A 100 000 year old ‘paint workshop’ found in Blombos cave, Stilbay, South Africa in 2008
Indigenous San tribes of South Africa:
The amplification of indigenous voices in history is crucial to rectifying the destructive past and to learn from a more ancient wisdom with which they lived with and from the land.
During the Easter school break in March 2024:
Tomorrow the schools reopen after a 10 day break. We have a tradition (along with several other families) to go camping in the Cederberg mountain range which is about 300kms north of Cape Town. The most beautiful towering mountains and open plains, dramatic rock formations and waterfalls, untouched by urban development and where you have no reception of any kind. Far far away from any city lights, vast starry skies can be seen after night fall. Animals that thrive here include zebra, antelope, ostrich, jackal and the rarely seen Cape mountian leopard to name a few.
Fishing, hiking, jumping off cliffs into river ponds and telling stories around a camp fire with the sound of children playing and keeping each other busy or making their beds under the stars are some of the activities that kept us entertained.
Why is applicable to this MA and unit?
I knew that the Cederberg had cave/rock art made by the indiginous San people and I have even visited one such site before. This time however, I had a renewed appreciation. Although my own earth pigment making process did not start with the intention to ‘connect’ with the indigenous tribes of my country, I could not help but think of these indigenous people as I participated in activities similar to theirs centuries ago. I started to feel a connection/appreciation as I worked with the earth. I knew, as part of ‘resolution’, my research needed to connect with ancient wisdom (mentioned in my CS in the last unit) as way of recognising my own disconnection and to be remind of its importance. Perhaps by reconnecting with the past, I could learn to live wiser and with more care. Another motivation I had during our stay in the Cederberg, was of course to find more pigment and rocks to take back to my studio.
The San and Khoi tribes were indigenous people (hunter-gatherers) who lived in this area many years ago and some of the rock art date back 8000 years. A more recent excavation in Blombos cave near Stilbay has uncovered an engraved piece of ochre that is estimated to be 75 000 years old (more about this later). When European settlers encountered the tribes in this area, they later became known as the Bosjesmans by the Dutch which translated to Bushmen by the English settlers.
Wilhelm van Beelk and his sister in law Lucy Lloyed were British settlers who worked in Cape town as philologists (specialising in oral histories) in 1870. Their writing (most of which was done by Lucy) was invaluable in gaining a deeper understanding of the meaning behind the rock art of the San.
What do the rock paintings mean?
To the San, the paintings had a spiritual and simbolic significance. It captured the shamanic world view of the hunter gatherers. There seems to be a preoccupation with occasions and experiences in altered states of consciousness. It has also been said that the rock face was not seen as merely a canvas but as the ‘curtain’/veil between reality and the spirit world. Occasionally you will find a drawing of an animal or person drawn near a crack in the rock face itself and fading into the crack as if entering of coming from the spiritual realm. The reason why the Eland (a large and powerful antelope) was depicted so much was not only because it was as animal served as food for the San but also because it was metaphorically a symbol for strength of mind and spirit.
I kept wondering why the history of the San fascinated me so much. Besides their obvious interconnection with nature, they had a visual language that attached psychological meaning to objects and animals in nature. In my own practice I could see a library of visual symbols building as well as a connection between my art and spiritual aspects. This explained my sense of connection.
The San people clearly had a strongly expressive culture evident through the stories and the paintings and the dancing traditions that accompanied rituals such as the rain-dance, healing ceremonies as well as rites of passage (the boy’s first game kill and the daughter first menstruation). It is also on these occasions, when we look at the paintings, that there is a fine line between people and animals. The line gets blurred and people are depicted as half animal like a transformation into an animal. These indigenous tribe saw themselves as part of nature – interconnected with nature. Importance was placed on transformation. Here I see another strong link with my practice.
A lot more can be said about rock art but for now I will only focus on these elements and add to the post as I learn more. I am left with a sense of appreciation for the San, their rich culture and heritage. I am also experiencing a sadness when I think of how they were disempowered, sometimes enslaved and dispositioned. A proud culture and unique lore and language lost due to injustice. I am not sure how this will impact my practice but I have a strong feeling that it will…
Some more photo’s of the beautiful area with its rock formations and caves:
Rocks picked up during a hike up Sneeuberg (‘snow-mountain’) – the highest peak in the Cederberg:
(YES! I found purple!! …..SO rare)
During our time there, myself and two of my friends decided to hike up Sneeuberg. Sneeuberg is the highest peak in the Cederberg at 2027m. As we climbed I kept picking up rocks (to the frustration and amusement of my friends). I found some beautiful deep oranges and reds and even yellowy greens. Near the summit, I spotted a small purple rock/shale. I could not believe my luck. My eyes became fixed to the ground, focussed on finding more… By this time my friends were in a hurry but luckily I found a spot that had more purple flakes of shale. I picked up what I could in a rush. It was only a handful but I was SO pleased. My wee pallet was expanding! My friends commented that it obviously doesn’t take a lot to make me happy. Little do they know how rare it is to find this colour and how special it will be to create something with this pigment together with my connection with this moment on Sneeuberg. I will have to go up there again…
Some other ‘things of beauty’ found while camping, hiking and visiting the ablution toilets at night 🙂
San artifacts and art found at Blombos cave in Stilbay:
After our camping trip in the Cederberg, we were off to Stilbay. The seaside villiage where we often escape to whenever school holidays allow. I knew that Stilbay had historical sites relating to the San tribes. This time I was determined to absorb everything there was to know.
Blombos cave:
Blombos Cave is a provincial heritage and archeological site located on the Southern Cape coastline of South Africa. The cave contains middle stone age currently dating between 100,000 and 70,000 years before present and late stone age sequence dated beween 2000 and 300 years before present. The site was excavated in 1991 and fieldwork is ongoing.
The most informative archaeological material from Blombos Cave includes engraved ochre engraved bone, ochre processing kits, marine shell beads, refined bone and stone tools and a broad range of terrestrial and marine faunal remains, including shellfish, birds, tortoise and ostrich egg shell, and mammals of various sizes. These findings, together with subsequent re-analysis and excavation of other Middle Stone Age sites in southern Africa, have resulted in a paradigm shift with regard to the understanding of the timing and location of the development of modern human behaviour.
Cross-hatching done in ochre on a stone fragment found at Blombos Cave is believed to be the earliest known drawing done by a human in the world
Article with video about the cave and painting tools:
The video-link below gives a clear description of the ongoing excavation at Blombos and gives their interpretation of the use of the ‘Painting workshop’ that was excavated there. I could not help to feel a strong connection here. And after highjacking a tour group at the Blombos museum of Archeological in Stilbay, I was blown away. I guess growing up in South Africa and learning about the San has made me numb and unappreciative of the heritage. With all the tourist shops filled with African art and sometimes replicas of rock art, one can fail to recognise its significance. I am thankful for this amazing rekindling of my cultural appreciation for the indigenous people from my corner of the world and hope to learn more about them as well as from them.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-15257259
Here are some photo’s of my visit to the Hessequa Archeological museum in Stilbay:
I am so pleased I could connect the places, experiences and knowledge gained during this holiday with my MA. It was certainly not a waste of time (as I feared). I know that this unit requires more time in the studio with practical work but I am grateful that I could sneak in this last bit of theoretical/experiential research. I believe it to be a crucial piece of my ‘resolution puzzle’, relating to interconnection. Interconnection with others, with the history with the people and places of my country.
As the San tribes were forced to replace their hunter gatherer lifestyle, language and freedom, their offspring has now lost interest in their heritage and indigenous knowledge completely. Most of them living in poverty. One of the values in my practice is to provide Care. In less privileged communities where people suffer under poverty and crime this often leads to emotional suffering. Due to a lack of psychological services. Perhaps the workshops that I plan to do can help to restore, alleviate and connect people to each other as well as to a piece of their indigenous knowledge. It’s worth hoping and dreaming and planning for this.
I end this post with a poem by Hendrik Januarie, who is a descendant of the San. It is originally written in Afrikaans but I will translate it to English here:
Reunie (Reunion(extract) – Hendrik Januarie
But the stories
could not bond together
the children and the children of the children,
as their roots lay deeper
on forgotten ‘continents’,
far away from the mixed descendants
of slaves.
For interest sake:
Here is a link that will take you to Google Arts & Culture: The History of the San in Southern Africa Told Through Embroidery by artist Tamar Mason and team:
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/FAWRd4Yd6lygrQ?hl=en
Books I am using for research:
