Drakensberg uKhahlamba Rock Art
uKhahlamba · Maloti-Drakensberg Park · uKhahlamba Rock Paintings
Later Stone Age ~4000 BP–1800 CE·San (Bushman) hunter-gatherer·🇿🇦 KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
About
About Drakensberg uKhahlamba Rock Art
Africa's best preserved Late Stone Age rock paintings - 35,000 figures in 600 shelters across the Drakensberg (Barrier of Spears) and Maloti mountains, created by San ancestors over 4,000 years. Classic panels at Game Pass Shelter show therianthrope eland shamans in trance dance, and Battle Cave depicts archery. Shelters like Rose Cottage span 30–1 ka. WHS 2000 for both nature and culture.
Why it mattersLargest San rock painting corpus; cornerstone for Lewis-Williams shamanic hypothesis.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Eland–shaman morphing meaning
- 0219th-century paintings with horses/guns as colonial contact
Theories
- 01Lewis-Williams shamanic trance three-stage model
- 02Eland as most potent n/um animal
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4000 BP – 19th century
- Period
- Later Stone Age ~4000 BP–1800 CE
- Culture
- San (Bushman) hunter-gatherer
- Builders
- San ancestors and descendants
- Purpose
- Shamanic rock art encoding trance, eland potency and rainmaking
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.4000 BP – 19th century
Initial construction
c. 1681 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
29.3667° S · 29.4500° E · 2400 m · 2 mapped features
Game Pass Shelter
painting panelRosetta Stone of San shamanism – dying eland shaman
29.4500° S · 29.3500° EBattle Cave
painting panelLarge conflict scene with bows
29.2800° S · 29.5500° E
Gallery