SKELETON COAST
by John H Marsh
In Louw Schoeman's view the circles are remains of huts that were made of animals' skins pinned together,
the base of the covering being pinned down in the sand by the stones to make the huts wind resistant.
I noted that there was a break in every circle and it was always in the same compass direction,
suggesting this was where the entrance to the hut had been. Between the stones on one hut we found
pieces of burned wood, suggesting the mysterious people knew and used fire.
We also found in the sand scores of white beads, flat, circular and holed and apparently cut from ostrich egg shells.
Later we saw in the distance other similar but smaller encampments. Were they inhabited in comparitively recent times,
or hundreds, maybe thousands, of years ago? And by whom?