A Cross-Cultural Motif in San, Khoekhoe and Northern Sotho Rock Paintings of the Central Limpopo Basin, Southern Africa

Eastwood, Edward B.

doi:10.2307/3889153

Cited by 15 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Van der Ryst (2007) previously identified major rock art categories across the shelter. She noted that the motifs in the rock art sequence at OBP fit well within the general regional scheme of a threefold authorship pattern (Hall and Smith 2000;Eastwood 2003;Ouzman and Smith 2004;Eastwood and Smith 2005), pointing to complex inter-relationships over time at the same place. Older and poorly preserved red (San) hunter-gatherer paintings generally underlie the relatively more recent rock art assigned to (Khoekhoe) herders: these strikingly different geometric finger paintings range from red and orange to white, and show temporal overlaps with the former group (van der Ryst 2007: p.229).…”

Section: The Chrono-cultural Sequencementioning

confidence: 86%

The place beyond the trees: renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome

Val

Peña

Duval

et al. 2021

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Olieboomspoort is one of the few rock shelters in the vast interior of southern Africa documenting pulses of occupation from the Acheulean until the end of the Later Stone Age. Revil Mason excavated the site in 1954 and attributed the large Middle Stone Age (MSA) lithic assemblage to his middle phase of the so-called Pietersburg Industry. Recent work at the site has focused on the Holocene layers, but little is known about the earlier phases of shelter use. Here, we provide some background to the shelter, give a history of past research and present initial results following renewed fieldwork at the site. The MSA deposits contain abundant lithic artefacts and ochre, and we present an initial description of these cultural remains. Palynological analysis reveals limited potential for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, but some faunal remains indicate open grasslands. We dated two equid teeth that provided highly consistent combined U-series-ESR estimates, resulting in a mean age of 150 ± 14 ka (1σ). Even when considering potential sources of uncertainty such as variations in water-intake, these fossils can securely be dated to Marine Isotopic Stage 6. Our reappraisal of site formation processes highlights the fact that the archaeological assemblage is strongly time-averaged. We discuss these different results in the context of a recently rekindled interest in the so-called Pietersburg Industry.

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Section: The Chrono-cultural Sequencementioning

confidence: 86%

The place beyond the trees: renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome

Val

Peña

Duval

et al. 2021

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…Since the time of Smith's work, similar spread-eagled shapes in southern Africa have been recognised as depictions of clothing motifs (Eastwood 2003;. In a recent paper Smith, together with Eastwood, extended this understanding and they suggest that spread-eagled shapes in the geometric rock art tradition of Zambia and Malawi may also represent aprons (Eastwood & Smith 2005).…”

Section: Shape Type 2000smentioning

confidence: 99%

Surrogate surfaces: A contextual interpretive approach to the rock art of Uganda

Namono¹

2010

Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa

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There are so many things to be thankful for and so many people to give gratitude to that I will not forget them, but only mention a few. First and foremost, I am grateful to my mentor and supervisor, Associate Professor Benjamin Smith who has had an immense impact on my academic evolution, for guidance on previous drafts and for the insightful discussions that helped direct this study. Smith's previous intellectual contribution has been one of the corner stones around which this thesis was built. I extend deep gratitude to Professor David Lewis-Williams for his constant encouragement, the many discussions and comments on parts of this study. His invaluable contribution helped ideas to ferment. I am greatly indebted to Collin M. Turnbull for his insightful anthropological studies that inspired the many ideas in this thesis. In a special way, I thank my brother, Jimmy Kutosi for his invaluable support that enabled fieldwork in Uganda. Special thanks go to Susan Ward, the British Institute for East Africa, The University of Witwatersrand and the Rock Art Research Institute for the generous financial support to this study. Special thanks also go to Professor Merrick Posnansky for encouraging me along the way, and to Dr. Andrew Reid for all the support-mwebale nnyo ba ssebbo! To Dr. Geoff Blundell for inspiring me! In Kisumu, Kenya, a huge asante saana to Jack Obonyo of the Abasuba Community Museum, Dr. Mzalendo Kibunjia of National Museums of Kenya and Amolo Ng'weno of the Trust for African Rock Art, for assistance to Mfangano Islands. I recognise the contribution of the Uganda National Research Council for the permits and Dr. Ephraim Kamuhangire of the Uganda Museum for introductory letters that facilitated fieldwork in Uganda. To my research assistants: Micheal Robert Okwi, Dismas Ongwen and Alex Tamale, thank you very much for working tirelessly to ensure my fieldwork was successful. To Mbaziira v Hannington, webale byonna, byonna! In all the districts visited in Uganda, I am grateful for the support received from the Local Council Chairpersons at various levels, security operatives and the police for ensuring security during fieldwork. I particularly thank the staff of El-Nino Guest House, Kumi district, for the excellent service. To Mzee Francis Okerenyang and Mzee Ikara of Nyero, yalama noi! To Fred Kisubi of Fisheries Department on Lolui Islands, weebale ino! Thanks for your help! I thank all my dear colleagues and friends: Paulo Kagoda,

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“…The main heritage attraction on the Makgabeng plateau is its rock art. The plateau is one of four rock art areas within the Central Limpopo Basin (Eastwood 2003, p. 14) where three distinct rock art traditions ascribed to hunter-gatherers, herders and Bantu language-speaking farmers are found, often in the same rock art shelter (Hall and Smith 2000;Eastwood and Van Schalkwyk 2003;Eastwood et al 2002;Smith and Van Schalkwyk 2002;Eastwood 2003). There are over 600 rock art sites documented in the Makgabeng area (Eastwood et al 2002;Namono and Eastwood 2005).…”

Section: The Makgabeng Community Rock Art Heritage Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rock art attributed to Khoekhoen herders (Hall and Smith 2000;Eastwood 2003;Smith and Ouzman 2004) is finger-painted and hand-printed in finely ground red, white, and orange ochres and black pigment and applied in monochrome (Eastwood et al 2002;Namono and Eastwood 2005). Images depicted comprise finger dots and s t r o k e s , g e o m e t r i c m o t i f s a n d h a n d p r i n t s (Eastwood 2003; Characteristically, Northern Sotho rock art is fingerpainted in a roughly ground, chalky-white paste although there are several other monochrome pigments, and consists of depictions of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms, human figures, geometric patterns and items of colonial material culture and contact (Eastwood 2003;Eastwood and Van Schalkwyk 2003;Namono and Eastwood 2005). The rock art has been argued to relate to recent colonial contact or political protest but is predominantly linked to an older tradition associated with the affairs of male and female initiation (Smith and van Schalkwyk 2002;Van Schalkwyk 2002;Van Schalkwyk and Smith 2004;Namono and Eastwood 2005;Moodley 2008) (Fig.…”

Section: The Makgabeng Community Rock Art Heritage Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digital Technology and a Community Framework for Heritage Rock Art Tourism, Makgabeng Plateau, South Africa

Namono

2018

Afr Archaeol Rev

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Using digital technologies in the process of collecting and documenting oral heritage allows previously marginalised voices to feed into heritage and historical narratives for rock art heritage tourism. Literary heritage narratives have tended to dominate the dissemination of information on African heritage, whereas African cosmologies and oral traditions are the intangible values of place that attract visitors to heritage sites. In the Makgabeng, oral heritage narrated through stories, songs, dances and poetry and collected using digital technologies will help preserve African values threatened by the onslaught of Western ones, especially through written European languages and social media. The Makgabeng Community Rock Art Project re-values the role of elders in sustainability of heritage tourism initiatives and the integration of a community structure as a sustainable Bready-made^framework to heritage management in Africa. « Makgabeng Community Rock Art » vise à intégrer les communautés locales dans des projets de mise en tourisme des sites d'art rupestre et à élaborer de nouveaux cadres d'actions pour la gestion patrimoniale en Afrique.

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A Cross-Cultural Motif in San, Khoekhoe and Northern Sotho Rock Paintings of the Central Limpopo Basin, Southern Africa

Cited by 15 publications

References 17 publications

The place beyond the trees: renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome

The place beyond the trees: renewed excavations of the Middle Stone Age deposits at Olieboomspoort in the Waterberg Mountains of the South African Savanna Biome

Surrogate surfaces: A contextual interpretive approach to the rock art of Uganda

Digital Technology and a Community Framework for Heritage Rock Art Tourism, Makgabeng Plateau, South Africa

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