Rock art as African history: what religious images say about identity, survival and change
TO “read” the history of times before writing, scholars have traditionally used excavated evidence. Remains like dwellings, burials and pots can reveal a lot about how people lived long ago. In southern Africa, there is another archive to “read” too: rock art. Rock art is primarily a record of spiritual beliefs – but also reflects the events that these beliefs made sense of. Authors SAM CHALLIS, Senior Researcher, University of the Witwatersrand BRENT SINCLAIR-THOMSON, Support staff, University of the Witwatersrand Hunter-gatherers in the region, ancestors of today’s San or BaTwa, made rock art for thousands of years before African herders…