Renee Rust

The passage through my life documenting the San rock art in the region between the Swartberg and Langeberg, known as the Klein Karoo, the Baviaanskloof, Outeniquas and south coast of the Western Cape, South Africa, has created a critical space within me - a privileged journey.

Qualifications

· 1970 BA (with Law Subjects) - University of Stellenbosch

· 1991 Degree/Dipl./Cert. Archaeology - University of South Africa

· 1995 BA (Hons) Archaeology – University of Stellenbosch

· 2000 MA (Archaeology) – University of Stellenbosch
Title: The rock art of the Anysberg Nature Reserve, Western Cape: A sense of place and rainmaking.

· 2008 - Completion of a DPhil (Archaeology) dissertation at the University of Stellenbosch: Department of Geology, Geography & Environmental Studies. Title: Meta-tourism, sense of place and the rock art of the Klein Karoo.

Research interests

In the Klein Karoo, Western Cape, most of the rock art researched is found in the kloofs and near water sources of the Anysberg, the Klein Swartberg, the Groot Swartberg, the Rooiberg, Gamkaberg, the Kammanassieberg, Baviaanskloof and to the south, the Attakwaskloof, Langeberg, and Outeniqua. Research was focused on compiling an inventory of rock art sites in these areas in the Klein Karoo and surrounds and on the south coast, documenting the content of the rock art imagery at these sites on designated site forms and by means of tracing and photography, and incorporating the data in a GIS system. Part of the collection of tracings has been scanned by the University of Witwatersrand and the information and scanned material housed at SARADA. The research of the rock art in the region is ongoing. The full collection of physical tracings to date is housed at present at the existing Stilbaai cultural museum. The documenting of further finds of rock art sites in the region as stipulated and the tracings of these rock art images at sites are continually added to the database and scanned by a local firm in Stilbaai. A further aim of the research is to compare themes and the significance of the rock art of this area with that of the southern coast in areas more recently researched in the Langeberg, Riversdale area, and along the coast from the Duiwenshoks, Goukou, and Gourits Rivers, as well as other rock art regions in the western Cape, and to record the results in archaeological publications. The protection and management of these archaeological sites are priorities in the research and involve the local public, institutions, local government and tourist initiatives and organizations alike. These relationships are researched and initiatives put in place where possible. One of these is the conceptualizing and establishing of an interpretation centre/museum where the rock art and other research projects along the coast, cultural and natural, in the Stilbaai area may be displayed and also replicated. The development of a local museum in Stilbaai is incorporated in the initiative of establishing a larger facility to house the Blombos collection and the collection of tracings of the rock art in the region.