Featured: Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

The Megalithic European

The Megalithic European

Who's Online

There are currently, 362 guests and 1 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

<< Our Photo Pages >> Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings - Rock Art in South Africa

Submitted by C_Michael_Hogan on Saturday, 06 October 2007  Page Views: 12133

Rock ArtSite Name: Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings Alternative Name: Palala River Bluffs Bushman Rock Paintings
Country: South Africa Type: Rock Art
Nearest Town: Vaalwater  Nearest Village: Melkrivier
Latitude: 23.81S  Longitude: 28.251000E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
5 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
1 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

Internal Links:
External Links:

Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings
Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Antelope San Bushmen rock painting at the Palala River Bluffs. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Cup and Ring marks / Rock Art in Limpopo Province, South Africa

Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings are are a set of prehistoric rock art paintings in the Limpopo Province of South Africa created sometime between 5000 BC and 400 AD by the San Bushmen. These exquisite artworks are painted with natural dyes on cliff overhangs towering above the Palala River within the Lapalala Wilderness in the Waterberg region of South Africa; This Waterberg Biosphere as a whole is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The present treatment of the Palala River site is based upon scrutiny of extant literature, in addition to my 2006 site visit to and analysis of the paintings within this site.

ACCESS. One begins the journey from the main lodge of the Lapalala Wilderness Area. The initial stage is negotiated by a four-wheel jeep drive over unpaved, deeply rutted, seasonally flooded marshland and savanna. Herds of grazing Blue Wildebeest will likely be sighted as well as other big game animals. After the jeep has reached its physical limit as the vegetation density and earth sogginess increases, there is a hike of about 1.6 kilometres, culminating with a vertical cliff descent above the Palala River. Our access was made without rock climbing apparatus. Deeply rewarding views are presented down into the winding Palala River from the vertical bluffs. Furthermore, there are abundant and unusual plants clinging to the rocky passage, with a number or large Paper Trees providing welcome grasping elements. Birdlife is also diverse and abundant on the cliffs, which provide specialised ecological niches for a variety of species; it is doubtful that many of even the more obvious species have been recorded.

SITE DETAILS. Dozens of individual paintings appear on the nearly vertical rock faces in a rather well defined cluster. The bushmen had obviously chosen this locus for its copious ledge, almost a full metre wide, where the ancient artists could stand safely and produce their images. Typical images measure approximately ten centimetres by ten centimetres, although some of the individual paintings are notably larger. The predominant subjects of the paintings are mammals, mostly species that would have been hunted such as antelopes resembling the impala, kudu, klipspringer and blazebuck that thrive in the local savanna and bush at present. (Lapalala, 2006) The paint used to create the images consisted of native vegetable dyes supplemented by local soil minerals. The state of paint preservation is remarkable, and undoubtedly attributed to the relatively sheltered position of the rock overhangs and niches used. The paintings cluster is situated roughly midway between the cliff top and the river, with the total cliff height being about 110 metres.

ORIGIN. Various researchers have attributed rock art paintings in the Lapalala Wilderness to the San Bushmen. (Taylor, 2003) (Hogan, 2006) The Lapalala River Bluffs site fits the literature description of a rainmaking or other San ceremonial site. Besides the subject rock art cluster, there are several other prehistoric San rock painting sites within the Lapalala area and wider Waterberg, including the larger Melora site. The Middle Stone Age inhabitants of this part of the Waterberg were hunters who uses stone tipped spears, but were also gatherers. (Deacon, 1999) Habitation within this portion of the Waterberg is unclear during various stages of the Middle and Later Stone Age; in fact, it has been suggested that there could have been a habitation gap due to climatic variation, from sometime in the Middle Stone Age, say circa 8000 BC to re-settlement at about 900 AD. (M.M. Van der Ryst, 1998) Local tribesmen and guides ascribe to the earlier part of this range.

REFERENCES.
* M.M.Van der Ryst (1998) ‘'The Waterberg Plateau in the Northern Province, RSA, in the Later Stone Age'‘, British Archaeological Reports International Series 715, Oxford, England
* Lapalala Wilderness School Website (2006) ‘'Investing in an environmentally sound future'‘
* William Taylor, David Holt-Biddle and Gerald Hinde (2003) ‘'The Waterberg: Natural Splendour of a Forgotten Wilderness'‘, New Holland Publishers.176 pages, ISBN 1868728226
* C.Michael Hogan, Mark L. Cooke and Helen Murray, ''The Waterberg Biosphere'', Lumina Technologies, May 11, 2006
* H.J. Deacon and J. Deacon (1999) ‘'Human beginnings in South Africa: uncovering the secrets of the Stone Age'‘, David Philip, Cape Town, South Africa

(This is an original article produced for the Megalithic Portal by C. Michael Hogan)
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings
Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings submitted by C_Michael_Hogan : Palala River viewed from the cliffs containing the San Rock Paintings. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive map of the area

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 203.3km NNE 32° Machete I Rock Art
 216.1km S 182° African Window* Museum
 227.3km WSW 254° Matsieng Footprints Rock Art
 233.9km S 190° Malapa* Cave or Rock Shelter
 250.7km SSW 192° Sterkfontein* Cave or Rock Shelter
 324.4km SE 129° Bantu stone circles* Standing Stones
 363.5km N 4° Inanke Cave Cave or Rock Shelter
 368.0km N 3° Bambata Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter
 369.7km N 4° World's View Matobo National Park* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
 385.5km SE 134° Lion Cavern Ngwenya Ancient Mine, Quarry or other Industry
 440.8km SSW 211° Wolmaransstad Rock Art Rock Art
 480.8km NE 36° Great Zimbabwe* Ancient Village or Settlement
 481.0km NW 318° Makgadikgadi* Ancient Village or Settlement
 517.9km SE 134° Border Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter
 548.6km SSW 213° Stowlands Rock art Rock Art
 635.9km SSE 168° Kamberg rock art Rock Art
 644.6km SSW 214° Nooitgedacht Rock art Rock Art
 648.5km SSW 213° Wildebeestkuil* Rock Art
 649.1km SSW 211° McGregor Museum Museum
 649.7km SW 225° Wonderwerk Cave* Cave or Rock Shelter
 657.8km S 170° Ikanti Shelter I Rock Art
 667.4km S 180° Lesob 5 Rock Art
 667.9km S 180° Lesob 4 Rock Art
 668.3km S 180° Lesob 2 Rock Art
 668.4km S 180° Lesob 3 Rock Art
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Diocletian's Palace

Edendorf Steingrab 1 >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

A Phenomenology of Landscape, Tilley

A Phenomenology of Landscape, Tilley

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Palala River Bluffs San Rock Paintings by C_Michael_Hogan on Monday, 08 October 2007
(User Info | Send a Message)
It is unclear how the icon in the upper right originated. This site is definitely in South Africa, not Tunisia. Perhaps the "Rock Art" icon would be better.
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>

We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.