I recently received a copy of a message circulated through the
historical archaeology server regarding the situation at Die kelders
Cave 1 in South Africa. As one of the individuals responsible for the
excavation at this site (the institution is the State University of
New York - NOT New York University as erroneously identified in the
message), I would like to point out that I visited the site in
january and Dr. Avery of the South African Museum was on site in
March. The situation at the site has not changed over the past few
years since the excavation work was completed, and while there is
some degradation of the sand bags that were used to shore up the
excavation walls, this is far cry from the "litter of plastic" to
which this individual refers.  The individual responsible for the
message is clearly not familiar with archaeological excavations.
All archaeological excavations alter a site.  We are looking into the
possibility of sealing the bags to prevent further deterioration from
UV rays.  The town of Gansbaai and the South African Museum are also
discussing the possibility of creating an open-air museum at the
site. The individual who filed this unwarranted message is
probably unaware that the cave, which was "once a pleasure to
visit" had already "suffered" from an earlier excavation, with
its attendant "litter." The excavation is now larger, and in fact
we took pains to remove all of our own litter as well as as much
garbage that had been left behind by tourists as possible. What was
once a pristine cave, and a pleasure to visit, is now still a
pleasure to visit.  The only difference is that a small
excavation - slumping would have made it nearly unrecognizable to
an amature - has now become a large, and easily recognizable
excavation.
 
There is very little litter from bag deterioration at the site. In
addition, the sides of the excavation are not anywhere near beginning
to collapse.
 
 I would also like to not for the record, that not only
is the Town of Gansbaai and the South Afrivcan Museum fuly aware of
the conditions at the site of Die Kelders, but also that the National
Monuments Commission of South Africa is also aware of the condition
of the site.
 
Frederick E. Grine
Department of Anthropology
State University of New York