varied records, the appearance of very large shell middens known as ‘megamiddens’ stands out. They are discontinuously distributed along a ~125 km long stretch of coastline from Lamberts Bay and Elands Bay to Paternoster, and date to ca. 3200-2200 cal. BP. Megamiddens around Paternoster are less studied than the two former. The Fisheries Factory Midden in Paternoster is contemporary with two megamiddens in this locality and is the subject of this paper. This site was excavated by Pete Robertshaw in 1975, and here we expand on his observations to make them directly relevant to the megamidden period. New radiocarbon dates position this site a few centuries before 3265 cal. BP to ca. 2760 cal. BP, with last visits happening from ca. 1990 cal. BP to ca. 625 cal. BP. This study reveals a decrease in bovid foraging efficiency and a concomitant and dramatic increase in the procurement of a number of marine resources from the onset of the site occupation until ca. 2760 cal. BP. Several proxy indicators suggest an increasing occupational intensity at this site as group mobility and foraging range shrank to the coastal margin and adjacent plain during this period. This trend was largely reversed soon after ca. 2000 cal. BP.
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References
Avery, G. 1977. Report on the Marine Bird Remains from the Paternoster
Midden. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 32 (125): 74-76.
Avery, G. 1987. Coastal birds and prehistory in the Western Cape. In Parkington, J.E. & Hall, (eds) Papers in the Prehistory of the Western Cape, South Africa:164-191. Oxford: BAR International Series 332(i).
Branch, G. & Branch, M. 2018. Living Shores: Interacting with southern Africa’s marine ecosystems. Cape Town: Struik Nature.
Branch, G.M., Griffiths, C.L., Branch, M.L. & Beckley, L.E. 2022. Two Oceans: A Guide to the Marine Life of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Nature.
Buchanan, W. F. 1988. Shellfish in prehistoric diet: Eland’s Bay, S.W. Cape Coast, South Africa. Oxford: BAR International Series 455.
Chase, B.M. & Meadows, M.E. 2007. Late Quaternary dynamics of southern Africa’s winter rainfall zone. Earth-Science Reviews 84(3-4): 103-138.
Compton, J.S. 2006. The mid-Holocene sea-level highstand at Bogenfels Pan on the southwest coast of Namibia. Quaternary Research 66(2): 303-310.
Dewar, G. 2008. The Archaeology of the Coastal Desert of Namaqualand, South Africa: A Regional Synthesis. British Archaeological Reports 1761. Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd.
Dewar, G., Reimer, P.J., Sealy, J. et. al. 2012. Holocene marine reservoir effect correction (∆R) for the west coast of South Africa. The Holocene 22(12): 1481-46.
Halkett, D. 1996. Report on the investigation of four archaeological sites at Paternoster Bay, South-Western Cape. Report prepared for Paternoster Strand (Pty) Ltd.
Heaton, T.J., Köhler, P., Butzin, M., et al. 2020. Marine20 - The marine radiocarbon age calibration curve (0-55,000 CAL BP). Radiocarbon 62(4): 779-820.
Hogg, A., Heaton, T., Hua, Q., et al. 2020. SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0-55,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 62(4): 759-778.
Jerardino, A. 2010. Large shell middens in Lamberts Bay, South Africa: A case of hunter-gatherer resource intensification. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(9): 2291-2302.
Jerardino, A. 2012. Large shell middens and hunter-gatherer resource intensification along the West Coast of South Africa: The Elands Bay case study. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 7(1):76-101.
Jerardino, A. 2013. Two complementary West Coast Holocene lithic assemblages from Elands Bay and Lamberts Bay: Implications for local changes in tool kit and group mobility. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 68(198):188-199.
Jerardino, A. 2024. A provincial heritage site in Paternoster, Vredenburg Peninsula, South Africa: Aa unique megamidden. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 79(220): 29-35.
Jerardino, A., Halkett, D., Klein, R., et al. 2021. Visits to a cliff cave amidst climate change: the archaeology of Spring Cave, west coast of South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 76(215): 109-124.
Jerardino, A., Klein, R.G., Navarro, R., et al. 2013. Settlement and subsistence patterns since the terminal Pleistocene in the Elands Bay and Lamberts Bay areas. In: Jerardino, A., Malan, A. & Braun, D. (eds) The Archaeology of the West Coast of South Africa: 85-108. Oxford: Archaeopress, BAR International Series 2526.
Jerardino, A. & Navarro, R. 2018a. Large-scale hunter-gatherer exploitation of marine resources in South Africa, Part I: Kreefbaai megamiddens, Lamberts Bay area. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 73(208): 93-107.
Jerardino, A. & Navarro, R. 2018b. Large-scale hunter-gatherer exploitation of marine resources in South Africa, Part II: Grootrif and Malkoppan megamiddens, Lamberts Bay area. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 73(208): 108-125.
Jerardino, A., Navarro, R. & Nilssen, P. 2001. Cape rock lobster (Jasus lalandii) exploitation in the past: Estimating carapace length from mandible sizes. South African Journal of Science 97(1): 59-62.
Jerardino, A. & Orton, J. 2023. Further glimpses from the onset of the megamidden period: rescue archaeology at Duine Street, Elands Bay, west coast of South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 78(219): 104-112.
Jerardino, A., Orton, J., Steele, T.E., et al. 2021. Living and foraging at a climatic and coastal biogeographic transition zone: Further observations on the mid-Holocene and the megamidden period of the west coast of South Africa. Southern African Humanities 34:175-203.
Jerardino, A., Woodborne, S., Klein R., et al. 2024. Excavations at PN1062: the megamidden period in Paternoster, Vredenburg Peninsula, Western Cape of South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 79(221): 25-36.
Jerardino, A., Woodborne, S., Orton, J., et. al. 2025. Variability among South African west coast megamiddens: Insights from Paternoster North midden. Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2025.2568226
Lee-Thorp, J.A., Sealy, J.C. & Van der Merwe, N.J. 1989. Stable carbon isotope ratio differences between bone collagen and bone apatite, and their relationship to diet. Journal of Archaeological Science 16(6): 585-599.
Loftus, E. & Pfeiffer, S. 2023. Cultural disruption suggested by dates of Late Holocene burials, Southwestern Cape, South Africa. Current Anthropology 64(4). https://doi.org/10.1086/725106.
Manhire, T., Parkington, J. & Yates, R. 1985. Nets and fully recurved bows: Rock paintings and hunting methods in the Western Cape, South Africa. World Archaeology 17(2):161-174.
Mucina, L. & Rutherford, M.C. 2006. The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute.
Parkington, J.E. 1976. Coastal settlement between the mouths of the Berg and Olifants rivers, Cape Province. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 31(123/124): 127-140.
Parkington, J.E., Poggenpoel, C., Buchanan, W., et al. 1988. Holocene coastal settlement patterns in the western Cape. In: Bailey, G. & Parkington, J.E. (eds) The Archaeology of Prehistoric Coastlines: 22-41. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
R Core Team 2019. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/
Reynard, J.P., Discamps, E., Wurz, S., et al. 2016. Occupational intensity and environmental changes during the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 449: 349-364.
Robertshaw, P.T. 1975. Excavations at Paternoster, South-Western Cape. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 32(125): 63-73.
Robertshaw, P.T. 1979. Coastal settlement, freshwater fishing and pastoralism in the later prehistory of the Western Cape, South Africa. Doctoral Thesis. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
Sadr, K. 2009. Marine shell dates and surface lithic assemblages on the west coast of South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(12): 2713-2729.
Sadr, K. 2014. Radiocarbon Dates, Stone Tools, and the Origin of Herding on the West Coast of South Africa. Reports in African Archaeology. Frankfurt am Main: Africa Magna Verlag.
Shannon L. & Nelson, G. 1996. The Benguela: Large scale features and processes and system variability. In: Wefer G., Berger, W., Siedler, G. & Webb, D. (eds) In: The South Atlantic: Present and Past Circulation: 163-210. Berlin: Springer, Berlin.
Skead, C.J. 2011. Historical Incidence of the Larger Land Mammals in the broader Northern and Western Cape. 2nd edition. Port Elizabeth: Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Smith, A. 2006. Excavations at Kasteelberg and the Origins of the Khoenkhoen in the Western Cape, South Africa. BAR International Series 1537. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Smith, A.B., Sadr, K. Gribble, J., et al., 1991. Excavations in the South-Western Cape, South Africa, and the archaeological identity of prehistoric hunter-gatherers within the last 2000 years. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 46: 71-91.
Venables, W.N. & Ripley, B.D. 2002. Modern Applied Statistics with S. Fourth Edition. London: Springer.
Yates, R. 1998. A Phase 2 Archaeological Investigation of site 1 on Farm 1062 (previously 967), Paternoster, Western Cape (December 1998). Report prepared for Faros Fisheries, Paternoster. Cape Town.
Yates, R. 2004a. Interim report to Heritage Western Cape on excavations conducted on Portion 1 of Farm 1050 Paternoster on behalf of Rapidough Properties Cc. Report prepared for Mr. John Ford, representing Rapidough Properties cc.
Yates, R. 2004b. Archaeological Heritage Resources Assessment: Portion 37 of the Uitkomst 23, Paternoster, Saldanha Bay Municipality, Western Cape Province. Report prepared for Deon Van Zyl Consultants.
Midden. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 32 (125): 74-76.
Avery, G. 1987. Coastal birds and prehistory in the Western Cape. In Parkington, J.E. & Hall, (eds) Papers in the Prehistory of the Western Cape, South Africa:164-191. Oxford: BAR International Series 332(i).
Branch, G. & Branch, M. 2018. Living Shores: Interacting with southern Africa’s marine ecosystems. Cape Town: Struik Nature.
Branch, G.M., Griffiths, C.L., Branch, M.L. & Beckley, L.E. 2022. Two Oceans: A Guide to the Marine Life of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Nature.
Buchanan, W. F. 1988. Shellfish in prehistoric diet: Eland’s Bay, S.W. Cape Coast, South Africa. Oxford: BAR International Series 455.
Chase, B.M. & Meadows, M.E. 2007. Late Quaternary dynamics of southern Africa’s winter rainfall zone. Earth-Science Reviews 84(3-4): 103-138.
Compton, J.S. 2006. The mid-Holocene sea-level highstand at Bogenfels Pan on the southwest coast of Namibia. Quaternary Research 66(2): 303-310.
Dewar, G. 2008. The Archaeology of the Coastal Desert of Namaqualand, South Africa: A Regional Synthesis. British Archaeological Reports 1761. Oxford: John and Erica Hedges Ltd.
Dewar, G., Reimer, P.J., Sealy, J. et. al. 2012. Holocene marine reservoir effect correction (∆R) for the west coast of South Africa. The Holocene 22(12): 1481-46.
Halkett, D. 1996. Report on the investigation of four archaeological sites at Paternoster Bay, South-Western Cape. Report prepared for Paternoster Strand (Pty) Ltd.
Heaton, T.J., Köhler, P., Butzin, M., et al. 2020. Marine20 - The marine radiocarbon age calibration curve (0-55,000 CAL BP). Radiocarbon 62(4): 779-820.
Hogg, A., Heaton, T., Hua, Q., et al. 2020. SHCal20 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0-55,000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon 62(4): 759-778.
Jerardino, A. 2010. Large shell middens in Lamberts Bay, South Africa: A case of hunter-gatherer resource intensification. Journal of Archaeological Science 37(9): 2291-2302.
Jerardino, A. 2012. Large shell middens and hunter-gatherer resource intensification along the West Coast of South Africa: The Elands Bay case study. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 7(1):76-101.
Jerardino, A. 2013. Two complementary West Coast Holocene lithic assemblages from Elands Bay and Lamberts Bay: Implications for local changes in tool kit and group mobility. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 68(198):188-199.
Jerardino, A. 2024. A provincial heritage site in Paternoster, Vredenburg Peninsula, South Africa: Aa unique megamidden. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 79(220): 29-35.
Jerardino, A., Halkett, D., Klein, R., et al. 2021. Visits to a cliff cave amidst climate change: the archaeology of Spring Cave, west coast of South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 76(215): 109-124.
Jerardino, A., Klein, R.G., Navarro, R., et al. 2013. Settlement and subsistence patterns since the terminal Pleistocene in the Elands Bay and Lamberts Bay areas. In: Jerardino, A., Malan, A. & Braun, D. (eds) The Archaeology of the West Coast of South Africa: 85-108. Oxford: Archaeopress, BAR International Series 2526.
Jerardino, A. & Navarro, R. 2018a. Large-scale hunter-gatherer exploitation of marine resources in South Africa, Part I: Kreefbaai megamiddens, Lamberts Bay area. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 73(208): 93-107.
Jerardino, A. & Navarro, R. 2018b. Large-scale hunter-gatherer exploitation of marine resources in South Africa, Part II: Grootrif and Malkoppan megamiddens, Lamberts Bay area. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 73(208): 108-125.
Jerardino, A., Navarro, R. & Nilssen, P. 2001. Cape rock lobster (Jasus lalandii) exploitation in the past: Estimating carapace length from mandible sizes. South African Journal of Science 97(1): 59-62.
Jerardino, A. & Orton, J. 2023. Further glimpses from the onset of the megamidden period: rescue archaeology at Duine Street, Elands Bay, west coast of South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 78(219): 104-112.
Jerardino, A., Orton, J., Steele, T.E., et al. 2021. Living and foraging at a climatic and coastal biogeographic transition zone: Further observations on the mid-Holocene and the megamidden period of the west coast of South Africa. Southern African Humanities 34:175-203.
Jerardino, A., Woodborne, S., Klein R., et al. 2024. Excavations at PN1062: the megamidden period in Paternoster, Vredenburg Peninsula, Western Cape of South Africa. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 79(221): 25-36.
Jerardino, A., Woodborne, S., Orton, J., et. al. 2025. Variability among South African west coast megamiddens: Insights from Paternoster North midden. Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2025.2568226
Lee-Thorp, J.A., Sealy, J.C. & Van der Merwe, N.J. 1989. Stable carbon isotope ratio differences between bone collagen and bone apatite, and their relationship to diet. Journal of Archaeological Science 16(6): 585-599.
Loftus, E. & Pfeiffer, S. 2023. Cultural disruption suggested by dates of Late Holocene burials, Southwestern Cape, South Africa. Current Anthropology 64(4). https://doi.org/10.1086/725106.
Manhire, T., Parkington, J. & Yates, R. 1985. Nets and fully recurved bows: Rock paintings and hunting methods in the Western Cape, South Africa. World Archaeology 17(2):161-174.
Mucina, L. & Rutherford, M.C. 2006. The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute.
Parkington, J.E. 1976. Coastal settlement between the mouths of the Berg and Olifants rivers, Cape Province. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 31(123/124): 127-140.
Parkington, J.E., Poggenpoel, C., Buchanan, W., et al. 1988. Holocene coastal settlement patterns in the western Cape. In: Bailey, G. & Parkington, J.E. (eds) The Archaeology of Prehistoric Coastlines: 22-41. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
R Core Team 2019. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/
Reynard, J.P., Discamps, E., Wurz, S., et al. 2016. Occupational intensity and environmental changes during the Howiesons Poort at Klipdrift Shelter, southern Cape, South Africa. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 449: 349-364.
Robertshaw, P.T. 1975. Excavations at Paternoster, South-Western Cape. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 32(125): 63-73.
Robertshaw, P.T. 1979. Coastal settlement, freshwater fishing and pastoralism in the later prehistory of the Western Cape, South Africa. Doctoral Thesis. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
Sadr, K. 2009. Marine shell dates and surface lithic assemblages on the west coast of South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(12): 2713-2729.
Sadr, K. 2014. Radiocarbon Dates, Stone Tools, and the Origin of Herding on the West Coast of South Africa. Reports in African Archaeology. Frankfurt am Main: Africa Magna Verlag.
Shannon L. & Nelson, G. 1996. The Benguela: Large scale features and processes and system variability. In: Wefer G., Berger, W., Siedler, G. & Webb, D. (eds) In: The South Atlantic: Present and Past Circulation: 163-210. Berlin: Springer, Berlin.
Skead, C.J. 2011. Historical Incidence of the Larger Land Mammals in the broader Northern and Western Cape. 2nd edition. Port Elizabeth: Centre for African Conservation Ecology, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Smith, A. 2006. Excavations at Kasteelberg and the Origins of the Khoenkhoen in the Western Cape, South Africa. BAR International Series 1537. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Smith, A.B., Sadr, K. Gribble, J., et al., 1991. Excavations in the South-Western Cape, South Africa, and the archaeological identity of prehistoric hunter-gatherers within the last 2000 years. The South African Archaeological Bulletin 46: 71-91.
Venables, W.N. & Ripley, B.D. 2002. Modern Applied Statistics with S. Fourth Edition. London: Springer.
Yates, R. 1998. A Phase 2 Archaeological Investigation of site 1 on Farm 1062 (previously 967), Paternoster, Western Cape (December 1998). Report prepared for Faros Fisheries, Paternoster. Cape Town.
Yates, R. 2004a. Interim report to Heritage Western Cape on excavations conducted on Portion 1 of Farm 1050 Paternoster on behalf of Rapidough Properties Cc. Report prepared for Mr. John Ford, representing Rapidough Properties cc.
Yates, R. 2004b. Archaeological Heritage Resources Assessment: Portion 37 of the Uitkomst 23, Paternoster, Saldanha Bay Municipality, Western Cape Province. Report prepared for Deon Van Zyl Consultants.
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May 28, 2026
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Revisiting, redating, and reframing the earliest excavations at Paternoster, South African west coast: The archaeology of Fisheries Factory Midden. (2026). Southern African Field Archaeology, 21. https://doi.org/10.36615/safa.21.4863.2026
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How to Cite
Revisiting, redating, and reframing the earliest excavations at Paternoster, South African west coast: The archaeology of Fisheries Factory Midden. (2026). Southern African Field Archaeology, 21. https://doi.org/10.36615/safa.21.4863.2026
