Overlooking the Savuti Marsh area of Chobe National Park in northern Botswana, the Gubatshaa (alt. Gubatsa) Hills are steep outliers in an otherwise level environment. In the past, the Savuti marshes would have attracted abundant wildlife, creating ample hunting grounds for hunter-gatherer communities. The rock panes of Gubatshaa Hills also served as an important locale for connecting to the spirit world, evidenced through several elaborate paintings made on the rock surfaces there. Animals are well represented, such as the eland, giraffe, elephant and gemsbok, as well as geometric designs. Only a few faded human figures are visible in the painted panels. Research suggests that one of the most important and most sacred animals in San cosmology is the eland, frequently painted by Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer communities throughout southern Africa. There are 22 known sites of paintings around the Gubatshaa Hills, most being very faint due to exposure to the elements.
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View from Gubatshaa Hills, Chobe National Park
© DNMM -
Painted adult eland and calf
© DNMM -
Superposition of painted animal figures including eland, elephant and giraffe
© DNMM
A mixture of plant juices and animal fat coloured with the rusty iron oxide from rocks was used to create the incredibly durable paint. Its exact composition is unknown.
Sources
- Campbell, A. (1970). Notes on some rock paintings at Savuti. Botswana Notes and Records, 2, 15.
- Lewis-Williams, J.D. & Dowson, T.A. (1990). Through the veil: San rock paintings and the rock face. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 45, 5–16 [Link]
- Lewis-Williams, J.D., Blundell, G., Challis, W. & Hampson, J. (2000). Threads of light: re-examining a motif in southern African San rock art. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 55, 123–136 [Link]