San Rock Art Paintings

Please treat them with care and respect.

San rock art paintings.

The san or bushmen are indigenous people in southern africa particularly in what is now south africa and botswana their ancient rock paintings and carvings collectively called rock art are found in caves and on rock shelters the artwork depicts non human beings hunters and half human half animal hybrids. One of the most significant pieces of rock art found in south africa was found on linton farm in the eastern cape. The area most famous for its art san paintings is the ukhahlamba drakensberg national park and world heritage site in kwazulu natal around the border with lesotho. Figures painted in the bending forward.

Whilst northern sotho art is always painted never engraved and easy to distinguish from san rock art as most of it is painted in white clay with the odd black and red. The san rock art paintings. The shamans would capture this imaginary animal lead it to the place where they wanted rain and kill it. San rock art khoekhoe paintings made by the khoi and northern sotho paintings.

In san rock paintings throughout south africa human figures dominate numerically over animal subjects. Rock paintings and engravings were of deep importance to the people who made them. The law protects all rock art in south africa and visitors to rock art sites must observe certain rules and. How old are the paintings what did they paint with and what are the images meant to represent.

The half human hybrids are believed to be medicine men or healers involved in a. Its blood and milk would then become rain. A rock painting discovered at blombos cave is the oldest known instance of human art dating to around 73 000. The san rock art gives us clues about their social and belief systems.

Once destroyed it is gone forever. Art by the khoi people was geometric in design very different from the san rock art. Follow bradshawfnd on twitter. Rock art is a non renewable resource.

In the 1930s an old part san man who had observed san painters demonstrated the process as he remembered it and stated that he needed eland blood to mix with the pigment undoubtedly a symbolic and magical ingredient. Sven ouzman explains why the rosetta stone panel in game pass shelter at kamberg is the key panel in san rock art. One of the san shaman s tasks was to make rain. In this painting from the western cape many human figures are painted in the bending forward position a common trance posture.

Archaeologist and rock art specialist dr. Dating san rock art dating the rock art is extremely difficult. Follow bradshawfnd on twitter. The oldest rock paintings they created are in namibia and have been radiocarbon dated to be 26 000 years old.

The san thought of the rain as an animal. San rock art faqs. South africa has a large amount of rock art both paintings and engravings which are scattered over a vast area. When looking at san rock art and bushman paintings the usual questions that come to mind are.