Bushman Rock Art in South Africa
Bushman
Rock art abounds in many locations in South
Africa but no region of South Africa has as many or as diverse bushman rock
art sites as does the Drakensberg
of KwaZulu Natal. The bushman or San paintings are one of the Drakensberg's
and South Africa's greatest cultural treasures. Some 20 000 individual rock
paintings have been recorded at 500 different cave and overhang sites between
Royal Natal National Park and
Bushman's Neck.
Subjects
range from animals (mainly eland) to humans, therianthropes to ox-wagons and
mounted men with rifles. In Ndedema Gorge 3 900 paintings have been recorded
at 17 sites. One of them, Sebaayeni Cave, contains 1 146 individual paintings.
In the Cathedral
Peak- Mdelelelo Wilderness Area there are another 130 sites with a total
of over 8 800 individual paintings. Other prime sites include the Main caves
in Giant's castle
game reserve, Battle Cave in the
Injasuti Valley and Game
Pass Shelter in the
Kamberg Nature Reserve.
Ancient rock art sheds light on
the trance experiences of Bushman shamans.
When Europeans first
encountered rock art of the San people, or Bushmen, in southern Africa
some 350 years ago, they considered it primitive and crude, like the
people who made it. They were just “Bushman paintings,”
two-dimensional accounts of hunting and fighting and daily life.
Twentieth-century scholars had much more respect for the aesthetics of the
paintings—often finely detailed and exquisitely colored—but many also
viewed them largely as narrative accounts of hunter-gatherer life. A
closer look in recent years has yielded another picture altogether. For
the San, rock paintings weren’t just representations of life; they were
also repositories of it. When shamans painted an eland, they didn’t just
pay homage to a sacred animal; they also harnessed its essence. They put
paint to rock and opened portals to the spirit world.
San rock paintings at Game
Pass Shelter |
When entering a trance,
shamans often bleed from their nose and experience excruciating physical
pain. The shamans’ arms stretch behind them as the transformation into
the spirit world takes place. Scholars believe that the trance dance
serves as the foundation for rock art, and clear corollaries between cave
images and trance ceremonies appear in the Drakensberg cave paintings.
These ancient images offer a record into ages past.
KwaZulu-Natal's new Kamberg Rock Art Centre, now
open to the public, will help visitors understand and interpret the more
than 40 000 San Bushman images to be found in the Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg
Park.
Opened by KZN Premier Lionel Mtshali on June 4, the centre is situated in the
Kamberg
Nature Reserve, near to the Game Pass Shelter.
It is here that the "Rosetta Stone" of San
art first provided archaeologists with the key to interpreting the
symbolism of the paintings as spiritual in content - showing how hunters
gained power from the animals that they killed.
The Ukhahlamba-Drakensberg Park is a World Heritage
Site - one of just 23 sites worldwide granted this status on the basis of
both natural beauty and cultural significance. The 230 000 hectare
protected area contains 500 known sites of San rock art.
The
Kamberg San Rock Art Trail and Interpretive Centre together offer visitors
information about the world of the San, and the opportunity to walk to Game
Pass Shelter to view outstanding examples of their art in the company of a trained
community guide.
The San people lived in the Drakensberg area for
thousands of years before being exterminated in clashes with the Zulus and
white settlers.
A video documentary on the world of the San can be
viewed at the centre, which also provides contact with their descendants
who still live in the area. The centre offers a range of books, posters
and videos for sale, as well as a refreshment kiosk.
The walk from the centre to Game Pass Shelter takes
two-and-a-half to three hours via the Waterfall Shelter. The trail and
centre cater for a maximum of 10 patrons at a time, with tours run seven
days a week. It is recommended that places be booked by phoning Kamberg on
(033) 263 7312.
"A long, long time ago, we, the Bushmen, roamed
these mountains, masters of the unpredictable ways of nature. We were
nomads then, moving with the great herds of game and the changing of
seasons. When the animals migrated we followed, leaving no houses or roads
to mark our presence here. All we left behind was our story painted in the
rock, in the shelters, the story of sacred animals and our journeys to the
spirit world. These mountains once gave us shelter and the herds of
antelope gave sustenance, and meaning to our lives. Especially
the eland, for it is the animal of the greatest spiritual power. For us,
it is the animal of well being and healing, of beauty and peace and
plenty. The eland could take us on journeys to the world beyond and
connect us to God."
The eland is the largest antelope in southern Africa
and therefore it had some kind of significance just for its size. But for
the Bushmen it was more than that. The eland is also an antelope that's
got lots of fat and fat to the Bushmen is a very important substance in
the sense they believe it has supernatural potency
While
there are many spectacular rock art sites in South Africa, few are as
exceptional as Game Pass Shelter in Kamberg Nature Reserve. Fewer still
can justifiably lay claim to have changed the world's perception of the
San people. The Game Pass Shelter is commonly referred to as the
"Rosetta Stone" of southern African rock art, for it was here
that archaeologists first uncovered a vital key to understanding the
symbolism of San rock art.
This site is special for so many reasons. It was one of the first sites
ever to be seen by Europeans. It appeared in the Scientific American in
1915. It was the first SA rock art to be known in other parts of the
world. It's the site that, perhaps of all the sites in SA, that was the
key in our revealing of the meaning of San rock art. It was the one that
in a sense cracked the code.
Book onto the guided trail for as little as R40.OO for
a spectacular pilgrimage to Game Pass Shelter within the Ukhahlamba-
Drakensberg Park, KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. This trail is nothing short
of a world-class experience in Khoisan rock art and living Zulu and San
culture, deep within the scenic beauty of the Kamberg Nature Reserve
section of the Ukhahlamba- Drakensberg Park.
The trail is initiated by an audiovisual
extravaganza and celebration in the interpretation of San rock art. This
is followed by a 2 ½ to 3 hour guided walk, via the spiritually moving
Waterfall Shelter, to Game Pass Shelter which is home to visually
outstanding rock art.
Related links to Bushman /
San paintings and rock art.
"NO more do we bushmen hunt in these hills. The
fire is cold. Our songs are quiet. But listen carefully. You will hear us
in the water. Look carefully. You will see us in the rock."
Accommodation near to Bushman Rock Art Sites
- Amakhulu Central Reservations
Merl
offers a very friendly and professional service to book accommodation
in South Africa. She is passionate about South Africa and thinks
everyone should be visiting and exploring this country. She believes
it should be an affordable experience. Over the years She has
researched rural retreats, farm stays, and all kinds of adventure
holidays in South Africa. She specializes in the Drakensberg Region and I cannot imagine a tourist being in better hands when
planning a vacation to South Africa.
- Accommodation
in South Africa
available online from our affiliate SafariNow.com. This website is the
best I have yet come across for accommodation in South Africa. You
communicate directly with the accommodation establishment and the
entire booking is carried out online.
- Antbear
Guest House
The Antbear Guest House is perfectly situated for visits to the
Bushman rock art paintings at Kamberg in the Drakensberg Mountains.
This guest house offers excellent value and the hosts Conny and Andrew
will make you feel like part of their family. Andrew knows a fair bit
about bushman rock art and is the sort of person you will remember
after your trip to South Africa
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