Numerous rock paintings created by people who lived in the region over thousands of years have been preserved in the Agter-Pakhuis area in the northern part of South Africa’s Cederberg Mountains. The sandstone walls feature depictions of animals, people, processions, hunting scenes and patterns whose meanings often remain unclear.
As Daily Maverick reports, the paintings are associated with the |Xam, San and Khoikhoi peoples. These names refer to different communities and histories, rather than to a single culture. The mountain slopes behind the cottages in Agter-Pakhuis are part of a large rock art complex spread across the entire Cederberg range.
Natural paints and an uncertain age
Natural pigments were used to create the images. Red and yellow shades were obtained mainly from ochre, black from substances including manganese oxides, and white from kaolin and other light-coloured minerals. Ground pigments were mixed with binding agents that may have included animal fat, blood, plant sap or other organic components. The exact recipes for these mixtures can no longer be reconstructed.
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The age of the paintings remains a matter of debate, but they were likely created over a very long period. On the generally rough sandstone, places where people most often held on with their hands or stood with their feet have been polished by the touch of many generations.
Evidence of |Xam communities
According to the publication, |Xam communities in the region were destroyed or dispersed: their bows and spears, including poisoned ones, could not match Dutch and later British firearms. Over time, the |Xam language ceased to be spoken.
Thousands of pages of stories, testimonies and conversations recorded in the 19th century are kept in the Bleek and Lloyd Archive at the University of Cape Town. Some of the sites can be seen about a 20-minute walk or drive from Perdehoek Cottage, although without a knowledgeable guide they are easy to miss among the folds and outcrops of sandstone.
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