Primates in South African Rock Art

doi:10.1017/9781108766500.018

13 - Primates in South African Rock Art

The Interconnections between Humans and Baboons

from Part III - Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 August 2022

Ndukuyakhe Ndlovu

Edited by

Bernardo Urbani ,

Dionisios Youlatos and

Andrzej T. Antczak

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Bernardo Urbani: Affiliation:
Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research
Dionisios Youlatos: Affiliation:
Aristotle University, Thessaloniki
Andrzej T. Antczak: Affiliation:
Universiteit Leiden

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Summary

South Africa is richly endowed with rock art, with three specific rock art traditions having been identified. This chapter is based on one of those rock art traditions, most specifically, the Bushmen rock art. There are many motifs made by Bushmen, ranging from animals, human figures, to schematic images. For the purpose of this chapter, I focus on the representation of primates in the rock art made by these peoples. Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus), as the other primates represented in the rock art, are not found in large quantities. Even in locations where they are relatively well represented, their numbers are still much lower than other animals that were incorporated into rock art imagery. Furthermore, I address three other aspects. First, to provide evidence that shows that some of the baboon features were incorporated into human figures to produce what are known as therianthropic images, that is, half-human and half-animal images. Second, to explore how the representation and significance of baboons have been understood by scholars over the years. Third, to examine their geographical distribution in southern African rock art.

Keywords:

Primates, Baboons, Therianthropes, Rock Art Traditions, Shaman, Bushmen

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Type: Chapter
Information: World Archaeoprimatology
Interconnections of Humans and Nonhuman Primates in the Past
, pp. 354 - 374

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108766500.018 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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