Kaross-Clad Figures from South African Cave Paintings

South African Archaeological Society

Kaross-Clad Figures from South African Cave PaintingsAuthor(s): James WaltonSource: The South African Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 6, No. 21 (Mar., 1951), pp. 5-8Published by: South African Archaeological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3887369 .

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The need for a more careful study of the chronology and associations of our rock-paintings is of extreme importance.

KAROSS-CLAD FIGURES FROM SOUTH AFRICAN CAVE PAINTINGS

by JAMES WALTON, B.SC., DIP.ED.

Two writers have recently discussed a group of robed figures depicted in a painting at Makhetha Cave, north Basutoland. The Abbe Henri Breuil compared these robes to those worn by the Sumerians.1 Miss Harding refuted this comparison, and drew attention to the similarity between the Makhetha robes and a description of 'Bechuana' karosses, written by Backhouse a little over a century ago.2

Miss Harding states, 'In spite of Backhouse's reference to cloaked Bushmen, however, I favour the view that most, if not all, of the painted figures under consideration represent members of some early Bechuana tribe.' On what grounds? Presumably on the sole possibility that the paintings depict necklaces and leg ornaments, features still common amongst Nguni and Sotho peoples over a wide area and (so far as necklaces are concerned) also known amongst Bushmen and even Wilton man. The normal dress of the Sotho was a kaross, made either from a single skin or a number of smaller skins sewn together. These were sometimes worn with the fur inside, but others, which were often white, were worn with the fur outside. The Bushmen also wore karosses made from small skins sewn together. Why, therefore, introduce a different tribe who never even occupied the Makhetha district? That the Makhetha figures are dressed in karosses there is little doubt, but whether they represent Bushmen or an early Bantu people cannot be decided by such non-diagnostic features as necklaces, leg ornaments or karosses, all of which are common to a wide variety of peoples over a long range of time.

The frequency with which leg ornaments and karosses are depicted in cave paintings suggests that they were the dress of the people who executed the paintings (usually ascribed to either Bushmen or earlier cave dwellers) and not of early Bantu peoples. They are particularly abundant in the Orange River Valley region of Basutoland, notably at Moyeni (Figs. a and g), Qomoqomong (Fig. c) and Cutting Camp (Fig. b). Those at Cutting Camp are white, whilst the rest are of the usual reddish-brown colour. Stow has also recorded similar figures from rocks on the Lower Imvani, below Camp Siding on the Cathcart-Queenstown railway (Fig. e), from a cave on Diep Kloof farm in the Orange Valley (Fig. f), and from a cave at Beersheba (Fig. d).3 Schofield also mentions 'figures with pointed hats and karosses decorated with tails and scal- loped edges (obviously identical with those still worn in Basutoland)' from cave-shelters on the Natal side of the Drakensberg.4

Until a definite chronology is established and correlated with the associated implements, it is impossible to decide with certainty who the people are who are represented in the paintings. In rare instances diagnostic features are portrayed which afford an approximate date. Pictures depicting Sotho warriors with their distinctively shaped shields cannot be earlier than about 1700 in Basutoland, for the Sotho did not appear until then.5 Pictures portraying horses are almost certainly later than 1825, when the horse was first introduced into Basutoland.6 The painting at Hermon of Zulus attacking Bushmen must have been executed after 1822, and pictures of iron sickles, iron 'kaffir-pots' and umbrellas must also be late.

On facts such as these, considered in conjunction with the sequence of overlapping styles, it is possible to suggest a tentative sequence for the cave paintings in Basutoland as follows:

Group IV Most recent. Figures in blue, black and red. Pigments can be easily washed off. Umbrellas, iron 'kaffiir-pots', iron sickles and horses depicted. Crude execution. After 1820.



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7

Group III Small lithe figures in reddish-brown pigment which is fast. Poly- chrome animals and Sotho figures, but no evidence of shading, c. 1820, but date of first introduction not established.

Group lIb Lithe figures in reddish-brown pigment which is fast. Animals in polychrome, shaded and beautifully executed. Sotho figures portrayed but less frequently than in Group III, c. 1750, but how much earlier has not been determined.

Group Ila As for Group Ilb, but Sotho figures are not portrayed. Charac- terized by abundance of long, fine red lines, radiating from the figures, the lines often being engraved in the rock. In Basutoland this type appears to be confined to the Orange Valley. Possibly a regional variant of Group Ilb.

Group I Dark reddish-brown gaunt figures. Animals in monochrome. No indication as to date, but earlier than 1750.

The kaross-clad figures mainly occur in Group Ila, which does not include any Sotho figures. This does not indicate that this group is earlier than Group Ilb, because the Sotho tribes did not penetrate into the Orange River area until about 1800. It does imply, however, that the kaross-clad figures were not Bantu, but were portrayals of the people who occupied the caves and executed the paintings. Whilst such figures predominate in this group they are also found more rarely in the other groups.

In Basutoland I have copied paintings and collected implements from scores of caves, but it will be years before sufficient comparative material has been collected to formulate any scientific sequence. Even then the paintings can only be interpreted by someone with a wide knowledge of Bushman and Bantu material-cultures and mythology. It is almost impossible to interpret an isolated painting (except those such as Hermon) until the fundamentals have been established, and this must be done independently for each region. Sequences which prevail in one area may not be applicable to others. I have already indicated the possibility of a regional style in the Orange Valley. It is also noticeable that the mantis figures frequently in paintings in the north of Basutoland, but I have not yet recorded a single instance from the south.

The fact that the kaross-clad figures are Bushmen, or earlier cave-dwellers, does not pre- clude a Mediterranean similarity-and the Abbe Breuil only suggested a similarity. There is a large and growing body of evidence which suggests that material cultures were transmitted from the Mediterranean to southern Africa either by direct migration or by contact from very early times. The Abbe's recent theories, although open to doubt on many points and still very tentative, are based on wide comparative studies which cannot be dismissed lightly. Statements such as 'I favour the view . .. that most of the painted figures under consideration represent members of some early Bechuana tribe'; 'I do suggest . . . that these paintings are of purely native origin' (whatever the word 'native' may mean); and 'there are few, if any, reasons for considering the Makhetha paintings to have any connexion with an ancient Sumerian civiliza- tion'" are valueless unless reasons are given in support.

I should like to make a plea for a study of South African cave paintings, conducted as scientifically and as thoroughly as the work on implements and pottery, which has placed South African archaeology on such a high level in recent years. Enough of vague interpretations and problematical dates without any substantiating evidence! Let us first collect facts on which to base our interpretations.



8

REFERENCES

'Breuil, Henri: 'Some Foreigners in the Frescoes on Rocks in Southern Africa', in S. Af. Archaeo. Bull., Vol. IV, No. 14, 1949, p. 45.

2 Harding, J. R.: 'Paintings of Robed Figures in Basutoland', in S. Af. Archaeo. Bull., Vol. V, No. 20, 1950, pp. 133-6.

3 Stow, G. W., and Bleek, D. F.: Rock-Paintings in South Africa, 1930, Plates 12, 26 and 38. 4 Schofield, J. F.: Primitive Pottery, 1948, p. 162. 5 Ellenberger, D. F., and MacGregor, J. C.: History of the Basuto, 1912. 6 Thornton, R. W., How, D. W., Collett, L., and Thornton, R.: The Origin and History of the Basuto Pony,

1936, pp. 10-12. 7 Harding, J. R.: op. cit., p. 136.

BOOK REVIEWS

Arkell, A. J. GOLD COAST COPIES OF 5TH-7TH CEN-

TURY BRONZE LAMPS. Antiquity, XXIV, March 1950; pp. 3840.

This note describes and illustrates two bronze lamps from Tarkwa, Gold Coast Territory, said to have come from old graves in the Bron country, north of Kumasi. One is a hanging lamp in the form of a bird, the other a standing lamp. Almost identical designs (though better finished) come from two graves at Firka in the Wadi Halfa district of the Sudan. The similarity in everything except workmanship is so striking that there can be no doubt that designs made in Upper Egypt in the fifth to the seventh centuries of our era were being locally copied as far afield as the Gold Coast.

A. J. H. G.

Clark, W. E. le Gros. 'APE-MEN' OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Antiquity, XXIV, 96, Dec. 1950; pp. 179-88.

In this interesting and important brief survey of the

South African Australopithecinae Prof. le Gros Clark

discusses the main features of this group in their rela-

tion to the evolution of man. He concludes that there

can be no doubt that they belong to the group con-

taining the Hominidae and the anthropoid apes (now

called the Hominoidea when taken together), and that

they bear, in certain respects, a closer resemblance to

man than do any of the surviving anthropoid apes.

He infers from this that they actually represent a

phase in the hominid evolution, rather than in that of

the apes. They would thus be collateral descendants of

a common ancestral stock, surviving into relatively

recent times. He discards the somewhat theoretical

possibility of 'parallelism' in the evolution of this

group. A. J. H. G.

Davison, Dorothy. The Story of Prehistoric Civiliza- tions. Watts & Co. 12s. 6d.

Miss Davison's books are always a pleasure, whether to the amateur or to the professional who wishes to get a quick and accurate survey of a period or area. They depend upon her abilities both as a writer and as an illustrator. This concise resume of Man's story from the beginnings of farming to the first use of metals (for copper is indexed, but not bronze) is an excellent piece of work. If it were possible to fit archaeology into the school curriculum, this would be the most appropriate text-book to choose. However, archaeology will not find a place in our schools, so here is that even better alternative, a source of enjoy- ment without the possible impending fear of punish- ment.

The work is copiously illustrated, enough to show the great variety of European and Near Eastern cultures. The African material is mainly confined to the Merimde, the Fayum, Badarian (which is amply dealt with here) and the Tasian, though Khartoum and the Upper Nile cultures are touched upon briefly. From these early beginnings Miss Davison passes on to a study of Western Europe, from Iberia to Scandinavia, tracing the cultures from their varied sources to their eventual home.

Not the least pleasing characteristic of this book is her use of chapter-heading illustrations, not titled, but completely listed after the list of illustrations. These show pleasant reconstructions of sites, groups of implements, of pottery or of stone structures. The amateur who is building up his library of archaeology should certainly add this work to his shelves, beside Our Prehistoric Ancestors and Men of the Dawn.

A. J. H. G.



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Kaross-Clad Figures from South African Cave Paintings