Bhisho - Heritage & Culture
The Eastern Cape has had a monumental effect on the development of Southern Africa that is out of all proportion to the size and the economic influence of the Province and can be considered to be the crucible of modern South African History.

Some of the oldest sites that have provided archeological evidence of modern human beings, as well as some of the oldest evidence of cultural activity in the world, has been discovered in this region. Evidence has been uncovered at the Klaasies River cave sites in the Tsitsikamma, dating back 125 000 years, which includes a grave where the skeleton was in a foetal position and surrounded by cowrie shells, indicating that the body was ceremoniously buried. Where there is ceremony there is culture and this is the earliest proven evidence of cultural activity to be found on Earth. Several other sites of importance in the Province have been uncovered but due to their delicate nature, these are not open to visitors.

A number of sites left by the later Stone Age people, have been discovered along the Eastern Cape coastline. These sites are to be found in mounds, known as middens, which is where their rubbish was thrown. They usully comprise a pile of mussel and other seafood shells. A number of fish traps, built to trap fish in the outgoing tides, have been found in areas such as Thysbaai near Cape St Francis. These sites date back to between 30000 and 150000 years ago, when sea levels began to rise and reach their current status as the icecaps that covered vast portions of the Earth began to melt. Evidence shows that at the height of the last ice age, (approximately 30 000 and 80 000 years ago), the shore was up to 60km further away than it is now.

The most visible sites of Early, Middle and Later Stone Age people are to be found along the cliffs and in caves in the mountainous regions. Rock paintings by the early inhabitants of the Province make up the richest such heritage in the world. The paintings did not depict everyday life of the times but were a portal into the spiritual world of the people and are very graphic in their original form and their detail, scope and depth are splendid renditions of animals that are identifiable today.

Towards the end of this era, these paintings became less splendid and were more simply rendered and often monochrome as opposed to the colourful renditions of earlier times. They also began to depict scenes that were not of a spiritual nature, such as ox wagons, soldiers in red uniforms and even early sailing ships, as in other sites discovered near Cape Town. These are indications of a society under stress and this period can also be described as "Apocalyptic Rock Art".

These people were Stone Age people and all their tools were made from stones. The countryside is littered with these stone tools which are classified as artifacts and are protected by the South African Heritage Resources Act.

About 1000 years ago another group of people began to move into the Eastern Cape. Unlike the Stone Age, these people were skilled in metal work and were also herders and grew their own crops which they stored in large underground grain pits. The most southerly sites are at Canasta Place, about 20kms south of East London on the Port Alfred road and although these people did possibly travel further south, no such sites have been found south of this region, most likely because that area marks the transition from summer rainfall to winter rainfall.

These people may have been the ancestors of the Xhosa people who first met white trekboers in the areas between the Gamtoos and the Tsitsikama and the grain pits and other artifacts, the crops and the cattle breeds, as well as the customs, traditions and designs and building techniques of these people are important components of our heritage which links us with the past.

In the 1760s the Boers, or Dutch started moving into the Province and the first recognized town in the Eastern Cape, Graaff-Reinet, was established in 1786. The Afrikaans language and the splendid Cape Dutch Architecture of the area are signs of the earlier lives of these people and it was here that they started referring to themselves as Afrikaners.

Through the influence of early settlers and missionaries, the Eastern Cape became the first place where the Bible was translated into an indigenous Southern African language, the first African Dictionary was published, the first Newspaper was published in an African Language and out of the Mission Stations grew the University of Fort Hare, the first African University in Africa.

The Eastern Cape’s prominent role in the struggle for freedom in South Africa has often been overshadowed by other struggle areas such as Soweto and Robben Island which is unfortunate, as the Eastern Cape played a major role in the liberation of South Africa, with most of the people incarcerated on Robben Island originating from the Eastern Cape.