The rock engraving site of Driekopseiland, west of Kimberley in the Northern Cape is distinctively situated on glaciated basement rock in the bed of the Riet River, and has a wealth of over 3500 engravings, preponderantly geometric images. Most other sites in the region have greater proportions of, or are dominated by, animal imagery. In early interpretations, it was often considered that ethnicity was the principal factor in this variabilty. From the 1960s the focus shifted more to establishing a quantative definition of the site, and an emperical understanding of it within the emerging cultural and environmental history of the region.

Bibliography: pages 134-166. / Southern African archaeology has experienced several changes in theoretical perspectives over the past few decades. More recently there have been renewed calls for a more social and theoretical approach to the analysis of the prehistoric past, especially the Late Stone Age. This thesis is an account of the last 4000 years in the southwestern Cape, where material culture is analysed in terms of contextual meaning. Contextual meaning is used in conjunction with social identity theory to analyse the interaction between Khoi herders and San gatherer-hunters. I use the active processes of identity formation and maintenance to argue that both the isolationist and revisionist arguments have simplified the concepts of identity, where identity is seen to have a passive role in interaction. I argue that identity is dynamic and changeable, and that individuals have several social identities which are made salient according to the context of interaction. I use specific fine line images in the rock art to argue that these images, in conjunction with scraper styles, were used as strategies by San males to increase their self-esteem. I further argue that interaction would result in unequal gender relations and San females used specific adzes to reassert their gender identity within San society. I further argue that finger paintings and handprints may have been painted by Khoi females as part of their menstruation and/or menarche rituals. I use both the gender and social identities from the Khoi and the San to argue that these are interrelated and cannot be separated. I argue that interaction would result in unequal gender and social practices and these practices would be expressed in the material culture of that group.

Thesis (M. Tech.) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2007 / The lack of a standardized lighting instrument to be used in conjunction with existing photographic methods to document rock art, is a problem experienced in archaeological circles. Through interviews with archaeologists and an investigation into existing photographic methods concerning the photographing of rock art, a demand for a portable and modular lighting instrument was confirmed. The aim of this study, then, was to develop a prototype lighting instrument to fill this void. The design and manufacture of the modular lighting instrument entailed the harnessing of the technological advances made in the field of rapid prototyping. A brief overview of the San/Bushmen of Southern Africa is given to stress the importance of this study and to emphasise the importance of the art of the Bushman in our collective art heritage. An overview of the documenting of rock art and therewith an investigation into documented works of rock art and rock engravings by the San/Bushmen serves as a point of departure for the present inquiry. Tests undertaken with the modular lighting instrument, and a comparison of the results so obtained with existing photographic methods, showed that with the use of the modular lighting instrument, an improvement in illumination, rock-face texture and colour contrast in the images was obtained. The modular lighting instrument helps to create and regulate a suitable lighting environment irrespective of natural lighting circumstances and environments. It produces better results when it comes to documenting rock art in comparison to existing methods of documentation. Continued study for the development of the modular lighting instrument is recommended in order to produce more constant results.

This dissertation critically evaluates the intersections of tourism, heritage conservation, and visual communication by exploring the display materials and Museology within the Didima Rock Art Centre, at Cathedral Peak, southern Drakensberg, KwaZulu-Natal. The text consists of three chapters. The first chapter introduces rock art and current research and conservation concerns in relation to heritage and rock art. The second chapter serves as an introduction to the Didima Rock Art Centre. A discussion raises important issues about visual communication in regard to the representation of the Southern San and rock art as material culture both in this museum context. Chapter three investigates and analyses the museum practices that have been used as a visual communication within the Centre by discussing methods that have been used in the museum and its auditorium. A conclusion follows that summarizes the candidate's findings regarding museum display within the Centre, and its impact on tourism and heritage conservation in relation to the Southern San and rock art. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

Abstracts in English, Zulu and Xhosa / Rock art affords unique opportunities for engendered research because it provides emic views of how specific people re-presented themselves. My feminist study investigates under-researched ‘San/Bushman’ gendered identities to understand more about area-specific constructions of personhood through analysing 2852 rock paintings from two adjacent areas of the northern Eastern Cape, South Africa. Using quantitative and qualitative methods and evidence from excavation archaeology, ethnography, ethology, and neurocognitive research, I identify three categories of ritual specialists: experienced and preeminent; ordinary; and novice. These paintings show that wo/men ritual specialists could transcend the identity norms of ordinary people, but men ritual specialists may have had more status and power. I suggest the paintings acted as a controlling mechanism for the potency of women, indoctrination of novices, and present an ideal for the practice of ritual specialists and ordinary people. This research has important implications for identifying different types of identity marking by different groups of southern African San. / Bonono ba majwe bo fana ka menyetla e ikgethang bakeng sa dipatlisiso tse fokolang hobane e fana ka ditjhebo tsa bonnete tsa hore na batho ba itseng ba ne ba itlhahisa jwang. Boithuto ba ka ba tsa bosadi bo fuputsa boitsebiso ba batho ba maSan/Busumane bo so kang bo batlisiswa haholo ele ho utlwisisa haholwanyane ka dikaho tsa dibaka tse ikgethileng tsa botho ka ho manolla metako ya pente e 2852 e tswang dibakeng tse pedi tse bapileng tsa borwa ho Kapa Botjhabela, Afrika Borwa. Ka tshebediso ya mekgwa ya bongata le boleng le bopaki ho tswa ho dipatlisiso tsa excavation archaeology, ethnography, ethology, le tsa neurocognitive, ke hlwaya mekgahlelo e meraro ya ditsebi tsa mekete ya meetlo: ba nang boiphihlello le ba hlahelletseng ka mahetla; ba tlwaelehileng; le bomaithutwana. Metako ena ya pente e bontsha hore ditsebi tsa basadi tsa mekete ya meetlo di ne di kgona ho tlola ditlwaelo tsa boitsebiso tsa batho ba tlwaelehileng, empa ditsebi tsa banna tsa mekete ya meetlo di ka di ne le di na le maemo le matla a fetang. Ke sisinya hore metako e ne e sebetsa jwalo ka mokgwa wa ho laola bakeng sa matla a basadi, thuto ya bomaithutwane, le ho hlahisa se lokelang ho ba sona bakeng sa tshebetso ya ditsebi tsa meetlo le batho ba tlwaelehileng. Patlisiso ena e na le bohlokwa bakeng sa ho hlwaya mefuta e fapaneng ya matshwao ba boitsebiso a dihlopha tse fapaneng tsa maSan a Afrika e borwa. / Imizobo esematyeni inika amathuba akhethekileyo ophando lweemeko ezingqonge isini ngoba le mizobo ibonisa indlela abaziveza ngayo abantu abathile ngokwenkcubeko yabo. Isifundo sam ngobufazi siphanda ngohlanga lwama ‘San/Bushman’ okanye Amaqhakancu/abaThwa nekuphandwe kancinci ngabo, injongo ikukuqonda ubume bobuntu babo kwiindawo ngeendawo. Olu phando lwenziwe ngokuhlalutya imizobo esematyeni engama-2852 ekwiingingqi ezimbini eziseMntla-Mpuma Koloni, eMzantsi Afrika. Ngokusebenzisa uphando olusekelwe kubungqina bamanani nobusekelwe kwiingxoxo nokuzathuza kwanobungqina obuvezwe zizinto ezigronjwe/ezigrunjwe kwiziza zakudaladala, obuvezwe kwiinkcazelo zenkcubeko yabantu abahlukeneyo, obuvezwe kwiinkcazelo zoluntu xa lujongwe ngokwenkalo yendalo (i-itholoji) nobuvezwe kwizifundo zokuqiqa nokusebenza kwengqondo, ndiphawule iindidi ezintathu zeengcali zezithethe: abanamava nolwazi olubalaseleyo; abanolwazi oluqhelekileyo; abangenalwazi kangako. Le mizobo ibonisa ukuba iingcali zezithethe zamadoda nezabafazi zinakho ukubona ngaphaya kwendlela ababona ngayo abantu jikelele, kodwa kusengenzeka ukuba iingcali zezithethe zamadoda zazinewonga negunya elithe chatha. Ndibona ukuba imizobo yayisebenza njengesixhobo sokulawula amandla neziphiwo zabafazi, ukuqweqwedisa iingcinga zabangenalwazi luthe vetshe, nokuvelisa okulindelekileyo kwindlela yokusebenza kweengcali zezithethe nabantu jikelele. Olu phando lubalulekile ekunakaneni iindidi ezahlukeneyo zokuphawula ubuyena bamaqela ahlukeneyo ohlanga lwamaSan/ Amaqhakancu aseAfrika. / M.A. (Archaeology)