Chronicle-1978

Clubs, Societies & Other Activities ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY The society continued to be one of the most active in the school. This year, however, was a rather sad one in the society's history,for its founder,Dr David Lewis-Williams, left the school to take up an appointment in the departnjent of Social Anthropology at the University of the Witwatersrand. The success of the society can only be ascribed to the enthusiastic manner in which he led it, and the members were privileged to benefit from his expert knowledge in the field of Bushman art. The society wishes to express its appreciation to Dr Lewis-Williams and to wish him well for the future. Before his departure, Dr Lewis-Williams addressed the society on 'The mysterious painted caverns of France', while his 'swan song' was on the interpretation of Bushman paintings - a fitting topic to coincide with the completion of his thesis on this subject. Subsequent meetings were addressed by Mr Cable,an archaeologist from Cambridge, who spoke on the Stone Age in the Northern Hemisphere, and by Mrs Valerie Ward, who described her work on the recording ofrock art in areas under the control of the Depart ment of Forestry. In addition, a film and a television programme were shown to the society. C.GEBERS CONSERVATION CLUB The Club's activities during 1978 included lectures by visiting speakers, films, visits to 'wild life' areas and practical work in the field of conservation. We were very privileged to hear a most interesting talk on elephants given by Prof. Hanks of Natal University (Durban). Prof. Hanks has done a great deal of research on ecological problems in areas where the size of the natural habitat of these animals has been reduced by the encroachment of human settlement. Not only was the extent of this problem vividly portrayed by the use of colour slides and statistical data, but much was learnt about the habits and physiology of the animals — the latter aspect illustrated by an array of elephant foetuses at various stages of development and a set of elephantine molars. Another interesting visit wasthatofMr Pons, who brought with him a large and extremely aggressive leguaan. Few words were needed to convince the audience (gazing from the safe heights of the auditorium)of the creature's strength, as it clawed and slithered across the floor of the lecture theatre. Visits were made to Queen Elizabeth Park near Pietermaritzburg, the mangrove swamps at the mouth of the Umgeni and the Palmiet Nature Reserve at Westville. The latter proved to be a most worthwhile outing, as we were also shown several young vultures which are being cared for by Mr Steve Piper, an old boy of the school, as part of a project to save the Cape vulture. The existence of these birds is being threatened by a lack of carrion in farming areas which has resulted in weakness and deformities in the chicks because of a calcium deficiency in their diet. Farmers are thus being encouraged to set up 'vulture restaurants' on their lands to see that the necessary bone fragments will be available for the chicks. The walk through the Palmiet reserve was conducted by members of the Wildlife Society, 68

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