by JustJanice

Created on: July 03, 2009   Last Updated: July 05, 2009

The Bushman or San are the longest-term inhabitants of Southern Africa and are the last survivors of Stone Age people who were once scattered over Eastern, Central and Southern Africa. They occupied these regions for over 50,000 years.

South Africa has over 15,000 known San rock art sites, perhaps as many as 50,000 in Southern Africa. Although dating of the paintings is not exactly known, the site of one the earliest examples of symbolic art and ritual practice is at the Rhino Caves, Studio Hills. A snake shaped rock with hundreds of carved scale like indentations dates between 40,000 and 77,000 years ago. Painted slabs or mobile art excavated by Eric Wendt from the Apollo Cave, Namibia and associated with charcoal dates between 25,500 and 27,500BP. The next oldest date is 10,500BP found in the Cave of Bees, Matopas, Zimbabwe.

In the early 1870's a certain Wilhelm Bleak and his sister-in-law, Lucy Lloyd, worked with the Cape San in an endeavour to find the true meaning of rock art of Southern Africa. Although during that time most people thought of these people as an ignorant prehistoric man, Bleak and Lloyd learned different. Two Bushman men IHan=Kasso and IIKabbo , both of whom lived with Bleek and Lloyd showed explanations of a deeper understanding of rock art. IHan=Kasso and IIKabbo taught them that rock art were not just naive drawings of Bushman life. Unfortunately Europeans, Archaeologists and Anthropologists insisted that nothing good could come out of Africa, especially such works of art and in particular from such a primitive people as the Bushman. As recently as 1987 an African writer suggested that the Bushman were taught art by the Europeans. His comments are thought to be a racial and a mostly Eurocentric view believing that good art only came from Europe.

Europeans who first saw Rock Art were fascinated by the beauty and splendour of the work, but believed that the art was naive depictions of early Bushman life. It is only recently that these artworks are being deciphered and to some extent understood by Western Civilisation. In the past Europeans would not believe that these small primitive people were capable of the complicated and intricate works of art. These works show messages, actual events, complex nuances, symbols, metaphors and religious meanings.

The small antelope and tortoise were food commonly eaten by the bushman, although rarely depicted in their art. The conclusion for this omission is the art of antelope

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