Rock Paintings in Southern Africa

Rock paintings in Southern Africa

IMAGES:http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/field_projects/sarap/sarap_images.html

THINGS to THINK

ABOUT:

the pebble is a FOUND

OBJECT. What does that

mean? What does that

tell us about Prehistoric

man?

It is PORTABLE.

Did Prehistoric man

move around? Why?

In 1969, six painted rock fragments were found in Namibia. Named after the Apollo 11 space expedition to the moon of the same year, they are one of the oldest examples of rock painting in Africa and in the world.

Why did they paint IN PROFILE?

“The aim of the earliest painters was to create a convincing image of the subject, a kind of ‘pictorial definition’ of the animal, capturing its very essence, and only the profile view met their needs.” – all-history.org

THINGS to THINK ABOUT: How do we SEE the subjects of Prehistoric art? From the front? Or from the side?

Source: “Images of Power” Lewis-Williams and Dowson. Copy by H.Pager

Found in 1917 by Reinhardt Maack, who was preparing a map of the Brandberg mountain in Namibia.

The ‘White Lady’ of Brandberg

The San ‘Bushmen’ people

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c246fZ-7z1w

Take notes while you listen. In pairs, think of a question (for which you have the answer).

A modern-day San healer, or ‘shaman’

THINGS to THINK ABOUT:

What sound is their language based on?

http://www.ezakwantu.com/Gallery%20Brandberg%20-%20The%20White%20Lady%20-%20Namibia.htm

The paintings in Brandberg are believed to be between 2000 and 4000 years old (Bronze Age) and are attributed to the San Bushmen people.

The White Lady of Brandberg: rock painting, Namibia, discovered in 1917 by Reinhardt Maack. It got its name from French archaeologist Abbot Henri Breuil and, contrary to what was originally believed, it shows a man (not a woman) who is a shaman painted in white.

Sources and extra information:

Gardner’s Art through the Ages‘Images of Power’ by Lewis-Williams and Dowsonhttp://all-history.org/2-3.html

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/past_exhibitions/2013/ice_age_art.aspx http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/field_projects/sarap/ http://www.essential-humanities.net

http://www.namibiatourism.org/place/brandberg

http://www.ezakwantu.com

http://www.southafrica.info/travel/cultural/sterkfontein.htm#.UjWYDhaCJ5k