The South Africa Rock Art Gallery
The South Africa Rock Art Gallery
The South Africa Rock Art Gallery
The Rock Art of South Africa
The South Africa Rock Art Gallery
Photographs by Damon de Laszlo and Peter Robinson
RARI Rock Art Research Institute The African Rock Art Digital Archive Witwatersrand University South Africa

San Rock Art of the Drakensberg South Africa
San Rock Art of the Drakensberg KwaZula-Natal South Africa
Bradshaw Foundation Chairman Damon de Laszlo examining rock art in the Drakensberg Mountains, in 2007
© Bradshaw Foundation
The South Africa Rock Art Gallery presents examples of the San rock art paintings. The images were taken by Damon de Laszlo and Peter Robinson during the Bradshaw Foundation Field Trip to the Drakensberg Mountains in 2007; we had the privilege of being shown the paintings at various sites by a leading expert Dr Ben Smith, former Director of RARI the Rock Art Research Institute at the University of Witwatersrand. Dr Smith described the art in relation with specific San beliefs.

The so-called 'Rosetta Stone' of San rock art is located at the Game Pass Shelter, where Professor David Lewis-Williams decoded the meaning of the art by studying one panel in particular - the painting of the dying eland and a man apparently holding its tail. The man has hooves like the eland, his hair is standing out like the eland's fur, and his legs are crossed, in imitation of the eland's legs. Both the eland and the man are behaving as if they are dying. The man is a shaman going into trance. He is about to leave this world for the spirit world, and he is taking on the power of the eland. This symbolism focuses on a particular part of the San experience - the spirit world journeys.

Whilst the San of this region are long gone, the ancient powers of the art are far from forgotten: Zulu traditional healers and spiritualists still travel from miles around to draw upon the sacred powers of Game Pass Shelter. And today they are joined by thousand of visitors from around the world. Each makes a personal pilgrimage to this sacred place, just as the San did for millennia before. Game Pass Shelter was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the year 2000.

South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
Peter Robinson & Ben Smith (right)
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
Eland depictions
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
Eland
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
Recording the art
© Bradshaw Foundation
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
Spoor in a shelter
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
At a shelter
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
Recording the art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
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South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
Distant baboon
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
 
South African Rock Art South Africa
The Drakensberg
© Bradshaw Foundation
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Article continues

South African Rock Art South Africa
San rock art
© Bradshaw Foundation

Rock Art Links

→ South Africa Rock Art Archive
→ South Africa Rock Art Gallery
→ San Rock Art of the Drakensberg
→ RARI - Rock Art Research Institute
→ ARADA - African Rock Art Digital Archive
→ San Rock Art of the Drakensberg
→ Africa's World Heritage Sites
→ SARAP: Southern African Rock Art Project
→ A Map from the Memory of the World
→ Explore Cederberg rock art from your home
→ Early masterpieces: San hunter-gatherer shaded paintings of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg
→ A Painted Treasure
→ Origins Centre
→ Animals in Rock Art
→ Reflecting Back: 40 Years Since ‘A Survey of the Rock Art in the Natal Drakensberg’ Project (1978-1981)
→ San rock art exhibition at the National Museum & Research Center of Altamira
→ Interview with Dr Ben Smith
→ African Rock Art Archive
 
→ Bradshaw Foundation
→ Rock Art Network

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