“Of special significance are the hunter-gatherers who appeared in the region in the late Stone Age some 20 000 years ago, and who initiated veld fires in order to stimulate the subsequent growth of plants which were gathered for food and medicinal use. Extraordinary evidence of these people's lives still exists in the Baviaanskloof in the form of rock art, food storage pits and other archaeological treasures….

…people were buried in caves and shelters. Often the burials are associated with artifacts or certain materials and marked by painted stones. Excellent preservation of organic material in some caves and shelters has yielded remarkable botanical artifacts, such as digging sticks (4 500 years old), fire sticks (5 800 years old)… and almost complete mummified human remains dating some 2 000 years old. Other interesting features are 'storage pits'… which were used to store seeds for later use, and 'postholes'. It would appear that shelters were divided, presumably in small family living areas.

….For most of the past 20 000 years, San (Bushmen) hunter- gatherers lived in the caves and rock shelters in the region, many of which still display paintings on the walls… The first real change in the socio-economic landscape came some 2 000 years ago when Khoi pastoralists settled in the region. They were the first food producers and introduced domesticated animals (sheep, goats and cattle) and ceramic vessels to the region.”