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Rock paintings, Ventershoek, Wepener District

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Post date: 07/08/2012
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History: No relics of the prehistoric occupation of South Africa have aroused more interest amongst archaeologists, artists and the general public than the rock paintings that occur so abundantly in the mountainous parts of the country. Although they are often referred to as ‘Bushman paintings’, it has been questioned whether all of them are the work of Bushmen. Many undoubtedly are, but experts agree that the paintings cover a long period of time and that chronological and regional differences can be observed amongst them. The evidence is so often confusing and even contradictory that one cannot dogmatise about the details of the development of the art. The following sequence is generally accepted, albeit with caution.

The earliest paintings were monochromes; only one colour, most often yellow or red, was used. They consisted of isolated, unrelated figures and for the most part displayed little artistic talent.

In the next stage one finds the use of two colours to produce ‘bichrome’ paintings in which simple composition and foreshortening begin to be portrayed. These earlier paintings are characterised by accuracy of portrayal and a faithfulness to convention that allowed for little creative expression.

In the course of time bichromes were followed by polychromes in which more than two colours were used in the same paintings, many of which depict elaborate compositions made up of figures in complicated attitudes. Now the artists sometimes ventured to deviate from precise realistic representations to indulge in a degree of independent creative impressionism.

After this phase there seems to have occurred a definite break in the developmental sequence, followed by obviously recent, stylised frescoes of lesser quality which include such recent subjects as Voortrekkers in Victorian dress, British soldiers, wagons, carts, cattle, horses and sheep.

Most of the pigments used were natural ochres, finely ground and mixed with a variety of media about which little is known. We know even less about the manner in which they were applied to the rocks.

As already mentioned, rock paintings occur mainly in the mountainous regions, that is to say, their distribution extends from the north-eastern Transvaal, where they link up with the Rhodesian occurrences, southwards along the Drakensberg as far as the north-eastern Cape Province. From there they swing westwards to Clanwilliam and the Cedarberg mountains, and then northwards to South West Africa and beyond to Angola. The areas of greatest abundance and also of the greatest variety and highest artistic merit, however, are the foothills of the Drakensberg in the eastern Orange Free State, Natal and the north-eastern Cape Province. The paintings in the districts of Wepener, Ladybrand, Ficksburg and Bethlehem are of particular interest and it is in that area that the Historical Monuments Commission has selected several sites for proclamation.

In the Wepener district the paintings on the farm Ventershoek No. 504 a few kilometres from Wepener along the Mafeteng road, have been proclaimed. The main cave contains the famous polychrome Later Stone Age painting of a raiding scene. It was first mentioned at the end of the nineteenth century by the Abbé Christol. The illustration reprinted here is a reproduction of a copy of it made by Christol and published in his book Vingt-six ans au Sad de l’Afrique. After making this copy Christol damaged the painting by cutting out the best parts of it and removing them to Paris where they may still be seen in the Musee de L’Homme. It was such indiscriminate removal and exportation of our prehistoric treasures that led to the passing of the ‘Bushman Relics Protection Act’ of 1911 and eventually to the establishment of the Commission for the Preservation of Natural and Historical Monuments, Relics and Antiques.
Another group of paintings that has been proclaimed is in a cave on the hill overlooking the railway station and Mission station at Modderpoort, and to these must be added a collection of paintings made by the late Mr. Paul Loewenstein of Ladybrand.

The Modderpoort railway station is situated at the foot of a steep hill some 13 km north of Ladybrand on the road to Clocolan. Several rock shelters on the slope of this hill contain rock paintings and one of them with particularly interesting scenes has been protected by proclamation.

Yet another proclaimed site is on the farm Schaapplaats about 12 kilometres from Clarens. The cave is a large one with interesting monochrome and polychrome paintings and is situated in a picturesque valley not far fro the farmhouse. Unfortunately many of the paintings were damaged many years ago by the fires of shepherds who sought shelter for themselves and their sheep in the cave during winter.

After the paintings mentioned here had been pro- claimed as monuments, an amendment of the law made it possible for the Historical Monuments Commission to protect all occurrences of rock art without proclaiming particular examples. Consequently it is now a punishable offence to damage any rock painting or engraving or to remove it without the written consent of the Commission.

Proclaimed 1936/37

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