Bushman Rock Art An Interpretive Guide

The prehistoric record of southern Africa extends back some 2 million years. The oldest cultural artefacts are stone tools such as handaxes, cleavers and choppers. In more recent centuries, archaeologists have found an extensive repertoire of artefacts including not only stone tools, but tools of bone, wood and shell as well as beads, jewellery, grinding stones, clothing, fishing equipment, burials and southern Africa's enigmatic rock art. Understanding these painted scenes and menageries is not immediately obvious. Using this interpretive guide, visitors to these ancient shrines can properly interpret rock art panels and make sense of the complex world of Bushman beliefs.