Page 49 - KBHA BULLETIN 6

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past people and the things they did – and so we collect, analyse and interpret them in a

similar way to how we deal with stone tools, buildings, ceramics or food debris. The idea is
to combine as much evidence as possible to produce a stratigraphically layered reconstruction

of the site as it developed and as elements were altered or removed until the present. We can
then assess what the likelihood is of anything remaining on the site.

We start by using key events and well-dated "artefacts" to construct a broad chronology of

what took place on and around the site, and then gradually add in the details. In particular, we

target property deeds and transfers, and dated survey diagrams, maps, plans and photographs.
Some artefacts are more useful than others. In the case of the Point, a combination of

surviving harbour development plans (referred to above) and Furlong’s painstaking

description of its construction provides a superb chronology of building, rebuilding and
demolition on the site from 1913 to 1918. Certain new buildings and other features in the

neighbourhood are easily datable in photographs. For instance, the erection of the fishing
company building is a clear chronological landmark, or the year gantries were built on the

beach, or when a ship was wrecked off the beach. However, less obvious elements can also
be used, such as the sequence in which architectural features of the fishermen’s cottages were

altered. On the opposite side of the main road, first one and then two and three buildings were

built, and the railway line and road itself underwent a series of modifications. Imprecise
evidence, like people’s memories or undated plans and photographs, can then be inserted into

the sequence. We also make a note of discrepancies or a need for further research.

Historical summary

During the Late Stone Age and the early colonial period, the shallow sheltered bay of Kalk

Bay provided prehistoric people with an easy opportunity to collect some of their staple
foods, shellfish and lobsters. In all likelihood, the first colonial period visitors to Kalk Bay

would have encountered San or Khoekoen groups gathering sea food. Late Stone Age
archaeological sites have been found close to Main Road in Muizenberg, at St. James beach

and the mountains. The area around Kalk Bay was probably covered with prehistoric shell

middens (piles of discarded shells), which may have provided the raw material for the

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