The Vredefort Dome in the Free State Province of South Africa is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its geological distinction. It is the largest and oldest impact crater on Earth and is named after the town of Vredefort. For further information regarding its geological importance, refer to the suggested readings below. Our interest is in the site DSK1 that consists of several small boulders forming a part of a Granophyre Dyke (Fig.1). Granophyre dykes are impact meltrock from the Vredefort meteorite impact (McCarthy & Rubidge, 2005).
DSK1 rock art site is located on an east-west running granophyre dyke roughly 700m long. The site consists of pecked engravings on a series of boulders forming a linear band. All the engravings are attributed to the San rock art tradition. There are six clearly distinguishable engraved boulders, all attributed to differing periods within the San rock art tradition. The older images consist of fine pecking that was made with great precision while the newer images were made using a more roughly pecked technique.
The engraved image on the boulder at the far eastern section of the dyke is that of a black rhinoceros (Dicerosbicornis) (Fig. 2). This technique of pecking is much cruder but still shows great detail. The rhino’s horn and bulky body is clearly discernible but there is no defined difference in the shape of the lips. In San rock art black rhino are usually depicted with the upper lip hanging over the lower lip due to its browsing nature (Ouzman,1996). In this case the rhino is depicted with its head turned upwards, suggesting a browser rather than a grazer (in the case of a white rhino). The upturned head is a common convention used by San artists to depict a black rhino.
The engraved boulder is a representation of a white rhinoceros (Ceratotheriumsimum) (Fig. 3). This is clearly distinguishable from the black rhinoceros because of its square mouth for grazing. Also, the head is longer than the neck and there is a pronounced convex nuchal hump. In keeping with San artistic convention the white rhino’s head is lowered for the purpose of grazing. This engraving is truer to the classical San tradition because it shows exquisite detail despite being an outlined and not a filled in image. The horn, eye and mouth are beautifully detailed but the missing front leg suggests that the image was not completed. This is common in San engravings and may have some symbolic meaning (Ouzman, 1996).
Rhinoceroses are of great supernatural importance to San religion. The San believed that fat contains a high concentration of supernatural potency. The black rhino can weigh up to 1400kg while white rhino can reach two tons. The layer of fat between the hide and the flesh is approximately 50mm thick. San shamans harnessed rhinoceros potency in order to perform their tasks such as healing, controlling game and out-of-body travel (Ouzman, 1996). Certain behavioural and physical characteristics of the rhino invite comparisons with the mythical rain bull. San ethnography tells us that the rain bull was a large-bodied herbivorous creature with a vicious temperament that lived in a pool of water and only surfaced at night (Bleek, 1933). Rhinoceroses often lie in waterholes for several hours for the purpose of thermoregulation, or wallow in mud to get rid of ectoparasites (Estes, 1991). The mythical rain bull was lured out of the waterhole using buchu and captured by throwing a thong over his horn. It was then led to the area requiring rain, where its throat was slashed, thereby releasing the rain. The rhinoceros was a referent to the rain bull. The white rhino usually represents female rain. The female rain animal is associated with soft and steady rains that bring nourishment and rebirth to the lands. This is considered a less frightening animal. In times of drought the shamans of the rain are called upon to make rain by performing a trance dance.
The concept of rainmaking seems to be a common theme at this site, when considering the engraved image of the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) (Fig. 4). The technique of pecking demonstrated in the hippo engraving is an example of the classical San tradition, making this image much older than Figure 2. The detail captured by the San artist is quite exquisite, showing the folds of skin on the animal’s neck.
The hippo also has a large bulky body and behavioural characteristics similar to the rhino. In San ethnography there exists an analogy between ‘rain’ and ‘animal’. The /Xam refer to rain as !khwa. The English translation of the /Xamwords !khwa:-ka xoro is water cow. In numerous ethnographical accounts rain is something “which is alive”. There are referents to the “rain’s blood”, the “rain’s legs”, the “rain’s breath” and the “rain’s hair” (Bleek, 1933). The ethnography shows that rain, whether a ‘Cow’ or a ‘Bull’, was perceived to be a mixture of a hippo and a bovid-like animal (Lewis-Williams & Dowson, 1989).
Rainmaking is a recurrent theme in DSK1, and the granophyre dyke itself shows a remarkable resemblance to a snake (see Fig. 5) (Moodley & Kriek, 2016). The band of boulders forming this dyke seems to weave across the landscape like a snake. San mythology is enacted in a three-tiered universe: above is a realm occupied by God (/Kaggen), his animals and spirits of the dead; the ‘middle’ is the material world; below is another spiritual realm associated with the dead and shamanistic travel (Lewis-Williams & Pearce, 2004). Snakes were believed to be associated with all three levels of the San mythological universe: their emergence from the ground (below) into the ‘material’ world (middle) in great numbers after the rain (from above) classified them as the Rain’s creatures. Moreover, /Kaggen, uppermost deity of the /Xam, could transform himself into a snake (Lewis-Williams & Pearce, 2004). In this form he had the power to flood the countryside. One story concerns a man who wished to become a shaman and plunged into a deep pool toretrieve a large snake. Legend goes that if the snake did not struggle as he came out, he was destined to become a shaman. He would then kill it and perform a public dance with the skin tied around his forehead, the rest of the snake’s body streaming behind him.
The theme of rainmaking continues to dominate the imagery at DSK 1. There are two engraved eland (Taurotragus oryx) at this site but it is Figure 6 that displays close association with the theme of rainmaking. This eland is depicted in great detail showing the distinctive dewlap, horns, nose, eye and even the folds of skin on the neck. The San artist chose to depict this eland with a raised tail and head. This posture is associated with the eland “sniffing the wind” in anticipation of rain (Lewis-Williams & Pearce, 2004).Also this eland is engraved deliberately incorporating a natural hollow in the position of its heart. The eland heart is commonly used in rainmaking rituals because of the layers of fat that surround the heart making it particularly spiritually potent.
Certainly DSK 1 can be considered an important site for the rituals involving rainmaking. The choice and positioning of the animals engraved on the granophyre dyke is no coincidence. DSK 1 in the Vredefort Dome holds great geological prominence but it should also be reveredas a spiritualplace where the San have performed sacred ceremonies during the last hundreds of years.
References
Bleek, D.F. 1932. Customs and beliefs of the |Xam Bushmen. Part III: Game animals. Bantu Studies 6:233–49.
Bleek, D.F. 1933. Beliefs and customs of the |Xam Bushmen. Part V: The rain. Part VI: Rain-making. Bantu Studies 7: 297–312, 375–92.
Estes, R. 1991. The behaviour guide to African Mammals. London: University of California Press, Ltd.
Lewis-Williams, J.D. & Dowson, T.A. 1990. Images of Power: Understanding Bushman Rock Art. Johannesburg: Southern Book Publishers.
Lewis-Williams, J.D. & Pearce, D.G. 2004. San spirituality: Roots, expressions and social consequences. Cape Town: Double Storey.
McCarthy, T & Rubidge, B. 2005. The Story of Earth & Life. Cape Town: Struik Publishers.
Moodley, S &Kriek, J. 2016. Rock Art Site Report of DSK 1, Parys District, Free State Province (unpublished). Rock Art Department, National Museum, Bloemfontein.
Ouzman, S. 1996. ThabaSione: place of rhinoceroses, rock art and rainmaking. African Studies, 55: 31-59.
Suggested Reading
Huber, M.S & Kovaleva, E. 2020. Identifying Gaps in the Investigation of the Vredefort Granophyre Dikes: A Systematic Literature Review. Geosciences. 10: 1-21.
Huber, M.S et al. 2021. Inhomogeneous distribution of lithic clasts within the Daskop Granophyre Dike, Vredefort Impact Structure: Implications for emplacement of impact melt in large impact structures. The Geological Society of America. 550: 255-268.
Smillie, S. 2021. Rock art rocks: Experts are still trying to fathom ancient engravings found near the Vredefort crater. Daily Maverick.https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-03-30-rock-art-rocks-experts-are-still-trying-to-fathom-ancient-engravings-found-near-the-vredefort-crater/.
Comments are closed.