New Approach to Cave Art in Zimbabwe

Glimpse into the Mentality History of the Ancient San

in the period from 10 000 BC to 600 AD

2021

Jørn Støvring
i
To my wife, Jane and my children, Laila and Nikolaj.

HARARE 2021

ISBN 978-87-972849-1-9

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FOREWORD

This book establishes the primacy of the cosmological image in the study of the prehistoric paintings of Zimbabwe and shows a
detailed comparative iconographic analyses of a range of images through time to demonstrate that art was concerned with basic
ideological concepts of the society, through the use of carefully chosen archetypes underwritten by San metaphysics.

Zimbabwe has more than 10,000 rock art sites within its borders. Rock paintings are a feature of large parts of Zimbabwe's
landscape. They were painted mainly on the back walls of rock shelters or on the inside walls of caves They mainly portray animals
and people also show whole landscapes, with trees, rocks, watercourses and patches of grass (and this makes the rock art of
Zimbabwe unique). The pictures are executed by hunter gatheres who came before the Bantu farmers and herders. The earliest
dates assigned to the Late Stone Age in Zimbabwe go back about ten or twelve thousand years. In other parts of Africa it is over
20 000 years old. The earliest paintings were large, rough sketches of animals. Later, monochrome animals were painted on a
much smaller scale. Polychrome pictures originated even later. The final, latest style differed markedly from all those which
preceded it. The pictures now showed stylised people, goats, cattle, carts etc. These were painted not by hunters and gatherers,
but by the Early Bantu. The rock paintings of Zimbabawe are special in an Southern African context. Plants, including those of
nutritional value, are depicted almost as frequently as animals: the gathering of food was an essential part of life everywhere. The
pictures show that the artists' knowledge of the plants they painted was very accurate: the outer form and peculiarities are
realistically reproduced.

Although similar in style and content to many other southern African paintings, the Zimbabwe art has it’s own individuality in that it
has an amazingly wide variety of images including more complex images, for example, depictions of what Peter Garlake called
“ovals” which have also been termed “formlings” interpreting them as the seat of inner parts of human potency. These were also
interpreted by Mguni as possibly representing technostructures of termite mounds, an important feature in San worldview and
cosmology. This art has immense value, not only as a window into our past, but as an insight into how our earliest ancestors
thought and saw their world.

Following a chronological approach, this book explores and reviews a century of research and divides the work into four
chronostratigraphic epochs of different painting periods which fit not only into time periods but are tied to who executed the art
during a particular epoch. The periods are defined by traditions and events:
The Ancient San Tradition from the last Ice Age (around 10 000 BC) to the start of the Humid Period (with considerable
insecurity dated around 5 000 BC).

The San Tradition from the end of the Humid Period to the arrival of the Early Bantu (after 400 AD) and the

The Late San Tradition from the arrival of the Early Bantu until the demise of the San in the second part of the Millennium AD.
The demise itself could be a separate tradition.

This has made the understanding of the art not only easier but enables the rock art practitioner to understand the technoforms
better for academic and conservation purposes. This book adds to the expansive body of knowledge of Rock Art researches in
Zimbabwe which spans more than a century the most recent of which are Garlake (1995) on the general technoforms and
technotypes of the art, Muguni (2002) for the reinterpretation of the complex ovals and formlings, Nhamo(2017) for the Lionel
Cripps’s archive of reproductions and the centrality of the kudu and not the eland in the animal depictions of the Zimbabwe San
as compared with the eland for South African San. The refined stratigraphy of painters in this book makes the understanding of
the changements in the execution of the art and styles used easier to comprehend as the reader can relate to the
person/group responsible for the art at a particular period.

Zimbabwe’s recent economic collapse and ‘land reform’ programme had fundamental impacts on the appreciation and
protection of the rock art sites by tourists, local communities, international organisations and government agencies. By
employing new techniques of documentation the book potentially improves and expands the management options of rock art in
the country. The book is therefore not only academic as it seeks to improve the understanding of the art by providing a
sequence punctuated by events (the Humid Period, the Khoenhoe and the Early Bantu) and to replace an approach focusing on
human agency with a framework consisting of Spirits and Beings and deliver a narrative of changing mental constructions in
traditions from the Ancient San, to the San to the Late San but a practitioner's manual as the latter battles to understand the
technical execution of the art for conservation purposes.

Conservation of this invaluable art is a big challenge for the custodial agency of the National Museum and Monuments of
Zimbabwe and requires international intervention and support to save this invaluable heritage for posterity.

Kundishora Tungamirai Chipunza

Chief Curator


National Museums and Monuments Zimbabwe

A Sacred Tree
Hatfield HARARE
Image no 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1 FORMULATION OF PROBLEM

CHAPTER 2 SPACE

CHAPTER 3 A HISTORICAL GLIMPSE

CHAPTER 4 A FRAMEWORK

CHAPTER 5 THE SPIRITUAL CONTENT

CHAPTER 6 SPIRIT MATTER / OVOIDS

CHAPTER 7 SCENES FROM AN ANIMAL SPIRIT - HUMAN RELATIONSHIP

CHAPTER 8 A FEMALE INITIATION RITE

CHAPTER 9 A MALE INITIATION RITE

CHAPTER 10 OVERALL DISCUSSION

ANNEX I LOOSE ENDS

ANNEX 2 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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INTRODUCTION

This investigation starts in 2018 due to a visit to Chikupo Cave, Masembura, Zimbabwe. The four Chikupo Caves are situated two hours drive northeast
from HARARE through the Chinamora Communal Area. Two of the caves are found high up on the mountainside while the third is at ground level. There
the fence broke down long ago but the pictures are still well preserved. In the middle of the cave, one composition illustrates a young girl with a long
procession of men. We were surprised to look for an interpretation in the professional literature. Professor Garlake is one of the most published and
leading San Art researchers and he describes this image in his book Hunter's Vision (Garlake, 1995). The little girl is clapping her hands in respect to a
San leader. The photo itself demonstrates otherwise. She is not clapping her hands but is holding a bird. Instead of an authoritarian relationship, we
could see a transaction involving a token gift. Close to this image - chiseled fingers at the cave wall point towards a hole. The pictures above the hole
appear grey and empty to the "naked eye". An entire Parthenon of figures and symbols spring to life after using preview imaging software. Advanced
photography and software can improve the description of what the ancient images presents and represents.

The public is primarily interested in the question of what the ancient image represents and means. Today, Humanity is a celebrated word targeting
ethics and values and tapping into rights. Humanity excludes animals, being relegated to a condition without a soul, ethics, and values. This was not
always so. In the period after the last Ice Age which ended around 13 000 to 10 000 years BC, the San hunter-gatherers recognized relations and
interdependencies with the other communities of animals, plants, and rocks. These are conceived as having a persona and as beings - albeit at very
different levels. The supernatural world is a reality and interweaves with the natural world, it comprises anima or spirits and clusters of the matter here
termed ovoids. Over the thousands of years, these beliefs evolve and divert geographically and it only leaves a distant echo in the last two hundred
years of ethnographic material. The problem of this book is how to get access to the ancient belief system.

The ancient San express their beliefs in the images at the great caves, at the boulders, and smaller walls in the mountainous areas of Zimbabwe. The
year 2000 marked a turning point in the structure of the Zimbabwean farmland as farmers of European descent left their farms and were replaced by
African farmers. This shift impacts greatly on the information on the location of minor caves and sites with San Paintings. The information becomes
localized instead of being public. Internet rock art sites do provide valuable information on the great caves, but the information on several other caves
and walls are not public. The other issue is protection. Some sites are degraded due to gold mining or the use of fire inside the caves by religious sects.
Zombepata is one of the most ancient and famous of the grand caves. We took pictures of the fresh ash remnants of a large fire that had been made
inside the cave. Had the wind gone in a different direction, that weekend - those ancient images would have been lost. To this day the site continues to
be unprotected. This world heritage is by no means safe. Even to document the images in this book can have a critical value in itself.

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THE FIELD STUDY
The living descendants of the Ancient San in Zimbabwe number around 1500 persons. They are located in the semi-desert on the Zimbabwean side of
the border to Botswana. In September 2019 and December 2019 we visited the community to discuss the images made by their ancestors.

The key findings are as follows.

The San do not paint images in the caves and at other sites anymore. The spiritual specialists do paint a singular image of their respective spirit
animals on the front door. They know how to obtain colors from minerals and plants. But, they have lost their collective memory and link to their
ancestor's paintings. The public authorities plan that they should sustain themselves by agriculture. The semi-desert does not provide opportunities for
this. For water supply, there is a dam that is used for all purposes, including sanitary. The tiny community is split along different San language lines,
even though only few speak their ancestral language. There has been some admixture with surrounding Ndebele tribes.

The life of the present-day San is still permeated with animistic and some totemic beliefs. The spirit world is a reality that is confirmed and reconfirmed
daily through rituals. Though forbidden, the men hunt and the women collect roots. Their distinct cultural lifestyle is expressed through the dance.
When they find a root, they dance and thank the spirit owner of the roots. When going for a hunt, the spiritual specialist is consulted first. They eat
together under a tree at a sacred site. The few images, that they make, form specific parts of their rituals for hunting. They do believe in spirits. The
spirits are a reality in the present and the interaction with the spirit world forms an integral part of their lives. They seek guidance, permission, and
empowerment from the spirits.

We discuss with the elders an interpretation of the images presented in this book. Being descendants of the ancient San does not necessarily make
them truth-tellers of their ancestor paintings, but it provides a glimpse into how their own life was interwoven with beliefs. The spirit belief taps into
every interpretation and discussion of the content of images. The spirit belief is not relegated to Sunday mornings or separate distant realms but they
form and inform daily lives. In other words, to understand the mentality of the San, it is necessary to accept the fact that the San take their own belief
system seriously.

This statement may seem obvious, but as we shall demonstrate it has been everything else but, accepted! There are huge implications of believing in
spirits as influencing and determining factors in daily life. It puts the human agency into a relational system, where it does not form the most important
part. This observation form a cornerstone for the interpretations in this book. We regard the belief system expressed in the paintings as a direct source
to their mentality at that time, at that age, and in that specific context.

For Good Order: Our terminology (the word San) and approach (the use of ancient images in this book) were discussed with and approved by the
elders of the San community in Zimbabwe.

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FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM
Our interest is to focus on the San mind. Their perception of the world in which they understood themselves. How did they see the world in which they
lived? Whether it is possible to detect a start for key beliefs and concepts, to follow the changes and developments and see the concepts demise?

We shall first present the professional literature in order to assess the different takes on this. The following is not a full representation of different
authors views. To get this kindly check the list of literature. What we do is to present the different types of approach and explanation in order to
position our own approach.

Most tourists gets their introduction to the rock art of Zimbabwe through the writings of professor Peter Garlake. The Hunter’s Vision from 1995 is well
known. The title encapsulates his general approach which can be detailed as follows. Garlake, 1995, p 126 state on an image of a large elephant
bleeding from the nose:“The death of the elephant was perceived as a metaphor for the death of trance. The elephant is the trancer, its blood and
particularly that flowing from its trunk parallel the blood - the potent blood, the spirit matter - of the trancer”. Garlake explains the picture of the nose
bleeding elephant as a metaphor for human agency. The trance dance experience provides the experience that is pictured as a nose bleeding elephant.
We term this type of explanation as a metaphoric. We disagree fundamentally with this line of argumentation that diminish the belief system of the San
to be an expression of human agency. One of the motivations of writing this book is to counter this notion and provide a different narrative.

Renaud Ego - a writer on San Art and Culture (EGO, 2015) - summarizes his own work as follows: Renaud Ego posits that the artists sought to steal the
animals' secret through an act of rendering visible a vitality that remained hidden beneath appearances. In this process, the San themselves became
the visionary animal who, possessing the gift of making pictures, would acquire far-seeing powers. EGO, 2015 refers to a fluidity in the paintings ” .. all
their activities are steeped in the same aura of spirituality, part of a conception underpinned by great fluidity. Art stems from, and participates in, this
fluidity.” In this respect, Ego follows the same footsteps as Garlake by reducing the images back to the artist.

Garlake's view on the trance dance is consistent with a famous South African approach (professor Lewis Williams) that demonstrates that the trance
dance provides considerable meanings when interpreting Rock Art. The trance approach has international fame. It underlines the role of the trance
dance, the shaman, and the trance process. In regard to our theme of ancient mentalities, we recognize the importance of the trance dance as a
central institution for the ancient San. For simplicity we term it the trance dance approach (internationally it is often called the entropic approach). We
agree that the trance dance experience permeated several mental constructions in different ways. The issue is exactly to identify which image parts
that can be traced back to the trance dance as such and which assumptions that are adopted into the belief system.

The trance dance approach is often combined with ethnographic data to explain features of the paintings. These data are seldom more than 150 years
old and the usefulness and credibility of using them on dissimilar conditions especially conditions that are thousands of years older - are contested. We
find that at least one use, though could prevail and that is inspiration for the formulation of issues for further investigation.

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Other authors and even Garlake in a specific analysis (e.g. the Antelope tableau, Lake Chivero) operate with a naturalistic explanation. This type of
explanation presuppose a conception of Nature and cast the painter as an ARTIST that intend to represent the natural animals around him. With human
agency defined this way, the door is effectively closed for looking at spiritual explanations.

Animism contains different approaches (Ingold, Tim 2000, Willerslev, Rane 2007, Dowson, 2009, Fuglestvedt, Ingrid 2010, Harvey, Graham, 2014) and
it is still under development. It has benefitted from new ethnographic material from the polar circle in Greenland, Siberia, and Australia. Harvey is
connected to the view that new animism is a relational practice in which humans cultivate relationships with other persons, whether human or
nonhuman. We find this formulation useful as a loose conceptual frame that can help identify the types of beings in our investigation.

Descola (2014) delivers a special contribution to the understanding of the quality of the relation between humans and non humans. He explains in the
following quote: " ...attribution by humans to nonhumans of an interiority identical to their own. This attribution humanizes plants and, above all,
animals, since the soul with which it endows them allows them not only to behave in conformity with the social norms and ethical precepts of humans
but also to establish communicative relations both with humans and among themselves...".

In effect, Descola operates with an interiority that is similar between humans and non-humans and an exteriority that is dissimilar, that is eg a human
body versus an animal body. Descola's contribution is based at substantial studies in Latin America, Asia and Australia. It is valuable as a proposition to
the understanding of hunter and gatherers conception of relations between humans and nonhumans and it can be investigated empirically. It has to be
reflected in the images. We shall investigate this proposition.

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Formulation of Problem, Method and Methodology

Our interest is to focus on the San mind. Their perception of the world in which they understood themselves. How did they see the world in which they
lived? Whether it is possible to detect a start for key beliefs and concepts, to follow the changes and developments and see the concepts demise? 


This is not an open investigation of different approaches. We shall proceed on certain assumptions. One relate to the San belief system:

The San firmly believe in the existence of spirit animals and their power as separate beings - independent from humans - and that they express their
beliefs in their paintings. We find it obvious that they painted these beings to exist in themselves, and not as a metaphor for the humans. Through the
methodology, we shall (try to) verify this statement. To take the belief system of the Ancient San seriously is no different than taking the belief
system of the Vikings World of Gods seriously. No one is trying to translate this belief system back to human agency.

We presume that the San world view is expressed in the structure behind the compositions in the large caves.
Indeed, how could it be otherwise? The mental constructions must have been in the mind of the artists when they painted the panorama compositions
in the large caves. When the structure can be detected in the one large cave after another, we are dealing with a common conception. Thus. Our
Methodology is based on that the panorama images in the large caves reflect basic thought structures on the San world view. We term the world view
for cosmology. The common elements demonstrate basic thoughts on how the world was composed. We shall deconstruct and elaborate the categories
of beings from the Cosmology in the next chapter on the Framework. The categories in the framework then form the base for the presentation of the
chapters of the key content of the San Belief System.

The majestic large caves are in a special category due to location, size, number of images, and especially content. Assessments of all the large caves
demonstrate that there are some common parameters in the mental constructions behind the panorama view. The full compositions in the large caves
show a base structure of a top of white vibrating dots, a middle area with animals and humans in action, and an area below or in the middle with
black holes. The large caves contain ample space for the performance of rites and often they also have holes – partly caved inside the caves.

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There are fundamental differences between the large caves, the boulders and the granite walls. The boulders and depictions at separate granite walls
also contain both clusters of overpainting as well as separate tableau. They seldom contain the background or a complete worldview. A separate
tableau can be very original in comparison to the large caves. As an example, several original presentations of the “ovoid” are found at the boulders.
The modest sites are often much more dilapidated than the images in the boulders since they are less protected. Even so, the few elements that
survive from modest sites testify to valuable insights. The material for this investigation consists of the around 200 paintings from the four caves of
Chikupo, Masembura Mountains with a comparison material from the major caves of Siloswane, Domboshava, Zombepata, Markwe, Mutoko,
Murehwa,Gambarimwe, sites in Marange, Surtic Farm in Mashonaland East province, Cave Farm in Mashonaland East province, Glen Norah East and
West in Harare, Lake Chivero as well as some forty less known boulders and granite walls. All in all around 3000 high pic pictures.

In order to show changes to the San belief system, we have to wrestle with a longitudinal study, instead of the habitual cross sectional. The scope we
investigate is immense from around 10000 BC to past 600 AD. This period is punctuated by blocks of Event Time from the last Ice Age to the
settlement of the Early BaNtu. What we deliver is not a history, but glimpses into the history. We endeavor to present the dominant San conventions
and the breakup, the changes, and conceptual rejuvenations. We concentrate our strategy to obtain:

Glimpses into the Mentality History of the San from the Last Ice Age until the arrival of Early BaNtu based at the Chikupo Caves, Masembura
Mountains, Zimbabwe.

Our objective is to deliver glimpses into the history of the mentality of the San through the microcosmos of the four caves in the Masembura
Mountain, situated northeast of Harare, Zimbabwe's capital city. From this base, we position our findings against other paintings, but we have no
pretension nor intention to seek to present findings with a claim to represent general developments. On the contrary, we shall seek differences and
developments to the mental constructions that we identify. The period from the last Ice Age to the arrival of the Early BaNtu is more than ten
thousand years. We only give some glimpses into this long period. The glimpses are constituted by breaking points in established San approaches,
which necessitated a new ancient presentation. We operate with Event Time marked by the End of the last Ice Age, the Humid Period, arrival of the
Khoekhoe and the BaNtu.

To proceed, we need to establish an event-based sequence (Chapter 3) and we need to establish a framework (Chapter 4).

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On the photographic material

A review of the presentations and representations from the foremost authors on bushman/San paintings in Zimbabwe shows in general low
photographic quality and a selective cropping of objects. The same color drawings from professor Garlake accentuate certain themes and delete
information stemming from the use of different colors (the examples will be given in the text below). Surprisingly - none of the authors such as
professor Garlake notice the unique San presentation of humans as figures with no head or with two faces - even two heads. This fact is documented
in this book due to high pixel photography. The watercolor representation from Goodall also shows some selective representation (Solomon, A. 1995)).
Many of the British Museum's collection of photographs are mainly from the 80 ties and the 90 ties, all very low pixel. Material available on the net as
Rock Art sites is in general not of a quality that allows for detailed blow up and uses by DStretch. To a large degree this state of affairs is simple due to
lower earlier technological possibilities but also the substantial difficulties in conducting research on the countryside following year 2000.

The images in this book are selected from a base material of around 3000 high-quality pics. A four-man team led by a member of the Oscar Academy,
L.A. as well as a Danish team enabled a base of high-quality photography. Further material emanate from our own investigations which was conducted
with valuable assistance from Mr Samual R.R. Samyanga, Marondera.

DStretch imaging technique on widescreen allows for a more precise delineation of layers (each layer is termed a field. Several fields may constitute a
tradition). Our use benefitted from advice from the creator of the software. DStretch imaging technique does enlarge colors in the image, and at times
making it possible to see entire compositions that are not visible to "the naked eye”.

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CHAPTER 2 SPACE

Dating continues to be a general problem for all Rock Art research. For the trajectory of this book, it suffices to sequence the paintings in the Masembura
Mountains to the major events. We operate with Event-Time. The great events for the San that punctuate the period from the last Ice Age (13 000 to 9 000
BC) to the middle part of the first Millennium AD is a Humid Period, the arrival of the Khoekhoe (the herders) around year Zero, and the arrival of the
BaNtu. (The Khoekhoe is associated with arrival around year zero in South Africa, due to an observation of sheep around that date (Eastwood and Smith,
2005), The BaNtu migration south is mostly associated with past 400 AD).

Evidence of the existence of a Humid Period is demonstrated by a geological examination of the effects of water degradation inside the caves. The inside
water degradation in the Northern cave of Masembura is shown in Image no 6. The geological assessment suggests that the mountain rock fissured
(cracked) with an active and "recent" erosion surface. A consistent rainfall builds up the routes inside the mountain that allowed for an inside transmission.
In brief the geological assessment demonstrates that a Humid Period, started, that it lasted for a long period, that it stopped and that it did not recur. The
present climatic conditions are not conducive to the inside transmission of rainwater. Essentially this picture is the same in cave after cave, even though
local conditions might differ.

Circumstantial information supports this finding: The images themselves demonstrate humid conditions far higher than the present. The image titled the
Waterfall inform of water streaming down outside the Chikupo Cave at Masembura Mountain. Other images show boats, humans drowning, and crocodiles.
In this book, the information is assessed to be sufficient to proceed to investigate a Pre Humid Period vs a Post Humid Period.

There is considerable interest in the Public associated with Calendar-Time. Precise calendar timing of the Humid Period in the Masembura Mountains is not
possible. Circumstantial climatic information may though further frame our argument. Witts University, RSA (Wits.Ac.Za. The World Around us p 114 - 115.)
suggests, that the last Ice Age in Southern Africa ended about 13 000 years BC, with abrupt warming. A short-lived return to cold conditions happened
between 10 000 and 9 000 BC. Temperatures then rose again, and today’s relatively warm conditions were attained about 6 000 BC, along with an increase
in rainfall over southern Africa. Since then temperatures have been relatively stable, although both they and rainfall have shown some fluctuation. A
maximum temperature, in the region of 1–2˚C warmer than today, was reached about 5 000 BC. At this time, rainfall over the Kalahari was probably about
20% higher than it is at present. Gradually, however, conditions changed, and southern Africa became drier.

Walker, 1995 presents in his PhD (p 23/278) a provisional simplified climatic table based at excavations in Matopo, Matabeleland South. The wet period last
from around 11 to 9 000 BC followed by a moderately wet period from 7 to 4 000 BC.

14
In regard to when the humid period ended exists various proxy considerations from Northern Namibia to Madagascar. They all indicate that the
climate in southern Africa stabilized and became drier - but the range of period varies from 1800 BC (Chase et al Quaternary Research 2010 to
around year zero (S.L.Burrough et all, Quaternary Science Review 2013).

The existence of the intertropical convergence zone as well as the interaction of the diverse climatic conditions in southern Africa makes it
inaccurate to translate the above into a possible date for the Masembura Mountains.

We shall proceed on Event-Time.

Event Time:

- End of last Ice Age

- The Humid Period Starts and Ends
- Arrival and Departure of the Khoekhoe
- Arrival and Departure of the Early BaNtu
- Arrival of the settled Early BaNtu

15
The four caves in Masembura Mountains.

The two caves half up the mountain side is termed following Garlake's terminology the Northern and Southern Cave. The cave at the ground level is
termed the Eastern Cave. The fourth cave one kilometer away is just called the fourth cave.

The pattern of water degradation inside each of the caves is specific and not general. It destroys some parts of the images, and only degrades other
parts - where imaging software can be used. The structure of the water degradation in the Northern Cave informs of several independent cracks in the
wall and that water was running for a long period at the ground level. It is reasonable to presume that the cave was vacated and not used during at
least parts of the Humid Period.

What is certain is: That the Humid Period was there - and not only in Masembura - that it lasted for a considerable period, that it ended, and that it did
not recur. This last observation is important. We note that most the Post Humid images are not degraded by water again. Some of these Post Humid
Period images - are painted on top of the degraded ones. The changes to the images from the pre to the post humid period informs of changes of
mentality.

We shall use the same pre vs post approach on the arrival of the Khoenhkoen and the Early BaNtu in order to detect changes in the mentality. The
material from the Musambura Mountains forms the base for our investigation and analysis. We shall then seek to identify relevant common findings and
differences to other caves and sites in Zimbabwe.

16
LOCATION

Image 2. Mazowe
This is the view from a site in Surtic Farm in Mazowe. It can represents the view from both the grand and majestic caves, Domboshava, Siloswane,
Chikupo, Masembura Mountains as well as the more modest sites. The grand caves are located high up on the mountainside just below the top. The
mountain tops could possibly transmit values like seclusion, serenity and spirituality. The grand view comes with a cost. The investment in resources
to paint inside the caves are considerable, not only the distance to get up, but sometimes scaffolds had to be used and paint acquired.

17
THE CULTURAL SPACE

Image 3. Masembura Mountains, Bindura

This is the Northern Cave in the Masembura Mountains, northeast of HARARE. The dots seen in the middle are humans. Both the Northern Cave and the
Southern Cave are situated high up on the mountainside. The Eastern Cave is found at ground level separated from the two others and still reachable
within a half an hour walk through the rain forest. The Fourth Cave is around 1 kilometer apart half-way up a separate mountainside.

The San site selection criteria cannot have been based on a homestead, since there are no marks from the smoke. All the four caves in Masembura
contain vertical walls that contain images. Cross cave cultural links can be identified based on specific themes. Small San paintings point to the
entrance in the hole in the Northern Cave and large fingers were chiseled into the rock in the Eastern Cave pointing towards the entrance of the hole.

Should the outside environment be seen in combination with the inside?

18
We photographed all the stones in a radius of 500 m from the caves but only found dilapidated signs. We investigated the other major caves to ascertain
whether these caves should be read as part of a larger cultural complex. The major site of Domboshava does contain some decentralized, well-documented
sites dispersed at the large mountain complex. In Siloswane is found Image 4 before the ascend to the large cave in Siloswane, Matopos. The image is
man-size. The animistic approach is obvious. The image is unpublished and unprotected. In Siloswane there are other stoneworks that could be San
sculptures on the route to the main cave. These are reproduced in Annex 1. We decided to investigate a site in Glen Norah East (nicknamed the “crocodile
men”) to assess whether a cultural space had been created around minor sites. The pictures of dilapidated
surfaces are prevalent. It could not be verified that they had been painted. However at the stones behind
the main wall of the “crocodile men” was found this frightened or frightening leopard cup. Both style,
position, and color testify to the original San painting. Just below the “crocodile men” was found one more
image which however do not relate to that tableau. The outside images contribute to the creation of a larger
cultural space of animistic themes. The images outside the main caves are probably made by mutually
independent and loosely connected San groups at different periods but motivated by a common animistic
background. This cultural space was huge: From the large caves to the boulders which are dominating the
local environment to the modest sites which can just be a granite side. This cultural space was created and
used in a different mode to todays permanent settlements. The San were mobile hunters and gatherers and
moved following the animals or following established regional patterns and returned to the great caves as part
of seasons. They created and could recognize the basic tenets of their belief system within their cultural
space in different regions.

In 1995 Walker demonstrate the existence of semi permanent settlements near the cave Bambata, Matopo
and how the settlement pattern changed over time. Unfortunately archeological excavations have not been
conducted at the Masembura Mountains. The compositions themselves do not leave an indication on the
settlement pattern.

So how far did this cultural space stretch? They are indications of common pictorial themes covering South
Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. One of these is the recurrence of the dance and of signs associated with
the trance e.g. of a figure with the arm stretched backward. Another is the simple depiction of humans, often
Image 4. Siloswane, Matopes
stripped to the basics both in pictorial and real terms as well as the use of outline for animals. These elements
Image 5. Glennorah. Harare
point to a common cultural ancestry or to a higher level of regional interaction.

19
The San in Zimbabwe have specific affinities to the other San cultures from comparable periods. The differences have e.g.been related to the images of the
key animal. The San painted the eland as a key animal in South Africa while in Zimbabwe there are a variety of top animals from kudu to giraffes. We
discuss in chapter 4 an interpretation of the key animal since it forms a core element in the beliefs. Another special feature of the Zimbabwe culture is what
- for lack of a better name - is called the ovoid or formlings claimed to represent potency (Garlake, 1995). The content differences to the other countries
are important in order to delineate a specific cultural space for the Zimbabwean San.

Most important - there is a difference in the unequal time for the demise of the San in the different countries. Our data from Masembura indicates a cultural
demise (see Chapter 9) probably in the period from 500 to 900 AD. The pictorial San traditions are continued much longer in South Africa. A cultural echo
was even be ascertained and investigated there in the late 19th century. In the semi-desert of Botswana some parts of the San hunter-gather lifestyle and
culture are still present. Today in Zimbabwe, there are some vestiges left of an animistic world view and lifestyle for a tiny group close to the border to
Botswana. The lifestyle and worldview of the present day San do not relate to the images in the caves or at the sites. Still, at least in Zimbabwe, this was
once the case - we found San paintings even at a boulder in the semi-desert.

It is beyond the scope of this book to make an exact map of the common and the different elements in the cultural geographical space of Southern Africa.
But we explore this issue in Event-Time at Masembura where the over-paintings give a full picture of how each San group view the ones they replace.

20
CHAPTER 3 A HISTORICAL GLIMPSE
In Rock Art, the utility of superimposition has been challenged by earlier conceptions of style (Nhamo Ph.D. 2012 p 50). We propose a different approach.
Below is a table composed of superimpositions mainly from the four caves in Masembura. There are 7 different layers of paint that differ in composition,
color, and superimposition. DStretch amplifies the differences and allows for the precise distribution of layers. Superimpositions are easily detectable - they
are literally a painting upon another painting. The logic and meanings of the images follow the different layers but they also involve how they relate to the
earlier layer.

Only fulfillment of criteria of the same color, symbol, and direct superimposition allows inclusion from the around two hundred paintings in the Masembura
caves. Thus e.g. there are several other black paintings in the four caves but the symbols are different and they are excluded. In order to establish a rigid
sequence : the over 200 images were narrowed down to 7 layers. We follow these seven layers of superimpositions backward, then turn the sequence
around and present the sequence going forward so that we start with the earliest.

The superimpositions were intentional. Four different principles summarize how the San artists relate to earlier work:

1. Presentation of own tableau

Painting on the wall or painting on a background color that contains no design.

2. Presentation of own tableau while confirming earlier

Painting on top of an earlier painting so that the former painting is given space so that it still is detectable.

3. Presentation only of own tableau painted at earlier images

Changes the old painting so that it is unrecognizable.

4. Destruction
Literary chiseling away the depiction even to the rock surface.

For our presentation next page we turn around the sequence and start with the oldest image of the elephant mother and calf. We follow the sequence of
superimposition backward. We have only selected the images that clearly contain superimpositions. Isolated pictures are not sequenced. This material is
then divided into the major events punctuating the period. We need a framework for the interpretation of the images. This framework will be delivered in
Chapter 4. For easy reading, we shall use some results from the framework during the following. We use the term the Ancient San for the groups before the
Humid Period, the San for the period from the Humid Period until the Early BaNtu. The Late San for the following period until their cultural demise latest
around 900 AD.

21
THE PRE HUMID PERIOD

(The Ancient San)

Two of the four Chikupo Caves, Masembura
Mountains are located high up on the
mountainside. The climb is steep and arduous.
This picture shows the natural entrance to the
Northern Cave. The elephants can be seen on
the left side.

The inside transmission degraded the wall

inside the caves as shown by the blue color.
Presently, one cannot find a trickle of water
inside the cave - not even during the rainy
season. This finding supports the
meteorological indications of a long Humid
Period which had different climatic conditions
to the present ones. The images which were
made before the water degradation are the
oldest in this cave.

We have identified five images from the pre

humid period. These are termed :

1. The yellow elephant herd

2. The radiating Jackal Image 6. The Southern Cave. Masembura
3. The Herd Mountains
4. The Clash
5. The Waterfall
Our visit to the cave fell together with a visit from a local music group that were recording a music video
(youtube: The Cradle of Zimbabwe).
The last two are painted before the humid
period and amended after.

22
I. THE ELEPHANT HERD

We found that the outline of an elephant mother and

calf is the oldest image in the caves. The elephant
mother lifts her nose protectively over the calf. The
elephants are visible behind the red handprints. The
image below shows a split in the elephant family. The
male walks to the right and a female with a calf is
going in the other direction. DStretch enlarges below
the color from the original painting of the female. The
outline is now red. The infill was washed down. It is
clear that each of these images were affected by
internal water degradation during the Humid Period. Image 7
Masembura
The elephants are painted high up on the wall as is evident in image 6. Oddly
enough, hardly any of the many other elephants depicted in the caves can
rival this early piece in artistic elegance and simplicity. Being high up,
scaffolds had to be erected. To attribute correct proportions to the
composition is no small feat. Elephants walk with two legs on each side. The
posture in image 9 is different. The elephant's front legs are standing still
while the back legs move. This impossible feat is not a mistake, but a
standard which we again shall note later (Cave Farm).

For easy reading, we insert our interpretation, even though the justification
comes in chapter 4. The position, size, and yellow color of all the elephants
signify that they are not depictions of naturalistic elephants but a special
category which we term: Resourceful Spirit Animals (RSA).

Image 8, image 9.
Masembura

23
II. THE RADIATING JACKAL

The rays of the morning sun hit the ground below an intriguing
image in the Southern Cave which is located high up on the
mountainside. Our image is a yellow image behind a red figure
(Image 10 to 12). The top mage to the right.

The authors of the red image left their signature outside in the form
of a swastika. The swastika can be dated post-second world war
and the painters must have been caucasian. Both point to the
short-lived colonial regime declaring a unilateral declaration of
independence from Britain (1965 - 1980). The intention was to
degrade local culture, even though the San is not related to the
BaNtu. They managed partly to destroy a significant early San
image painted in yellow.


Behind the red image, DStretch in Image 12 enhances a yellow
jackal with radiating sun/moon rays from the body and yellow
matter from the mouth. This image is only vaguely visible with the
“naked eye” (Image 11).

The structure of the base body and the head of the jackal is Image 10. Masembura
unusual. The yellow jackal predates the Humid Period.
Image 11. Masembura

We decided to recreate the yellow image on the next page. Image 12. Right

Image 13 Below

24
 THE RADIATING JACKAL

We managed only to find one more image of a top

animal with radiating beams. In 1930 Leo Frobenious
found this composition at El Dorado Farm, Macheke.
The extent of the El Dorado Farm of 1930 is different
from the one today and even after two expeditions we
were not able to locate this specific image. The water
color show a top animal with radiating beams.
Different ladders provide a difficult route up. The
radiating beams of the top animal puts it in a special
league and category.
Image 14. Above. El Dorado Farm. Mash. East
Image 15. Left. Masembura
A reconstruction aided by DStretch and Photoshop is seen above. The reconstruction is deliberate not perfect, so traces of red can show the former
overpainting. But the former image is now clearly visible. The Jackal with Radiating Beams is unusual seen in relation to other known San images in
Zimbabwe but also to our knowledge in South Africa.

The image in Masembura is unusual regarding position, color, and motif. Jackals formed part of the Egyptian iconography where Anubis was watching
over the dead. While there are some similarities in outline, the differences are more important. This jackal has an open mouth spitting out matter and
radiating beams from the back. The form is dynamic and plays down the naturalistic reference and upgrade its symbolic significance. It is not reducible
to a reference, but simply is.

25
III. THE HERD
In the Southern Cave at Masembura,
a very long herd is painted before the
image of the Waterfall. The long herd
is in itself an unrecognized
masterpiece that shows the start of
the herd, a long middle stretch and
the demise of the front animals. It
combines the length of the entire
second cave of around 20 meters. The
start of the trek is shown in image 16.
The painting is in the Pre Humid
tradition of painting animals without
two heads.This image is reproduced
without augmentation. Image 17 is a Image 16. Masembura
detail and exposed to DStretch
enhancement and Image 18 is a
further detail with black lines inserted
with Paintbrush.

What sets the images aside is the red

painted eyes in the white spirit
matter. This image was probably
clearly visible when painted, but the
white color is the first to degrade.
Each of the animals has a young one
below. The humans also have a child
in between. But the white spirit
matter with the red eye engulf the
child. He is stretching out a hand to
the right for help. The white spirit
with the red eye kills a human child. Image 17. Masembura Image 18 Masembura

26
TRANSITION FROM THE PRE - TO THE POST HUMID PERIOD
IV THE CLASH

This man-size composition is situated at the extreme

right in the Southern Cave. On top two antelopes
face off each other.

Three animals in red, orange, and yellow gallop

towards a boundary. Parts of the heads get to the
other side. Nonetheless, a new head is seen holding
back from the boundary.


There are white sediments created from water
running down the rock during the long Humid
Period. They run in between the two heads and are
also visible on the right side. Parts of the white
sediment line down was later overpainted, but the
white line is still visible. There are in fact two lines of
white sediments with an around 40 cm area in
between.


We can reconstruct what happened.

Image no 19. Masembura

27
During the pre humid period, the yellow elephant has a head like in Image 20. The water degradation during the
Humid Period cut that head in two. After the Humid Period, the San returned. They grabbed the opportunity to
reuse the images in which streams of water had separated the heads, and painted features on the main body of
the yellow elephant, the orange animal, and a baby elephant (which is positioned on the right water degradation
lines).

In the Pre Humid Period, the images show three resourceful spirit animals charging to the right. A red and a yellow
elephant and one orange creature. The animal's colors leave no doubt that they are not ordinary animals, but what
we term resourceful spirit animals. The scale is large - the size of a standing man. The animals are engaged in Image 20. The Southern Cave
their own project. In this respect, they are similar to the other images from the Pre Humid Period. Masembura

In the Post Humid Period, the new heads are painted on the three animal spirits. A different head conveys a message of a different reality underneath the
physical form. These spirit animals can be understood to be carriers of a different spirit - which is revealed through a painful clash with a boundary. The
yellow creature is also carrying numerous small heads as its red backline, which underline its role as a carrier. The transformation of the spirit animal and
the spirit animal as a carrier (can be interpreted to) provide an entrance to the spirit world for the humans and in so doing opens a door to a deeper
“reality”. We shall first deliver the systematic justification for this interpretation in chapters 4 and 5.

28
V. THE WATERFALL

All year-round, the Masembura Mountain is

blessed with a geological phenomenon where
water is flowing from the top down outside the
mountain. In the dry season, there is only a
trickle. During the rainy season can be a heavy
down-pouring. The valley below contains a
forest. The conditions must have been
spectacular wet during the Humid Period. The
peasants are leading their cattle at difficult
routes to pastures on a plateau on top of the
mountain. Inside the cave can be found the
image we here term “the Waterfall”. In this
image water streams down the mountainsides
and outside the caves. The amounts of
rainwater depicted are noticeably higher than
today. We associate the image with the Post
Humid Period, evidently - the Humid Period
Image 21 Masembura
must have happened in order to paint the image.

In this image, we meet the Herd again. “The waterfall” is painted on top of the herd roaring both on top and below the image. Thus the Herd is painted
before the painting of the Waterfall. In order to allow for the full appreciation of the structures in the image DStretch is inserted on the next page.

One more head is superimposed on the animals after "the waterfall" had been painted. The back head is drinking water. The two heads are not a mistake
or “bad painting” but a new tradition, which painted two heads on one animal. The other animals are of an unidentifiable species. The red dots above to
right are depictions of human heads, which are flowing up in a stream to the left.

29
 Image 22. The Southern Cave
Masembura

The image of the waterfall illustrates the actual water running down the mountainsides during the Humid Period.The structure of the waterfall can
associate with an animal facing left. The water descending can associate with its ribs. The head is vaguely described to the extreme left. The first
draft of the animals above the waterfalls is earlier than “the waterfall” . The images of the animals were then repainted with one more head. We
note a change of convention from depicting one head to two from the Pre Humid to Post Humid Period.

30
Summary

The image of the radiating yellow jackal is unique and transcends the naturalistic representation by its color, position on the wall, and the lines that
express radiating light or power. The back body curve do not convey associations to an animal form but to an icon in its own right. The jackal image
with the radiating beams was not replicated in contrast to the elephant outline that becomes commonplace by the San. The stretch of the hide alludes
to very much later traditions that look like stretched hides (the white spread eagle tradition). The radiating beams allude to radiation from the sun or
the moon, even though we know that later traditions focus on the moon. The intensity of the head throwing out yellow stream allude to a powerful
being spitting out rays of light. The daring form on the back alludes to simplicity and non-figurative forms. The position on the wall with magnificent
views and the sun hitting the floor below fortifies its claim to cult status. This status could have lasted for a very long time before and after the Humid
Period. Later images of animals were painted on the base of the radiating jackal. It is clear that these animals struggle to be on the base of the icon,
and that they somehow are drawing strength from the icon. The contrast is stark to the 20th century overpaint of the top that endeavors to degrade.

The image of the Herd shows the start of the long charge by more than a hundred animals. They can still be seen soldiering on at the base of the
radiating yellow jackal. They eventually meet their destination when the front animal is destroyed by spirits. The story is of the power of the spirits
where a human child is killed (in the beginning) and the lead animal is destroyed (in the end). Each of the animals is sheltering a young one at the
beginning of the long trek. These three images convey the impression of an absolutist power arising from the Spirits to the Humans and the mental
construction does not contain a handle for the humans to influence these powerful distant spirits.

We demonstrate a change of mentality from the pre humid to the post humid period with two compositions (image 19, image 22). They inform on the
Pre Humid period and complement the presentation above of the Ancient San. They inform of the next period of the San where the humans have a
connection up and where the spirit animals have a different role as carriers of human spirits.

31
2. THE Khoekhoe (AROUND YEAR ZERO)

Ten Handprints
Image 23, The Northern Cave,

Fingerprints stretch in a line over the first cave. They might have been more than fifty handprints. They can be seen above in red color. We interpret the
significance of handprints to be a statement: We are here now. They physically present themselves on the cave wall. They superimpose the elephant
made by the Ancient San. The style of a handprint is paradigmatic different from the images of the elephants. It raises the question, who were they?

Handprints are seldom seen in northern Zimbabwe.

South of Zimbabwe is located in the Central Limpopo Basin (CLB) which contains a distinctive geometric tradition of rock paintings and engravings. CLB is
situated nearly equidistant between the rock art of Maloti/Drakensberg Mountains of Lesotho/South Africa and the Matopos of Zimbabwe. The authorship
of this art has been assigned to Khoekhoe herders. The Khoehkhoen is related to the San but is herders of cattle and sheep instead of hunter-gatherers.
Evidence from the CLB strongly links handprints with the Geometric Tradition art. (p 69 South African Archeological Society, 2005). The expression of
handprints and geometric art show a distinct different symbolic presentation, as well as the location in comparison to the San. The handprint tradition is
linked convincingly by Smith and Ouzman, 2004 to the Khoekhoe.

The Khoekhoe route south is described to be through the western lowland of Zimbabwe. A route over Masembura mountains northeast of HARARE would
then have been different from the lowland route. For a herder and a herd the permanent water resources in Masembura could have presented
comparative advantages. A different - and more likely explanation - could be that some Khoekhoe were following a route from the northeast.

The Khoekhoe first reached South Africa around 2000 years ago.

32
The Khoekhoe signs of handprints and geometric signs are
distinctly different from the San. The forms of the geometric
tradition are explained by its name. In Masembura there are a
few signs that could possibly relate to a geometric tradition. But
the differences are more significant. There are painted heads on
the signs in Masembura, which cannot be identified in the
material from the Central Limpopo Basin.

Dr. Nhamo, University of Zimbabwe underlines in a personal

discussion that it is only the technical execution of the
hand-paintings which convincingly can link these to the
handprints of the Central Limpopo Plateau. That the hand-prints
in Masembura could be copy cat performed by San. We are not
Image 24, The Northern Cave,
convinced. Hand-prints are heavily connected to identity
presentation and represents a different world view. Smith and
Ouzman argue that they are not affiliated with the San but with
the traditions that dominate central Africa. The way the
handprints are executed here (to overpaint the head of the
painted elephant) demonstrate disrespect to an icon of the
Ancient San. The signs are not found elsewhere in northern
Zimbabwe, which implies that the group was on the trek south.

Some Shona today refer to the San as very small - actually the
size of a pygmy. From this image, we know the size of their
palm. The hand to the right is of an Inuit woman. She grew up
in a similar hunter-gatherer environment - on Greenland. There
is a perfect fit for several of the handprints (and no, she did not
touch). She is of medium height. Some higher up handprints
were larger and others were smaller. The Khoenkhoen were
probably standing on the ground and put their painted palm up
on the wall. Judged from the distance of standing on the ground
and stretching up to put the mark - we find that the Khoenkhoen
were of medium height.

33
3. THE SAN RETURNS
(Around 0 to 100 AD)

The Khoekhoe herders trekked south, possibly to the Central Limpopo Region.

The San returns to the caves. The yellow-painted elephant is superimposed on

the handprints. The color sets it apart. The style of painting of this elephant is
both different from the earlier painted elephants in the Northern Cave but also
from the yellow elephant in Zombepata. The color yellow - in itself - has a special
spiritual significance and added further meanings to the form. Yellow is also used
to depict spirits in Siloswane, Matopos. It is following the trail of a lead elephant,
still a bit yellowish. Its head descends into disintegration. The image is a typical
San image. The Khoekhoe had not left an imprint stylistically on the San
paintings. The dominant characteristic is the continuity of the earlier depictions.
Image 25, The Northern Cave,
The elephants are still resourceful spirit animals. Masembura

Image 26, The Northern Cave,

Masembura

34
4 THE EARLY BaNtu
(AFTER 400 AD)

Image 27, The Northern Cave,

The early BaNtu left their dominant imprint on all the four caves of Masembura. To the left of the entrance in the Northern Cave are seen these
man-size white figures. At least three men are involved in a mini procession. The man in the middle is wearing a mask and the one to his right is having
two faces on the same head. The headgear is indicated on the two in front. Separate arrows are held up in a non-naturalistic way so that they form a
symbol. To the right can be seen a goat with two heads, one in front and the other instead of a tail. One animal is spread out with a tail and a head is
below. The images are finger painted in white. To make these figures were needed a considerable artistic mastery which comes out in the detailed
faces. These figures are not spirits, since the early BaNtu hand-painted in white. This is early BaNtu conducting a rite. The symbols present a dense
image of cultural cohesion.

35
The Early BaNtu key symbols can be identified in image
27. A few are reproduced here. To the right the circle of
arrows is replicated by two men sharing the same two
legs. To their left a man is holding the arrows just like
the white “hunter” (which is how Garlake termed the
white figure which we shall meet in Image 32).

The expressions of the two heads to the right are

detailed magnificently. The artist managed to outline a
tortoise further right with a few strokes.

Image 28, The Northern Cave,

Masembura
The distinct symbol laden white figures are painted in all the four caves of Masembura. They are all placed
dominantly in the center of each group of paintings. What binds them together is the color and use of
symbols - in general water, rain or water animals and more specifically use of the symbol of arrows forming
a circle. The hands are exaggerated to a degree of forming small figures.

The figure to the right from cave number 4, has a posture of legs and arms stretched apart that appear a
standard for this style. The figure is finger painted. The palms are exaggerated. We shall meet this posture
and motif later in Glennorah in a very different context.

The white early Chewa art in Malawi is finger painted and mainly white. It covers several traditions, most
notably the white spread eagle tradition and the zoo morphic tradition. The similarities is obvious to the
white spread eagled tradition in Chongono, Malawi. If this image is compared to the Malawi antecedents,
however, we have to point out that there are differences: the tail is missing. So too is the sheer variety,
sophistication and diversity of the white painted images in Zimbabwe. The overall story of Early BaNtu
migration south could cover other migratory movements and further studies could find other patterns. In
brief the tradition in Zimbabwe might be older than the one in Malawi instead of the other way around.

Image 29, Cave 4, Masembura

36
.
The difference between the early BaNtu art to the
San cover not only style and content, but also the
social organization that was supporting their
approach including the initiation rites.

However, solely based at our pictorial material - we

can identify areas of symbiosis. Right is seen a
magnificent chaos of epic dimensions. It is situated
to the right of the white dance group.

A dead white antelope is put on the shoulders of a

red figure whom is heading for a circle made in red.
A white hunter to the right approaches the same
area. Inside the circle is standing a white figure
straight up with a large headgear. The fluidity of
the image is extraordinary but can be traced back
to different artists that only were focusing on their
own task. Still, this is done within a common
frame, because the different overpaintings appear
more to be adding value to the initial paintings
instead of destroying them.

Image 30, The Northern Cave,

The antelope is painted in the fine brush details of San paintings. The early BaNtu were masters of their tradition, but there are details which can be
expressed better using a brush and not by a finger. The use of a brush instead of fingers leaves a different form. We find the fine details of a brush in the
white antelope in Image 30. The color and symbolism is Early BaNtu, but the execution is Late San.

The picture expresses a symbiosis of Late San and Early BaNtu Traditions. If this finding is correct, they could have left more marks.

37
At the Eastern Cave, can be
seen a picture of a landscape
made up of animals around a
centerpiece of a “white hunter”
under a sky dominated by spirits
in a wild agency.

The large yellow elephant has

two heads, one in the front and
one in the back. The “white
hunter” (Garlake 1995)
circulates arrows with his right
hand.

The white figure is carrying an

arrow and bow, and thus
formally looks like a hunter.
However, the San at the border
to Botswana did not hesitate to
designate him as a spirit. The
reason for this is not that he is
carrying arrows, but that water
springs from his foot. We agree
with the living San, the arrows
appear ceremonial and fits into
a symbolism associated with
rainmaking.

Image 31, The Eastern Cave,

Masembura

38
The symbolism of arrows forming a circle associate this figure with the
dance group. Both compositions reference the same symbolic universe.

There is a stark difference, though, in the fact that the dance group
image is finger-painted, while at least parts of - especially the arrows
and the hear gear - of the “white hunter” was painted with a fine brush.

The other important observation is that the figure has his tongue out.
This is an image made by the early BaNtu and depicts a rain spirit since
water is emanating from the feet. However, we shall find the same
posture with the tongue out in the composition called the Procession and
that image is made by the Late San.

After the early BaNtu departed, a San painter drew further red brown
lines around the lower body of the “white hunter” that appear like a
frame or protection. This way of painting is the opposite of a
degradation, since it appears to frame the rain spirit. Post 400 AD these
elements put together points towards a symbiosis between the San and
the Early BaNtu painting techniques as well as an early cooperation
between the two.

Image 32, Masembura

39
At the right side of the Eastern Cave are found a hole in the
granite wall. This picture shows how the hole looks like in real
life. Fingers have been chiseled into the top of the granite
hole point down and into the hole.

The hole in the wall can be seen to the right. On the ground
are small sharp stones. We tested also this hole. Only thin
youth can fit inside the hole (our test shows that not taller
nor heavier weight class can get in). However some four
meters in has been filled with stones or the wall has collapsed
so it is not possible to come out at the other side.

In the next image is the wall saturated and several images

spring to life.

Image 33, The Eastern Cave,

The grand python can be detected. It could possibly be

one of the first images the San painted in that location. It
is positioned as if emanating from the black lines in the
granite. To the left can be seen an animal walking into the
mouth of a large predator.

To the right of the python the early BaNtu painted eight

“giraffes”. On inspection they demonstrate clues to how
the rites are performed.

Image 34, The Eastern

Cave, Masembura

40

Image 35, The Eastern Cave,
Masembura
On the “giraffes” to the right of the
large python: Close up, the posture
seems to indicate a union between a
smaller, which normally would signify a
younger person and a larger and older
person. The younger persons head is
towards the genitals of the older. There
are no less than eight figures re
enacting this scene.
Above the hole to the left are found a
figure in white. The man with headgear
is looking upwards. His right hand
forms a “cross”. His genitals have
some interaction with a fantasy animal
or the fantasy animal is attacking his
genitals.
The finger painted images marks a
difference to the San cultural - pictorial
traditions in several ways:
- Evidently in use of fingers instead of
brush
- Presentation of a procession (instead
of a circle) wearing masks
- A symbolic universe with arrows,
water animals and a rain spirit
- Association to use of the hole to rites,
with a possible adult after-play .
Let us try to investigate the regional
context for the Early BaNtu in the
Image 36, The Eastern Cave,
Masembura Mountains.
41
In Malawi the site Mwana wa Chentcherere II rock shelter is one of the largest rock painting sites (127 sites). It is located in the highlands of
central Malawi. Two BaNtu traditions are found:

A white zoomorphic tradition: This tradition was finger painted and comprises stylized animal and humans. The paintings are white. This art is
attributed to the Chewa men - it depicts masked men and animals from the ceremonies performed by the secret Nyau association at rites of
passage like initiation and funerals.

The white spread-eagled tradition: This tradition contains a figure that resembles a stretched hide seen from above. These figures often have
snake-like motifs and other geometric designs such as circles and lines of dots. The primary color is white but other colors are found. These
figures are the works of Chewa women and the art is produced during the Chinamwali ceremonies which are performed when a girl comes of
age. The symbolism represents water and fertility. The central body of these motifs often has various protrusions from head and with tails.
Some associate tortoises and chameleons.

The white zoomorphic tradition depicts spirit characters from Nyau secret society (Smith 2014). The maximum age ascribed to this tradition is
around 1400 years before present based on the link that exists between the people of Chewa ancestry (Smith 1995, 2001). According to Smith
2014 the traditions only occur in Chongoni and a small section of adjoining parts of Mozambique and Zambia. However, Alister C. Munthaliet all,
2018) finds that the Chewa initiation rites can be traced back to 400 AD. They inform that the youth (boys and girls) on the end of the rites
were encouraged to “experiment” .

Be this as it may be, but just to link these traditions from Malawi to Zimbabwe appear premature, since they in principle could associate with
several BaNtu tribes. In northern Sotho at the Makgabeng Plateau, the spread-eagled motif is connected to boy’s initiation ceremonies (termed
KOMA), and the central motif is claimed to be of a crocodile. The range of symbols (tortoise, water animals, masked men, men with arrows)
depicted on the walls of the caves in the Masembura mountains show stark similarity to images and traditions referred from Malawi.
Surprisingly, however, the range of symbols and the compositions appear more diversified, complex, and detailed in Chikupo than in Chingono,
Malawi. This suggests the possibility that the tradition in Zimbabwe is older than the Malawian one. The Early BaNtu did not settle in the
mountains but migrated. Whether they went North or South requires further.

The symbiosis of Early BaNtu and San painting techniques are present in the latest pictures from the early BaNtu. The Early BaNtu must have
cooperated culturally with the San. The San returned, but this time - it was with a presentation representing different values.

42
5. THE LATE SAN TRADITION
THE RED LINE
! (AFTER 400 AD)

The Early BaNtu left their cultural mark

on the San. In this last period, the
images are dealing with different motifs
to the Ancient San: human organization,
hierarchy, and rites. The focus of the
images move to people.



Due to DStretch Imaging has it been

possible to visually enhance the images
of this distinct San group: The Red Line .
The red figures form a line of men and
women. The men are wearing a mask.
Type to enter text
Their arms are pulled back as if in a
military parade inspection. The women
standing at the left exude a more
feminine relaxed atmosphere.



A young antelope could be a possible

sacrifice.

Image 37, The Eastern Cave,

Masembura

43
Their symbol is painted on top of the line. This image has been entirely misrepresented by earlier
authors mainly because there are red men behind having arms, that should be subtracted and not
conflated in order to gain an idea of the figure. The blue marks are the bare rock which further
damaged the figure. We believe that the head of an antelope to the left is the only credible feature left
from the original figure.

The red figure is also found next to “the white hunter” situated in a completely different composition
higher up the wall. This second image supports our interpretation of the first one. They were
wearing large masks covering the face or they depicted themselves as with large animal heads.
Surprisingly, or maybe exactly not surprisingly, the long rectangular head of the animal shows
similarity to the mask.

What can be deduced for this San group is that they presented themselves using the line and not
Image 38, The Eastern Cave,
the circle, they were wearing masks in rites where both men and women participate and they Masembura
seemed to have worshipped the antelope. They were maybe only one amongst several groups Image 39, The Eastern Cave,
in-between the Early BaNtu and the last San group. Masembura

The last San group however left us with a comprehensive presentation in the form of a procession.

44
6. THE LATE SAN TRADITION
THE PROCESSION (AFTER 400 AD)

Image 40, The Eastern Cave,

Masembura

45
 The presentation and analysis of the procession shall be done in a separate chapter. Here we conclude to help easy reading and provide cohesion to
the earlier. The image called “the procession” shows three different rites:
1. A ceremonial leader gives a gift to a little girl
2. The “support” area reference to animal reproduction
3. The procession depicts a male initiation ceremony

The gift involves a transaction from a historical/spiritual leader to an actual girl. Though the little girl has three faces, it is the middle one that burns
through. The small male leader has a larger ceremonial role. This is depicted on top of him in the form of a second torso and a second head. The San
in the post Humid Period is not interested in depicting facial features, but what they consider that the beings were. The interpretation of a gift of a
bird is significantly different from the description by Garlake, who writes that she is clapping her hands in respect. Instead of reflecting an
authoritarian relationship, it is an exchange (which possibly could be as a marriage proposal).



The “supply area” rite demonstrates a part of the rite that relate to the burial of the game and its (spiritual) regeneration. The abundance and
distribution of different animal heads tell us that this tableau cannot solely be a food supply area for the men. Some of the animal heads are larger
than life. The heads could be theorized to form part as a stage towards burial and spiritual reproduction of the slain animal.



The initiation ceremony is lead by the older men in a procession and not in a circle. In the line, there is a hierarchy and leaders (while the circle can
be interpreted to symbolize equality). The tallest man is leading the procession with two sticks and an antelope headdress. The conceptual weight is
on the organization and the rite and not on the spiritual mystery. The boys to be initiated - wait for the leader. A connection is made to the spirits
through the rite which possibly also involve an animal sacrifice. The youth could enter the hole in the wall under the great python as an introduction
into the ritual/spiritual world to become adults.



The underlying theme that combines all three rites is reproduction. Reproduction in terms of a relationship between a girl and a man, in terms of
regeneration of the slain animals, and in terms of initiation to adulthood.

46
7 THE DESTRUCTION.

This last image testifies to destruction by an iconoclastic group. To the right is chiseled away vital parts of a magnificent bull. Below is chiseled away
another bull. They strictly chiseled the outline of head and horn, which now is seen as a crude rock. Such specific destruction require determined efforts.
The line of the procession continues to the right and gets fainter and fainter until the entire is overpainted or destroyed.

The intentions of destruction are clear both at the macro level and at the micro-level. In general San compositions excel in inserting a small tableau
showing animal family affection. The small tableau in the image below shows an antelope sucking on its mother's milk. The head of the mother and the
connection between the child and the mother was intentionally destroyed. The possibility that it was caused by natural degradation can be dismissed.
The pattern of water degradation in the cave is visible and not at all close to this image. No
random possibility exists due to weather or accident. Layer upon layer of paint in different
colors testifies to many other paintings which all respect this tableau by giving it space.

We do not know the culprits. It appears to have been either a late San group or maybe the
early BaNtu.

The selectivity is odd since it allowed the first part of the procession to be untarnished while
the last part - which probably was more connected to the ceremony and symbols - was
destroyed.

Image 41, The Eastern Cave,

Masembura

Image 42, The Eastern Cave,

Masembura

xlvii
The Early BaNtu entered Zimbabwe after 400 AD in different waves. They are claimed to be
mainly agriculturist, patrilineal, and organized in chieftaincy and kinship lineages. The
imprint on the San imagery had a spectacular impact towards a world view promoted by the
BaNtu. The Late San presented themselves in a line and not as a circle. In the circle all are
equal, in the line there is hierarchy and organization. This points towards an initial peaceful
coexistence where the organization of the San integrated new principles. We noted the same
symbiosis reflected in later parts of the images from the early BaNtu, which reflected BaNtu
symbolism in San fine brush. The transmission of ideas points towards a period of peaceful
coexistence at least in the beginning.

If the destruction of the key animal, so dear to their religious spiritual universe, was done by
the San themselves, then it testifies to their feeling of cataclysm. Otherwise it might be
seen in connection with a later occupation of the Caves by the Early BaNtu, to cement
dominance. The destruction of the symbols gave a finality to the presence of the San.
Image 43, Cave Farm. Mash
East
Cave Farm in Mash. East informs on how the cave in its entirety was turned into grain store
depository by the BaNtu. Only a few small remnants of San images testify to their earlier
presence. The San vanished from the caves. Their descendants were probably still hunting
even up to the 20th century as some were spotted in eastern Zimbabwe and at the
Zimbabwean border to Botswana. Culturally they did not leave further marks in the caves
from the beginning of the second millennium.

BaNtu rites and events integrated the large caves. At the former Cave Farm, Mashonaland
East - the cave is used as grain storage by the early BaNtu. At Markwe Cave is buried no
less than 6 chiefs of the Svosve clan of an early Zimbabwean BaNtu lineage. A shona chief is
also buried in Chikupo, Masembura Mountains Cave 4. The locals in Masembura inform that
initiation rites in the cave were conducted up to around thirty years ago.

xlviii
 PEOPLE PERIOD Key Words

8 THE SEQUENCE Ancient After the last Ice Age The Elephant Herd
San (Possibly 13 000 to 10 000 The Herd,
The four caves in Masembura are used to establish a sequence of years ago ) and Before the The Radiating Jackal
Humid Period The Kill of a child
major events. The event of the last Ice Age in Southern Africa is not
controversial. The specific date at the Masumbura Mountains
however is unknown. The Ice Age probably formed the reservoir The Humid Period
plateau on top of each of the Masumbura Mountains. The calendar (Possibly around 5000 BC) Water degradation

time of 13 000 BC to 10 000 BC is subject to insecurity.

An geological assessment of the four caves in Masembura informs San After the Humid Period The Circle,
Spirit Animal - Human
that a Humid Period existed, it ended and it did not recur. In the
Relationship
long Humid Period parts of the paintings degraded due to persistent
water flow inside the caves. The San vacated the caves and returned
later. The images are overpainted after the period. The changes The Arrival and Departure Hand paints
Khoekh around Year Zero
inform directly on change in mental structures. Precise information
oe
on the exact time period for the Humid Period at the Masembura
San Return to the Caves and The Circle,
Mountains is not available. There are some indications of a depart (Possibly from year Spirit Animal - Human
considerable period from 5000 BC dated with considerable insecurity. 0 to around 400 AD) Relationship
The Arrives and departs The White Spread Eagle
The cultural high-day of the San is punctuated by the arrival of the Early (around year AD 400 + - ) Tradition,
BaNtu
Khoekhoe around year Zero. It lasted until after 400 AD with the
Symbiosis San/BaNtu
arrival of the early BaNtu. The first interactions created a symbiosis
The Returns to the Caves The Line, The Procession
of approaches that informed of a peaceful coexistence. Late Make Paintings Establish Organization,
San Rites Rituals
The Demise, which we define as the cultural-pictorial demise (and Departs (AD 500 + -) The Destruction
not necessary physical) is demonstrated by the destruction of San The Permanent Settlement of The Caves as store
BaNtu the BaNtu (AD Second rooms
images and use of the caves by the Early BaNtu as store rooms and
part of Millenium) No new San nor BaNtu
the absence of new San paintings. We estimate this period to be the paintings
last part of the first Millennium. Table 1

xlix
9 SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

THE PRE - AND POST HUMID PERIOD

For the Ancient San, the pre humid period is characterized by the dominance of the Resourceful Spirit Animals and the absolute deference of the
humans. The dominant powers are represented by five images (termed: the Radiating Jackal, the Elephant Herd, the Herd, the Waterfall, and The
Clash). The precise powers of these spirit animals remain ambiguous, except what can be deduced from the images themselves:
- The Jackal radiates power or beams of the sun/the moon
- The white spirit-matter in the sky, kills a child
- The humans run away in awe from the large spirit elephants.

These powerful beings are depicted without a pictorial context or background. They are constituted independently, they simply exist. The composition of
the elephant family defines principles for how the world was structured and governed. The split of the elephant family - walking in two different
directions – represents a cluster of meanings, which when fully developed, relate to ambiguity.

An inquisitive mind would say, that the images simply depict naturalistic animals. After all the images match the structures in our brains for the outline
of an elephant herd – so why complicate the explanation? Our disagreement with the word “simply” is based on the large number of images that have
been deconstructed which shows a structural deviation in color (yellow), position (elevated), and context (the powers exerted). We shall attend to the
issue of our framework in the next chapter and the issue of tradition vs style in the final discussion in chapter 10.

The style of artistic expression changed from ordinary features in the animal outline (before the Humid Period) to depicting two heads and two faces on
one body (after the Humid Period). The two faces can have several meanings. One of them we attribute to the ambiguity of reality – composed of
ordinary and spiritual elements. This must not be understood as we do today (post-Cartesian) as a difference, but in a combination, that switches
between the two or a conflation.

The picture of the waterfall is naturalistic since it presents a state of water flow from the top but it is also spiritual. In this instance the principles for
animal interaction forms the structure also for a geographical formation (the waterfall). We return to these principles in the structure for the Markwe
Cave (in Chapter 4).

l
The San world view as fully developed after the Humid Period operated within the presence of a whole array of different beings: Resourceful Spirit
Animals (RSA), Animal Spirits, Ordinary Animals, Spirits, Humans Spirits as well as ancestors, Ovoids (which we shall explain later), large worms and
black holes. Rock spirits are crawling out of the mountain and water spirits can be detected. The animals had an ordinary and a spirit side. For the San
and the late San, the humans, the animals, and the trees had an ordinary side and a spirit side. In regard to animals and humans we shall construct a
framework consisting of categories and indicators. In a following chapter, we will systematically utilize and analyze the relation between the most
important beings, which is the RSA and the Human. The long period of the San is punctuated around year Zero by their relatives, the Khoenkhoe - the
herders. They leave an imprint on the walls in the form of hand paints, but do not leave an imprint stylistically on the later San paintings. This situation
changed dramatically with the arrival of the Early BaNtu around the year 400 AD.


THE EARLY BaNtu
The white images in the four caves of the Masembura Mountains can be attributed to the early BaNtu due to the painting technique (finger paint and its
execution), color (white), and the content (the spread-eagled design). An analysis of the spread-eagled motif reveals that it conforms to a set of picture
conventions that are known from Chingono, Malawi as well as (later) from Northern Sotho. This finger painted motif contains a tail, head, and body.
The ancestors of the Chewa are also connected to the White Zoomorphic traditions, which are linked with Nyau men’s closed association.


The range of symbols (tortoise, water animals, masked men, men with arrows) depicted on the walls of the Chikupo Caves in the Masembura
mountains show stark similarity to the images and traditions referred from Malawi. Surprisingly, the range of symbols appear more diversified, complex
and detailed in Chikupo than in Chingono, Malawi. This suggest the possibility that the tradition in Zimbabwe is older than the Malawian one.

A symbiosis of Early BaNtu and San painting techniques are present in the latest pictures from the early BaNtu. The Early BaNtu must have cooperated
culturally with the San.

The Early BaNtu initiation rites, which followed the test to go inside the hole, could have included sexual initiation into adulthood.


THE LATE SAN TRADITION
The Early BaNtu left their cultural mark on the San. In this last period, two San groups of images persist - both dealing with human organization,
hierarchy, and rites. The focus of the images move from being (spirit) animal-focused to people-focused.

li
The Red Line shows figures forming a line of masked men and women in order to sacrifice a young antelope. In a totemic gesture, their symbol of an
animal with the head of an antelope is painted on top of them. This is all we know of this distinct group and it is sufficient to present the new
governance principle of the line, which with the hierarchy involved forms a different paradigm to the equality of the circle.

In the Procession, the gift involves a transaction from a historical/spiritual leader to a historical/spiritual little girl. The little male leader has a larger
ceremonial role which is depicted on top of him in the form of a second torso and a second head. The token gift could be the marriage proposal.

The initiation ceremony is lead by the older men in a procession and not in a circle. In the line, there is a hierarchy and leaders. One is leading the
procession with two sticks and an antelope headdress. The conceptual weight is on the organization and the rite and not on the spiritual mystery. The
boys to be initiated - wait for him. A connection are made to the spirits through the rite involving a sacrifice. The youth shall enter the hole in the wall
under the great python as an introduction into the ritual/spiritual world. The underlying theme that combines all three rites is reproduction.
Reproduction in terms of a marriage proposal, an initiation rite and in terms of regeneration of the animals placed above the entire procession.

lii
10 OVERVIEW

Taking all the presented images into account allows marking some observations on the mental constructions from the Ancient San to the Late San:

Table 2

The change of the images from animal centered to human centered is also noticed in the PHD from Walker, 1995 (p 65).

We need a framework to be able to discuss these changes.

We propose that between the Spirits and the Beings was a relationship which was sustained and reproduced by the local groups beliefs.

We refrain from the use of the word “contract” which bears rights and obligations, and choose instead the word, "relationship". We choose the word
“beings”, instead of “humans” since the relationship was not limited to humans, but covered all the beings of that time. The change of motifs from
Animals to Humans, can be interpreted within a change of focus from spirit animals to spirit/ordinary humans.

Within this frame we shall conduct the following investigations.

liii
11 THE WAY AHEAD

It is especially the mental constructions in the middle period from post Humid Period to the arrival of the Early BaNtu that puzzles us. The break up
from an “old testament” relation to a new was challenging for the San in terms of how to construct relations to the spirit animals as enablers.

We have chosen mainly to focus on this period due to the very challenge in understanding these images. Key to that understanding is to locate the
beings in the images. This is done in the next Chapter on Framework, which especially focus on the Resourceful Spirit Animal as the key to
understand the mental constructions.

We apply the framework in Chapter 5 on Spirit Animals, in Chapter 6 on Spirit Matter and in Chapter 7 on Animal Spirits. The last two Chapters focus
on rites.

liv