Now known under its colonial name of ‘Waterberg’, Otjozondjupa was the site of a decisive historical turning point, where following an Indigenous uprising known to Herero people as the War of Anti-Colonial Resistance, the German colonial strategy turned decisively toward genocide. Around thirty thousand Ovaherero people sought refuge there, and were forced by German colonial troops into a region known to colonists as the ‘waterless’ Omaheke Sandveld (‘sand field’ in Afrikaans). The abundance of water that inspired Waterberg’s European name made the occupation of the plateau a critical goal for German colonisers. Colonial photographers captured a handful of the area’s myriad Indigenous settlements. Yet these photographs have never been properly dated and located, presenting the Indigenous people as part of an ahistorical ‘state of nature’. Using the face of the rock as an anchor and interweaving testimony from Herero oral historians, we ‘restitute’ the photographs within their wider environmental, historical, and social context. This is one in a series of short videos through which we present the preliminary findings of a multiyear, multiphase investigation conducted by @forensicarchitecture / @counterinvestigations in partnership with the Ovaherero/Ovambanderu Genocide Foundation. At the initiative of @ecchr.eu, we undertook the collaborative modelling and mapping of key sites of the genocide and other as-yet-unaccounted-for atrocities committed by Germany against the Ovaherero and Nama people of Namibia between 1904 and 1908. Further materials related to the investigation are forthcoming, as we seek to produce a new body of digital evidence that can be leveraged by local communities and their legal advocates in support of long-standing demands for land restitution and reparations. Watch the other films and read more on our website via the link in our bio.