Resumen de On a search for ancestral rock art in the South-Eastern Kalahari, South Africa
Peter B. Beaumont, Robert G. Bednarik
Several petroglyph sites situated on the south-eastern margin of the Kalahari have been under study for the past decade. We report here on research at three localities there, Nchwaneng, Potholes Hoek and Klipbak 1. Age estimates, based on palaeoclimatic constraints, contiguous artefacts, and microerosion analysis, were used to construct a provisional timescale. In terms of this, the rock art is mainly attributable to the Later and Middle Stone Ages, but panels at two sites are linked to the earlier Fauresmith tradition. Pleistocene petroglyphs begin with cupules only and are followed by cupules and outline circles, while the Holocene panels also include noniconic, human and animal depictions. The survival of the extremely early petroglyphs in this region is primarily attributable to the local lithology, a very weather-resistant quartzite.
