Famous rock art older than previously thought

A famous collection of South African rock paintings is more than three times older than previously believed, according to researchers from ANU and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK.

Archaeologists had previously believed the rock art in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg World Heritage Site to be less than 1,000 years old, but advances in radio-carbon dating technology have enabled ANU researcher Dr Alan Watchman and Dr Aron Mazel of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, to establish that some of the paintings are more than 3,000 years old.

There are more than 40,000 rock paintings in more than 500 rock shelters in the mountainous region. The paintings were produced by the San hunter-gatherers, who first settled the area around 8,000 years ago, and were mainly produced with black, white, red and orange pigments.

The works depict animal and human scenes and are said to represent the religious beliefs of the San.  Subjects include the indigenous eland (large, spiral-horned antelopes) and huntsmen.

“This is a significant breakthrough in the interpretation of this fabulous collection of rock art and will contribute to a greater understanding of the occupation of the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg by the San hunter-gatherers,” Dr Watchman said.

“In the past, conventional dating techniques would have required such a large sample that it would have been impossible to date the paintings without destroying them.

“However, we used very small samples in a refined dating technique called accelerator mass spectrometry to date carbon in natural oxalate salt directly associated with the paintings.

“We hope to use this technique to date more paintings, providing a greater insight into the range of time over which the paintings were produced. The San first settled in the area about 8,000 years ago and it is quite possible that many of the paintings are older than 3,000 years.

“If we can compare chronologically the range of topics depicted across the region, we will gain enormous insights into the lifestyle changes of the San people over the thousands of years that they occupied the area.”

The findings have been published in the latest edition of South African Humanities.