It is a well documented fact that the San (Bushman) marked individual ostrich eggshell containers as proof of ownership. These were mostly used as water containers and buried in areas where there is no surface water for long periods of time (eg the Kalahari Desert). The San have been doing this for, quite literally, time immemorial and, indeed, do so to this very day. It must also be remembered that the ostrich eggshell is NOT 'fragile'. They could store water for hundreds of years if the opening was sealed with fibre and melted bees-wax. Far longer than any wooden, skin or earthen-ware container would. Also, in a cave deposit, OSTRICH eggshell will outlast pottery, even bone, only stone will survive longer than Ostrich eggshell. So when is a symbol of ownership deemed to be 'writing' or 'art'. Are we to now say these inhabitants weren't illiterate? The Howiesons Poort shelter gives it's name to a specific tradition that corresponds with the European Mesolithic (in South Africa called the Middle Stone Age), which goes back to 80,000 years BP. That's a LONG time ago!