Tortoise burials in Namaqualand: uncovering ritual behaviour on South Africa's west coast

Abstract

Numerous instances of deliberately buried tortoises have been uncovered at late Holocene sites along the Namaqualand coast of South Africa. They occur in small pits immediately beneath intact shell middens at the coast or below other archaeological layers at sites further inland. At the coast, the pits were never dug through the overlying midden material and, besides the tortoises, generally contain nothing except incidental inclusions. Other examples have been found further inland and to the south. Animal burials elsewhere appear invariably to be linked to ritual behaviour and it is concluded that the Namaqualand tortoise burials likely represent a consecration ritual developed within the last 800 years and marking the establishment of a new campsite.