The essence of Rock Art in Twyfelfontein

49270,Mompati Tlhankane,php2FDF.tmp.jpg, | Tuesday May 3, 2016 00:00

Namibia’s famous Twyfelfontein is a site of ancient rock engravings in the Kunene Region of northwestern Namibia. While in archaeology rock art is defined as human-made markings placed on natural stone, the rock art in Twyfelfontein tells a story much older than the oldest inhabitants of the place.

The place is home to Damara people who are one of the oldest tribal groups in the country. The Damara were only resettled in the region recently- after independence- after being pushed away by the Nama and the Herero who arrived in the area much later. On the mountainside, there is a valley called Twyfelfontein beneath the fold and domes of scorched rock. The journey is called a ‘lion man’s route because it leads to the rock art of a lion which has more meaning than the entire images combined. When Arts and Culture arrived at the site, it was necessary to take a local guide called Theopoltine Thanises who has been a guide in the area since 2013.

  According to Thanises the spring is original and it was renamed Twyfelfontein ‘Doubtful Fountain’ by a white settler who could not pronounce the Damara name.

As we continued with the tour, we came across an old compound that stood the test of time. “It was built in 1946 and it hasn’t been rebuilt. It is going to remain here until it collapses for good,” she highlighted. She said they are not going to add nor remove anything from history and no one is allowed to enter the compound.

The tour continued to the rock art itself and from a distance we could see little markings on the rock but the images were not clear enough. Thanises said it was possible for the first settlers to make the engravings on the rock because rocks were much softer then. “It is possible to make markings today but it will take a longer time because rocks became harder with time,” she said.

She said Twyfelfontein is the place with the largest concentration of the rock art with more than 2,000 engravings. Thanises said the age of the engravings is estimated to be between 2,000 and 6,000 years. “They were discovered by a German in 1921,” she said.

Thanises indicated that the reason why the nomadic hunter-gatherer communities of the Bushmen made the engravings on rock was to communicate and teach their children.

She said some of the rock images like the lion conveyed hidden meanings beyond normal comprehension. “The lion has a small animal on the mouth to symbolise hunting. The picture is half animal and half human to show the spiritual transformation of the Shaman (Witch Doctor),” she highlighted.

She said there is a theory that the Shaman usually got into transformation by dancing around the fire to communicate with ancestors and seek help. “The Shaman transformation is believed to have changed him into a lion hence the six-toed lion on the rock art,” she said.

She said the normal images without any enhanced connotations was done by ordinary bushmen while the extraordinary ones believed to have been done by the Shaman. “He was the only one who saw things different,” she said.

Thanises further said the rock art doesn’t wear off easily because it has been there for centuries. She said the Heritage Council is not looking into any scientific preservation but they will leave the rock engravings as they are and keep them natural.

The tour continued downwards to another set of images that showed various animals like giraffe, elephants, rhinos, oryx and many others. There was also an image of an ostrich with three necks to show its importance in the life of the Bushmen. “They could hunt the bird for its meat; the feathers were used for decoration and the eggshell was used as containers,” she said.

There was a rock, which had many images of bicycle-like orbs. Thanises said the images are the symbols of water sources within the area during that time. “It was like a map of the area. The circles with the dots are prominent water sources,” she said. It was a way of communicating to the rest of the people about the type and location of water holes.

The other rock art showed footprints of different animals and the variation shows that the Bushmen were very talented artists. Having to differentiate animals’ footprints especially on rock could have been a difficult task. “It’s more like a blackboard for the Bushmen, it’s educational. It was a way to teach the children about the different animals,” she said. There were footprints of animals like buffalo, antelope, elephant, giraffe, wild cats and rhinos. She said the Bushmen taught their sons how to differentiate between the animals so that they could know the animals they can hunt and the dangerous ones. She said the human footprint was their signature.

The other rock art showed a giraffe image and a human foot. “They believed that a giraffe was a holy animal. Because of its height, they believed it could extend its neck and get in touch with the clouds and bring rain,” she said.

According to the guide, though over the millennia the Twyfelfontein region has passed through periods of inclement weather and climate change , the rock art forms still remain largely intact and some of the images are still of high quality.

There are other painted rocks elsewhere in Southern Africa, the close example being the Tsodilo Hills rock paintings in Botswana. With more than 2,000 rock engravings in this valley, which was proclaimed a National Monument in 1952, Twyfelfontein Rock art leaves behind a tale to be told for centuries. The Bushmen’s artistic essence is cast on rock and the tales of their lifestyle will remain solid on the pieces of stones until time knows when.