Revealing the mysteries of Bushmans Kloof rock art

Londi Ndzima is Bushmans Kloof’s Rock Art Curator. Combining his knowledge of the Western Cape’s 75,000-plus years of human history with his love of its rock art, he’s responsible for overseeing the huge number of anthropological sites around the lodge. Thanks to the extensive care Londi and the Bushmans Kloof team take to preserve these incredible sites, the lodge’s resident rock art has recently been awarded the highest level of South African National Heritage Site designation. Here we catch up with Londi to learn about the paintings and what they can tell us about the area’s historic residents. Bushmans Kloof is home to the largest collection of rock art in the world... How many paintings are there and how old are they? 'There are approximately 140 rock art sites surrounding Bushmans Kloof. Most cannot be dated directly, but we’ve approximated some of the sites using radiocarbon dating: the most ancient are between 1,000-10,000 years old. For context, the oldest engravings in Africa—the ochre marks from South Africa’s Blombos Cave—are roughly 75,000 years old, with the oldest paintings dating back some 27,500 years. When dating, it’s important to look at what was painted and how it has been depicted. Paintings of sheep and cattle, as well as finger paintings made by the Khoikhoi tribe, are all less than 2,000 years old, for example.' How are the paintings made? 'Firstly, the pigments for the paint are produced from nearby natural resources. Ochre provides reds and yellows, charcoal is used for blacks, manganese oxide for browns and white clay for bright streaks. Once the required pigments have been made, the paint is carefully applied to the surface through a combination of reeds, feathers, fingers and porcupine quills—each providing a different thickness of brushstroke.' What do they depict? 'The rock paintings and engravings around Bushmans Kloof are part of San religious beliefs and ritual culture. They do not, as is a common misconception, depict what’s on the menu, but are rather a form of Bible. Some paintings portray the animals that the San believed could help them gain power from God and the spirit world. Others meanwhile focus on people, showing how they danced in order to gain power.'