The Western Cape of South Africa has been inhabited by humans and their ancestors for at least a million years. Earlier Stone Age artefacts date to between about 2 million and 200,000 years ago. These hunter-gatherers apparently did not make rock paintings. Middle Stone Age artefacts have also been found but they are not directly linked to the artists responsible for rock paintings in the region. 

From about 40,000 years ago, the Later Stone Age people living in the Western Cape were regularly making artefacts like bows and arrows, digging stick weights, ostrich eggshell beads and other items that were still being made by San hunter-gatherers at the time of European contact in the seventeenth century (1600s). It was during the Later Stone Age that most of the rock paintings were made in the Western Cape. 

Rock paintings can be dated if the paint had an organic ingredient like blood or egg or plant juice, but in many cases there is not enough of these ingredients left to get a reliable age. Detailed study of the paintings over the past century has nevertheless allowed for a general sequence to be identified based on which images were painted first (the fine line humans and animals by the San) and which were painted later (the handprints and finger paintings by the Khoe), followed by colonial images of people with horses, guns and hats. Fine line paintings are generally associated with Later Stone Age San hunter-gatherers. The oldest dated fine line images in the Western Cape are at least 3500 years old and older paintings may not have survived, or have not been found in a dateable context. 

For many years it was thought that the paintings were literal depictions of the landscape in which hunter-gatherers lived. It is now known that the art is more complex than this and that it was produced within a number of important ritual contexts, such as healing, rain-making and the initiation of boys and girls into adulthood. The art therefore is religious and relates to complex beliefs and practices. Rock paintings are the work of the ancestors of San hunter-gatherers, Khoe pastoralists and people of the recent colonial period. This art includes a wide range of images, types, motifs and themes. This diversity can be reduced to a few broad rock art groups or traditions. In chronological order, these are referred to as: 

- Fine line images 
- A range of finger-painted images including dots and lines as well as various types of handprints 
- Images of colonial people, wagons and horses 
- Historical graffiti

Fine-line images are the oldest images generally identified as they lie beneath later images. The remnants of images of eland are also included in this category of rock art. The eland are sometimes difficult to identify as only the red or yellow ochre remains of what was originally a multi-coloured image with white and black highlights and shading. The white and black pigments tend to wear away more quickly than the red and yellow ochre pigments which is why all that is left of the eland are blobs of colour.

The original paint was made of organic materials including red and yellow ochre.

Paintings that tend to depict more recent images such as wagons, horses and feathered hats often look very different to earlier fine-lined images. Many such images have clearly been created using the finger as a paintbrush resulting in thicker-lines and more crude-looking images.

In addition to the eland, other antelope as well as some indeterminate other animals can be found. Images of other animals are also known, such as fish, elephants and others. Images of fat-tailed sheep assist in dating rock art sites as this species is known to have arrived in this part of South Africa approximately 2000 years ago.

BASIC DO’S AND DON’TS FOR ROCK ART CONSERVATION 

The following guidelines are widely accepted behaviour for visitors to rock art sites – both paintings and engravings. 

• Enjoy the rock art and behave as you would in an art gallery. The longer you look at the paintings or engravings, the more you will see. 

• Do not touch the paintings. Your fingers leave behind traces of oil and dirt that builds up and cannot be removed. 

• Never put water or any other substance on painted surfaces to enhance the colour or detail. It causes salts to be drawn to the surface and they cannot be removed. Photos of faded paintings can be digitally enhanced and this is much better than wetting the originals. 

• It is an offence in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act (No. 25 of 1999) to write on rock shelter walls, damage or “touch up” paintings or engravings. It alters the significance of the original art and spoils the experience for other visitors. If convicted of this offence, you could be liable for a fine of between R10,000 and R100,000. 

• Avoid stirring up dust when you visit a painted rock shelter as the dust adheres to the rock walls and is difficult to remove. If you are going to spend some time in a rock shelter, put down a ground sheet to control dust and avoid disturbing archaeological deposits. 

• Trim vegetation away from painted surfaces to stop branches brushing against paintings and to reduce the damaging effects of veld fires. 

• Remove all litter after visiting a rock art site. 

• Visitors to rock shelters should remove back packs to avoid their brushing against painted surfaces. 

• Do not make fires in or near painted rock shelters as the smoke and cooking fumes can damage the art and discolour the rock walls. 

• If you are obliged to seek shelter overnight in a rock art site, avoid leaving candle wax on rock surfaces. 

The following basic guidelines are useful for the owners of properties with rock art. 

• A permit must be obtained from the relevant provincial heritage resources authority for any interventions such as installation of fences, boardwalks or information boards at a rock art site. 

• Seek advice from the provincial heritage resources authority or a rock art specialist if you wish to open rock art sites to the public. 

• Avoid placing rubbish bins in or near to painted rock shelters as they attract animals and are often overturned, spreading the litter. 

• Train a guide to take visitors to rock art sites or print a leaflet with clear instructions for all visitors. 

***Summarised from the Do’s and Don’ts approved by SAHRA (the South African Heritage Resources Agency).***