Rock Art in the Cederberg

The Cederberg mountains are home to some of the best-known San rock art sites in Southern Africa, which is thought to have the richest legacy of rock art on the planet. There are over 2500 known rock art sites in the broader Cederberg region, dating between 250 to as old as 8000 years. These ancient rock paintings are therefore extremely important sites of Southern African ancestry, offering insights into a time and culture which has largely disappeared.

The vast majority of rock art in the Cederberg are San rock paintings, although Khoi-Khoi paintings and engravings are also found in the region. These rich cultural sites can be visited in both central and northern Cederberg areas, including within the Rocklands area.

It is believed that the San people were the direct descendants of the first true human inhabitants in Southern African, more than 150 000 years ago. The San were hunter-gatherer cultural groups that lived in harmony with the natural world. They left depictions of their strong spiritual beliefs and practices through finely painted rock art that is now of global significance within the archaeological community.

More than 2000 years ago, the San were pressured by the arrival of another cultural group known as the Khoi-Khoi. The Khoi-Khoi moved into the southern areas inhabited by the San and brought with them a different herder-pastoralist lifestyle. The 1652 arrival of European colonisers in the Cape had much greater impacts on the San culture, which ultimately disappeared following massacres, enslavement and cultural assimilation over the next few centuries.

These old Southern African San and Khoi-Khoi cultures have since been collectively termed the “Khoisan”, with remaining Khoisan descendants now living in the desert areas of the Northern Cape, Namibia and Botswana.

San rock painting pigments have been found to consist of a wide variety of materials, from earth ochres, ash and clay, to bird and dassie droppings. The most likely fixative materials used were egg-white, plant saps, blood and urine, which together with pigments enabled the San to create a wide variety of colours that were able to last up to thousands of years.

The style of San rock art varies across the Cederberg. Some paintings reflect a rough and basic style, while most are stylised, and others are elegantly detailed. Even though the San also used their hands to paint sometimes, the Khoi-Khoi only used their fingers and hands to paint and their paintings therefore tend to contrast the delicate and fine brushwork that is more common in San rock art.

San rock art often depicts scenes of animals, of people in processions, of people hunting and gathering food as well as of half-animal and half-human figures. These scenes are commonly interpreted as depicting the San’s shamanistic rituals and visions, practices and daily life. Regardless of interpretation, these rock art sites allow the imagination to wonder back in time and to appreciate the significance of such ancient stories passed on through rock art.

Both the northern and central Cederberg are scattered with San rock art sites. In the northern Cederberg, within the Rocklands region, there is the well-known Sevilla Trail at Traveller’s Rest as well as other sites that are specific to the surrounding farms and trails in the area. It is worth enquiring at your accommodation spot about potential rock art sites in the area.

The Sevilla Trail is a comfortable 5km long San rock art trail that starts at Traveller’s Rest Farm in the Rocklands area and takes you passed nine different rock art sites while following the Brandewyn river.

Local farm game including Springbok, Eland and Hartebees may be seen along the trail as well as the common dassie and local baboon troops. In addition to the intricate indigenous fynbos that surrounds the Sevilla Trail, the springtime wildflowers offer an even further depth of beauty to this historically enriching experience.

Permits for the Sevilla Trail can be obtained from the Traveller’s Rest farmstall, where a free basic description about the nine rock art sites is available, as well as a more detailed, paid booklet by Peter Slingsby.

Many rock art paintings are faded beyond interpretation and all are extremely delicate. If you find any rock art, please adhere to the rules below:

• Do not touch the rock art – it is water sensitive.
• Do not climb on or near the rock art.
• Be mindful of floorspace under rock art – may contain artefacts.