Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve & Retreat's resident archaeologist and curator Siyakha Mguni has discovered a rare ceremonial rock art site on the south-western edge of the reserve at the foothills of the Cederberg.

This follows hot on the heels of Bushmans Kloof' receiving the coveted Relais & Châteaux Environmental Award 2007 in recognition of its environmental and conservation projects that include the Rock art conservation programme.

Bushmans Kloof is renowned for its rock-art legacy of an estimated 130 documented Bushman rock art sites and since its inception ten years ago, it has shown a rare dedication to preserving this heritage.

The new rock art site is the first at Bushmans Kloof to depict Bushman 'rain-making' imagery. This 'Rain-beast' site was found on the walls of a large exposed shelter, which is nearly 50 metres long and 12 metres high. Remarkable for a shelter of this size, the site does not seem to have been inhabited ever. Also unusual is that the style of these paintings is more akin to the Bushman art found in the Drakensberg, rather than that encountered in the South-Western Cape.

According to Mguni the site is estimated to be no less than 1 500 years old - the general period that fine line images ceased to be painted in the area. The exquisitely depicted pre-historic images of man-like creatures representing a group of people who had the power to make and control weather are painted onto the sandstone rock in red pigment, with faces painted in white.

Red and white has also been used delicately to illustrate the intricate detail of arrows in the quivers of some of the figures. This type of ceremonial rock art site may have been where the Bushman 'rain-makers' gathered to call upon and welcome the rain.
The figures are nearly all of men either striding with evocative intent or in a stooped position. Upon closer inspection, the heads of some of the men are those of antelope. Nearby the main panel are two other-worldly beasts with both antelope and cat-like features. It is known that these animals were believed by the Bushmen to be associated with water and rainfall.

Coupled with the discovery of another new site recorded by Mguni a few months earlier toward the north-easterly section of the reserve, the distinct possibility exists that rainmaking ceremonials may have played an important role in the lives of both the artists and their contemporaries in the area around what is Bushmans Kloof today.

The other new site has been named the 'Rainbow mystery shelter' and boasts an intriguing set of illustrations including an inverted double arched line nearly 30cm wide, painted in dark red. Encased or nested inside this double arched line, almost in the middle, are several delicately thin vertical lines emanating from two convoluted shapes painted in yellow ochre. On the right edge of the arch, a partially human, partially animal figure with large antelope-like ears holds one of the arched lines while facing the vertical thin lines in the middle of the arch. This arched line and several vertical ones in the middle of the arch recall what have been in the past thought to be depictions of rainbows, clouds and downpours.

More about Bushmans Kloof
Bushmans Kloof is a luxurious 5-star Relais & Châteaux retreat that offers a sanctuary for relaxing, discovering, healing and restoring, as well as a safe and protected shelter for wildlife and many endangered species of flora and fauna.

A mere 270km from Cape Town, this lies within the Cederberg Wilderness Area, which forms part of the Cape Floral Region, a World Heritage Site. The recipient of many international accolades, Bushmans Kloof was recently voted as 'One of the Ten Best Bush Lodges', by GQ Magazine South Africa. (August 2006).

During the year, Bushmans Kloof offers special Archaeology packages presented by Siyakha Mguni and Prof John Parkington of the University of Cape Town's Archaeology Department.


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