Big Elephant Shelter is situated in the southern  Erongo Mountains at approximately 1 5'40'E;  21o42'S. The site can be divided into two sections: a  narrow NE. shelter with a low ceiling and a larger NW. shelter. The former shelter contains sparse scatterings of shallow deposit; the latter contains three distinct occupation hollows partly filled with leaves and bedding grasses and surrounded by branches of collapsed brushwood screens. In 1959, the site was visited by J. D. Clark and J. Walton and a surface collection of artefacts was made, and a detailed description of the site and finds was published in 1962 (Clark & Walton 1962). Subsequently, two radiocarbon dates were obtained for the site, one of 2550 + 80 B.P. (UCLA-724A) from the NE. shelter and one of 1400 ? 80 B.P. (UCLA-724B) from the NW. shelter (Beakimont & Vogel 1972: 83). In both cases the dated material was associated with potsherds. In 1974, I undertook the first excavations in Big Elephant Shelter; to date, one metre square of deposit has been removed from the NE. shelter and thirteen metre squares from the NW. shelter.