Lec 06

Question 1

South African Art?

Answer 1

Drakensberg forms part of the Great Escarpment, stretching over 1000km, highest peaks being in Lesotho.

Sheer basalt cliffs + rugged sandstone slopes

Mid-Holocene

Question 2

Tsodilo Hills?

Answer 2

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Sometimes called “Louvre of the Desert”
Contains >4500 paintings in ~400 sites

Sex was intended in each painting
Men = hunters, Women = gatherers (males > females, 5:1)
Males often LARGER, plants often excluded (b/c game was their main food)

S. African art was often associated with HALLUCINATIONS of SHAMANS: Rituals + Myths (hunting/gathering activities often depicted)

Question 3

North African Art?

Answer 3

From Tassili, Algeria
- Sefar, Jabbaren:

• Round head paintings
  Early holocene, representation of human figure is MUCH different
  Only daylight art, 10-30cm, up to 7m
  flat dimensions w/ little interest in volume or complexity
  multiple styles - dubbed as ‘schools’
  Main subjects were animals (particularly cattle), but some depictions of wild fauna.
• Mwana Wa Chentcherere, Mawali:
  super popular/well known location
  Initiation rituals?

Question 4

Australian Rock Art?

Answer 4

Main features:
- oldest rock art tradition: 40kya
- Progression over time: early focus on animals, later transition to human motifs + iconography
- Distinct regional styles:
1. Western - “Giant, white, staring faces”
2. Queensland - “mimi figures (not small) + X-ray style
- spiritual significance: reflects aboriginal cosmology + ties to ‘Dreamland’
- Cultural Legacy: sacred + enduring expression of heritage + storytelling