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Background on the Rock Art Tour Eperience

In cliff overhangs,in open caves and on hidden rocky outcrops of Southern Africa, lies one of Southern Africa's great heritages and national treasures, the rock art of the San/Bushman people.

Not only are these images, - from single figures and animals to complex polychrome masterpieces of interlocking figures, animals and symbols, beautifully crafted; but they also embody and reflect the rich symbolic life and world view of the San people.

These paintings give us access to the everyday, symbolic, mythic and spiritual life of the indigenous hunter/gatherers who lived in Southern Africa before the invasion of the area by both African herders and European colonialists. This tour will provide access to these lost worlds through the rock art. South Africa has one of the richest heritage's of rock art in the world. Witwatersrand University's Rock Art Research Centre has calculated that there are approximately 15 000 known rock art sites and probably twice as many as this are in existence. It is certainly true that one can still stumble across an as yet unrecorded San rock art site and possibly be one of the first people to look on a masterpiece created by a San artist, thousands of years ago.

In addition these paintings are often located in dramatic physical settings. What makes South Africa's rock art even more special is that it is probably one of the most understood of rock art cultures across the world. This is because of the fortunate circumstances of the recording of the mythology, language and folklore of the last remnants of the Southern San people, in the 1870's by a visionary linguist, W.Bleek and his family. This material offers a glimpse into the past and helps researchers make sense of rock art which had remained inaccessible and open to speculative theories.

These South African insights have proven so useful that some of the hypotheses have now been used to understand rock art in other parts of the world. Whilst debate still rages amongst researchers, there is general consensus that the bulk of the rock art expresses the religious and spiritual beliefs of the San people, of which a central element was trance experience. This tour will be a rich visual and intellectual experience of the rock art of South Africa.