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Nsangwini Rock Shelter
SWAZILAND IS ONE OF
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD AND THE HILLS AROUND
PIGGS PEAK HOLD SOME OF HER MOST BEAUTIFUL VISTAS. THEY ALSO
HOLD THE NSANGWINI rock SHELTER WHICH, AT ONE TIME, MUST HAVE
BEEN ONE OF THE MOST SPLENDID GALLERIES OF Bushman (SAN) ART
IN AFRICA.
THE SHELTER IS LOW ON
A HILLSIDE, NEAR WATER AND SURROUNDED BY TREES. THIS SUGGESTS
IT WAS ALSO NEAR A GAME TRAIL AND AS SUCH WAS PROBABLY OCCUPIED
FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME. THE LIGHT BOWS OF THE BUSHMAN DID NOT
SEND AN ARROW VERY FAR AND THEY PREFERRED TO SHOOT FROM AMBUSH.
TREES, GAME TRAIL, WATER AND A ROCK SHELTER. BUSHMAN HEAVEN!
THE WALLS AND ROOF OF
THE SHELTER ARE COVERED IN PAINTINGS DEPICTING BATTLES, THE HUNT
CEREMONIES AND MANY OTHER SCENES FROM THE LIVES AND MYTHOLOGY
OF THE BUSHMAN. THESE IMAGES, NOW BADLY DESECRATED, STILL HOLD
THE POWER THAT BRING TO LIFE A SOCIETY LONG SWEPT AWAY BY CHANGE.
THERE IS EVIDENCE OF MANY DIFFERENT STYLES, INDICATING THAT THE
SITE WAS USED BY SEVERAL DIFFERENT ARTISTS. THE WAY IN WHICH
A PAINTING SOMETIMES OVERLAPS ANOTHER EARLIER PAINTING, ALSO
HINTS AT THE LENGTH OF TIME THE SHELTER WAS IN USE.
THE LOCATIONS OF ROCK PAINTINGS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA HAVE BEEN
NOTED, AND THE PAINTINGS COPIED , AS FAR BACK AS THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY. THEY RAISED, HOWEVER, LITTLE MORE THAN INTEREST AND
CURIOSITY UNTIL THE SCIENCE OF ARCHAEOLOGY CAME INTO ITS OWN
IN THE 1930's AND THEREAFTER. AT FIRST THERE NAS ONLY SPECULATION
ON THE CONTENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL PAINTINGS, WITH LITTLE OR NO
GRASP OF THE OVERALL SIGNIFICANCE TO THE BUSHMAN CULTURE AND
RELIGION OF THE DEPICTED SCENES.ONE OF THE MOST FREQUENT SUBJECTS
OF "RocK ART" CHOSEN BY THE ARTISTS IS THE ELAND. (THERE
IS AN EXAMPLE, NOT A PARTICULARLY FINE ONE, AT NSANGWINI.) THE
EXAMINATION OF FOOD REMAINS AT THIS, AND OTHER SITES, INDICATE
THAT THE SCENES WERE NOT NECESSARILY SHOWING ANIMALS COMMONLY
EATEN BY THE HUNTERS. IT IS PROBABLE THAT THIS GRACEFUL ANTELOPE
HAD A GREATER SIGNIFICANCE THAN THAT OF MERLE A SOURCE OF FOOD,
IT MAY HAVE BEEN OF MYTHOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE TO THE BUSHMAN.
BIRDMEN ANO BATTLES.
AT NSANGWINI SHELTER
THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF ANIMAL AND HUMAN FIGURES IN VARYING
SCALES AND GROU'INGS. THE HUMAN FORMS DIFFER IN SCALES AND ATTITUDE,
SOME WALKING OR SANDING, OTHERS IN A DANCING OR FIGHTlNG POSTURE,
AS IN THE 'BATTLE SCENE'. THIS MAY WELL BE AN INTERPRETATlON
OF AN ACTUAL EVENT.
MUCH OF IT HAS NOW BEEN DESTROYED BY VANDALISM, BUT IT APPEARS
TO SHOW BUSHMAN FIGHTTNG EACH OTHER.
OTHER SITES DEPICT THE BATTLES BUSHMAN FOUGHT WITH THE ARRIVING
BANTU PEOPLE, OR EVEN THE BOERS. Of PARTICULAR INTEREST AT NSANGWINI
ARE THE 'BIRDMEN' DISPLAYING A SET OF WINGS ( NSANGWINI SHELTER
IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE THE BIRDMEN ARE DEPICTED) THE MOST OBVIOUS
EXPLANATION IS THAT THESE ARE DANCERS IMITATING, AS BUSHMAN D0
SO WELL EVEN TODAY, THE NATURE AROUND THEM. OTHER SITES IN SOUTHERN
AFRICA REVEAL IMAGES OF MEN WITH ANTELOPE HEAD AND FEET, STRANGE
'CREATURES' AND -HUMAN FORMS CONNECTED TO ANIMAL BY DEFINITE
'UMBILICAL' LINES. So PERHAPS A DEEPER SIGNIFICANCE CAN BE LOOKED
FOR.
THE TERM .ROCK PAINTING. MIGHT IMPLY A PERMANENT AND SOLID CONDITION,
BUT THIS IS UNFORTUNATELY NOT SO! NATURAL WEATHERING, ESPECIALLY
IN AN AREA OF HIGH RAINFALL LIKE PIGGS PEAK, DETERIORATION HAS
BEEN SERVER EVEN IN THE RELATIVELY SHORT TIME SINCE THE PAINTINGS
WERE DISCOVERED'. THE ARTlST USED NATURAL ORCHRE'S, MIXED WITH
ANIMAL PRODUCTS, BLOOD, FAT OR MILK, SO IS REMARKABLE THAT THEIR
WORK HAS SURVIVED THE HUNDREDS, EVEN THOUSANDS, OF YEARS THAT
IT HAS.
Of COURSE, SOME OF THE PIGMENTS HAVE FADED FASTER THAN OTHERS,
WHICH IS WHY SOME OF THE PAINTINGS APPEAR SO STRANGE. AT NSANGWINI,
FOR INSTANCE, MANY OF THE FIGURES APPEAR TO HAVE NO FACES. USING
OUR IMAGINATION TO REPLACE A FADED COLOUR BRINGS AN EVEN DEEPER
ADMIRATION FOR THE NORK OF THE ARTISTS.
LEGACY
JUST STANDING AND ADMIRING THESE ANCIENT WORKS OF ART, IT IS
EASY TO FLY ON THE WINGS OF IMAGINATION BACK TO THE TIME WHEN
THE ARTlSTS WERE STILL AT WORK IN THE ROCK FACES. THE INlTIAL
THRILL OF LOSING THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE PRESENT IS NEVER FORGOTTEN.
ALTHOUGH WE MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE COMPLEX SYSTEM
OF THEIR VALUES, THE LEGACY OF THEIR ART WILL ALWAYS STAND TO
PROVIDE US WITH A PICTORIAL GLIMPSE INTO THE ESSENTIAL PHYSICAL
AND SPIRITUAL HISTORY OF BUSHMAN EXSISTANCE.
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