Society for American Archaeology

CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART: EXAMINING LANDSCAPE USE,

RITUAL ACTIVITY, AND CONTACT THROUGH MULTIVARIATE CONTENT-BASED SPATIAL
ANALYSIS
Author(s): Grant S. McCall
Source: American Antiquity, Vol. 75, No. 4 (October 2010), pp. 773-791
Published by: Society for American Archaeology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25766231
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 CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART:
EXAMINING LANDSCAPE USE, RITUAL ACTIVITY, AND CONTACT
THROUGH MULTIVARIATE CONTENT-BASED SPATIAL ANALYSIS

Grant S. McCall

This paper presents a multivariate statistical and spatial analysis of rock art site content and composition for the Didima
Gorge, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In presenting an experimental set of methodological approaches, the paper attempts
to identify categories of rock art sites based on their image content and other archaeological characteristics, and then explores
how these types might have related to various social, religious, and economic contexts in the past. The paper finds evidence
for three kinds of rock art site use in the Didima Gorge: (1) large residential "home bases" that were centers of economic
activity, (2) large unoccupied sites that were special locations for ritual activities, which the paper argues were sometimes
the locations of puberty initiation, and (3) small isolated sites that were locations of private magical activities done by lone
individuals. The central theme of this study is that there is clear evidence for diversity in terms of the contexts in which rock
art sites in the Didima Gorge formed, and that no single account is adequate for their explanation.

Este ensayo presenta un andlisis del contenido de los sitios en arte sobre piedra ubicados en el canon de Didima, KwaZulu
Natal, Suddfrica. Se propone clasificar los sitios segun su contenido pictoral mas las caracteristicas arqueologicas. Luego
esta clasificacion se relaciona con los antiguos contextos sociales, religiosos, y economicos. Se presenta evidencia para tres
clases de uso para los sitios de arte sobre piedra dentro del Canon de Didima: (I) bases residenciales; (2) grandes sitios ded
icados a actividades rituales, entre estas las iniciaciones de pubertad; y (3) pequehos lugares aislados donde individuos soli
tarios practicaban la magia. El tema central de este estudio es que hay indicaciones claras de diversos contextos deformacion
entre los sitios del arte sobre piedra en el Canon de Didima; una explicacion uniforme para su origen no es sustenible.

Agreat deal of modern research on South ern African rock art shows interesting consisten
African rock art has focused on a range of cies over space and time that likely indicate shared
ritual contexts relating to the activities of cosmological belief systems, and ethnographic
shamans and altered states of consciousness (Dow work among modern San groups has done much
son 1992; Lewis-Williams 1981,1983,1990,2002; to enlighten our understanding of southern African
Lewis-Williams and Blundell 1997; Lewis rock art.
Williams andDowson 1988,1993; Ouzman 1998; Such rock art research traditions in southern
Pearson 2002; Whitley 2000). This research has Africa have generally focused on the use of eth
been highly productive and has led to many impor nohistorical information for the interpretation of
tant insights concerning the social lives of past San imagery at the panel scale (Lewis-Williams 1981).
groups. This research tradition has generally sought Wider theoretical trends within rock art research,
to link patterns of San rock art imagery across a in contrast, have sought to explore such issues as
broad geographical and temporal range with reli forager enculturation of landscapes through deco
gious concepts, rituals, and social practices related ration with rock art imagery (e.g., Jordan 2003).
to shamanism observed among modern and historic One important limitation for this line of research
San groups (McCall 2007). As has been noted by is the underdevelopment of a toolkit for recogniz
many rock art researchers (Breuil 1954; Dowson ing spatial variation in patterns of rock art imagery.
1992; Lewis-Williams 2002; Willcox 1963), south A first step toward building theory concerning for

Grant S. McCall Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, 7041 Freret St., New Orleans, Louisiana 70118 (gmc
call@tulane.edu)

American Antiquity 75(4), 2010, pp. 773-791

Copyright ?2010 by the Society for American Archaeology

773

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 774 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4,2010

ager landscape enculturation would be the develand ritual organization of the landscape offers
opment of methodological approaches for recog important insights concerning the ways in which
nizing patterns of imagery at various spatial scales.the Didima Gorge San coped with an historical
This paper seeks to make a methodological conperiod of intense turmoil and conflict. The paper
closes by discussing the implications of more his
tribution to rock art research by using multivariate
statistical techniques to explore variation in thetorically situated views of San rock art for other
rock art sites in southern Africa.
composition and organization of rock art sites
across the landscape. This study examines the rock
art of the Didima Gorge (formerly referred to as The Rock Art of the Didima Gorge and its
Ndedema) in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Historical Context
Africa?a case study that has received thorough
rock art recording, mapping, and other archaeoThe Didima Gorge is located in the northern Drak
logical investigation since the 1950s. Because thisensberg Mountains of South Africa (Figures 1 and
study employs an experimental set of method 2). Most of the rock art in the area was produced
ological tools, it seemed most efficient to beginby San artists, and Pager (1971) suggests, on the
with an existing rock art dataset. The rock art basis of his excavations, that the area was occupied
recording of the Didima Gorge presented by Pager by Later Stone Age (LSA) foragers after about
(1971) represents one of the most detailed pub 1,000 years B.P. Other archaeological investiga
lished datasets and offers a strong basis for expertions of the nearby KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho
highlands show evidence for LSA forager occupa
imenting with statistical and spatial methodological
approaches. tions and rock painting substantially earlier (Mazel
Pager's (1971) report includes high-resolution and Watchman 2003; Plug et al. 2003), and it is def
spatial information concerning the location of 17 initely possible that there were earlier occupations
rock art sites in the Didima Gorge, precise maps of of the Didima Gorge not recognized by Pager.
individual sites, copies of the paintings, and detailed Pager (1971) reports a series of amino acid
typology of individual painting elements for spe racemization dates for the rock paintings in the
cific rock art panels. The report also includes infor Didima Gorge. These should perhaps be taken with
mation from the surface collections and/or a grain of salt, but this acts as the only direct evi
excavations of 11 of these rock art sites, as well as dence concerning the absolute chronology of the
several unpainted shelters. Pager's (1971) work rock paintings. The earliest dated rock painting in
offers an excellent body of data for the exploration the Didima Gorge dates to around 800 years B.P.
of compositional variability in rock art panels at through amino acid racemization, and most of the
several spatial scales. rock art likely dates to more recent time periods
This paper identifies variation in site organiza between 200 and 300 years B.P. (Pager 1971; see
tion and composition that points to differences in Mazel and Watchman [1997, 2003] for earlier
the ways in which sites were used, and the division Drakensberg rock art dates). The recency of much
of the landscape for distinct social and ritual pur of the Didima Gorge rock art is perhaps under
poses. The paper finds significant evidence for sev scored by the significant deterioration of many of
eral different kinds of rock art sites, including (1) the paintings since their original documentation by
rock art made in domestic contexts at large resi Pager in the 1960s (Pager 1989).
dential centers, (2) large accumulations of rock art In addition to direct dating through amino acid
made in ritual contexts at remote sites away from racemization, Pager (1971) also approached
domestic contexts, and (3) small, hidden rock art chronology through a seriation-based technique
sites at the bottom of the gorge with little evidence focusing on the style of painted eland. When com
for habitation or other economic activity. Each of bined with the direct dating of specific paintings,
these categories of rock art sites has a distinct but the sedation approach offers relatively high
consistent pattern of panel composition and orga resolution chronology of rock art sites, and gener
nization, offering insight concerning the social, ally confirms the suggestion that the majority of
religious, and economic division of the landscape. the rock art was made during one stylistic phase,
In turn, this information concerning the social which he places during the 200-300 B.P. period.

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McCall] CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 775

Umhlwazine

1. Sebaaieni Cave
2. Elephant Shelter
3. Water Shelter
4. Botha's Shelter
5. Rock-Fall Shelter
6. River Rock
7. Sorcerer's Rock
8. NuttalTs Shelter
9. Shirley's Shelter
10. Poacher's Shelter
11. Leopard Cave
12. Nanni's Rock
13. Silt Rock
14. Sugar-Loaf Rock
15. Asbestos Shelter
16. Junction Shelter
17. Exhaustion Shelter

Figure 2. Map showing the locations of rock painting sites in the Didima Gorge. Site numbers are carried over from the
documentation of Pager (1971). Sites A-D have surface archaeological remains but no rock paintings. The dotted line rep
resents the canyon rim and elevations are shown in meters.

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 776 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4,2010

The next section lays out the relative chronology

shaded polychrome coloring on eland and other
of specific sites in greater detail. ungulates. If it is the case that the highest frequency
of painting activity occurred during a striking
Historical Context of the Didima Gorge period of upheaval, this would be an important find
The rock art in the Didima Gorge is composed
ing. This study preliminarily argues that the pro
entirely of rock paintings. Like most other regionsduction of rock art, directly related to social and
of San rock paintings, it is dominated by naturalreligious practices, aimed at dealing with this tur
istic paintings of anthropomorphic figures andmoil. The currently available chronology of the
ungulates, especially the eland. In addition, thererock art in the Didima Gorge places it in a vivid
are less common depictions of tools, structures,historical context, and relates it to the coping strate
geometric figures, bees, serpents, baboons, and thegies of the San in the Drakensberg.
rianthropic figures. The content of the Didima Before presenting any analysis of archaeologi
Gorge rock art also offers important clues to itscal data, it should be made clear that the rock art
chronology, as there are a number of depictions of of the Didima Gorge is not an invariant element of
a static tradition of San rock art in South Africa
cattle, sheep, and other cues pointing to relatively
recent dates. (Dowson 1995; Lewis-Williams and Pearce 2004a,
At least to some extent, the movement of San 2004b). Instead, it emerged during a dramatic and
foragers into the Didima Gorge would seem to be ultimately fatal period of conflict and stress. Per
the result of the arrival of Iron Age agropastoral haps the most interesting question raised here is
ists into the lower territories of KwaZulu-Natal how Didima Gorge rock art relates simultaneously
(Pager 1971; Vinnicombe 1976; Willcox 1984). to both "pan-San" cosmological/religious struc
While not as extreme as the southern extent of the tures and this specific historical context.
Drakensberg, the location of the Didima Gorge is
clearly not as productive as the more coastal Looking for Spatial Patterns in
foothills of KwaZulu-Natal. Presumably, the Rock Art Panel Composition
expansion of Iron Age agropastoralists into the
region is substantially responsible for movement For historical reasons, South African rock art
of San farther into the Drakensberg. research has been mostly content-based, focusing
The last 300 years have been a period of fairly on the meaning and social context of imagery
intense conflict in this region, with the most (Dowson 1992; Lewis-Williams 1981; Lewis
extreme manifestation of this being the events lead Williams and Dowson 1988; Ouzman 1998; Vin
ing up to the mfecane} During this time period, nicombe 1976; Willcox 1963, 1984; Woodhouse
many agropastoralist groups sought refuge in the 1969). One important element of this is the signif
higher regions of the Drakensberg and further dis icant ethnohistorical basis for understanding the
turbed the foraging activities of the San inhabitants meaning of rock art imagery, stemming from the
(see Dowson [1995] for discussion of the impact salvage ethnographic interviews of the /Xam in
of the mfecane on San rock art). Evidence for con Cape Town at the turn of the century by Bleek and
flict occasionally manifests in the rock art itself, Lloyd (1911) and their contemporaries (Bleek
with a number of examples of weaponry and eight 1924; Lewis-Williams 2001; Stow 1905). From
scenes of fighting. Such conflict in the higher south this body of narratives, Lewis-Williams (1981)
ern reaches of the Drakensberg is also recorded in originally constructed a valuable framework link
the writings of early European colonists, especially ing rock art imagery with the experiences of
local missionaries (Blundell 2004; Dowson 1995; shamans during altered states of consciousness.
Etherington 2004; Pager 1971; Willcox 1984; Outside of South Africa, there is a large body
Wright 1971, 2007; Wright and Mazel 2007). of literature dealing with forager landscape encul
Based on both direct dating and sedation turation, the social construction of religiously
chronology, Pager (1971) argues that the most meaningful places, and the organization of social
intense period of painting occurred during the late space. In particular, Australian rock art research has
seventeenth and eighteenth century, and that this tended to approach forager rock art from a land
corresponds with the most sophisticated use of scape perspective, focusing on the accurate loca

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 McCall] CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 777

tion of rock art imagery within the wider context duree of forager interactions with the landscape and
of a spatial/temporal framework. For example, the cosmological and social structures that under
Rosenfeld (1997) offers a compelling account of lie them (Braudel 1980; McCall 2007). This study
the ways in which the rock art of the arid zones of
seeks to make some basic steps toward the recog
western and central Australia affect many crucial nition of variability in the characteristics of rock
aspects of social interaction between individuals art sites at several spatial scales, and seeks to relate
and the landscape, as well as economic use of the this variability to patterns of landscape use, orga
landscape. In this way, Rosenfeld breaks down the nization, and enculturation in the past.
epistemological barrier between content-based
rock art research and artifact-based studies of land Geographical Characteristics of the Didima
Gorge and Rock Art Site Locations
scape use. In a separate but related vein, Chippin
dale and Tacon (1998) discuss the construction of The extensive rock art recording of Pager (1971)
chronological frameworks in the Northern Territory includes many typological characteristics of 3,909
using both chronometric and seriation-based individual rock art elements from 17 painted sites.
approaches, allowing them to recognize temporal Pager also reports other archaeological information
variation in rock art production. As a contrast, these from the surface collection of artifacts and limited
authors specifically single out South African rock excavations at 11 sites with rock art and 4 unpainted
art research for its lack of chronological specificity
sites. The analysis presented in this paper restricts
and ignorance of large-scale spatial variation (cf. its scope to only 14 of these sites, excluding those
Mazel and Watchman 1997, 2003). with fewer than 20 individual rock art elements for
More recently, ethnoarchaeological research, the reason of sample size.
such as that of Jordan (2003), has begun to address This paper starts with the basic premise that
important questions of the role of landscape encul variation in the imagery at rock art sites, at least in
turation and decoration in shaping forager social, part, relates to the position of sites on the landscape.
economic, and religious dynamics. This work is sig In other words, this paper examines the proposi
nificant because it makes explicit links between tion that locations of certain kinds of ritual, social,
forager cosmological beliefs, religious structures, and economic activities depended on characteris
social practices, social relationships, and the pat tics of the landscape and the socially constructed
terning of landscape decoration. This offers a valu divisions of space for various purposes. The main
able approach for widening studies of rock art goal of this analysis is to demonstrate that the con
beyond the content of individual panels in order to text of rock art sites is variable, and that not all rock
see integration with basic social and religious prac art sites worked the same way in the past.
tices. While South African rock art research is quite The Didima Gorge is divided into three eleva
sophisticated in approaching rock art imagery using tion zones with archaeological remains present: (1)
ethnographic and ethnohistorical texts (Lewis high rock shelters, which formed on the shoulder
Williams 2006), it has tended to ignore this impor of the mountains at the boundaries between sand
tant parallel research trajectory. stone layers; (2) low rock shelters, which formed
Another important archaeological property of in the same manner as the high shelters, but are
rock art as a class of artifact is its tendency to act located near the base of the gorge; and (3) river
like a palimpsest. This is true in both archaeolog side rocks, which are huge boulders that eroded out
ical and art-historical senses, with rock art accu of the sandstone strata and rolled to the base of the
mulating in terms of significant superposition at the gorge alongside the river. Figure 3 shows a gener
panel scale, and conflated assemblages of rock art alized profile of the Didima Gorge, demonstrating
at the landscape scale (McCall 2007; Smith 2001). the locations of archaeological sites on these land
The palimpsest quality of rock art has important scape features. These distinctions between land
implications for long-term processes of landscape scape elements provide one important framework
enculturation, as early accumulations of rock art for this analysis.
strongly influence both the location and content of One distinction between rock art site types was
later accumulations. In this way, rock art is a valu immediately apparent upon basic inspection of the
able source of evidence concerning the longue data: Didima Gorge has a stark contrast between

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 778 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4, 2010

6, 7? 12, 13? 14

Figure 3. Generalized diagram of rock shelter levels in the Didima Gorge and the location of rock painting sites at
level.

large and small rock art sites. Figure 4 shows a his
togram representing the number of paintings at the
17 painted shelters. This pattern is common to other
regions of southern African rock paintings, and has
been identified by Kinahan (1991) in the Brand
berg of Namibia, Garlake (1995) in Zimbabwe,
and Willcox (1984) in the Drakensberg. As these
researchers have noted, this basic distinction in
rock art site characteristics immediately demon
strates that the archaeological context of rock sites
was not the same, raising the likelihood that rock
art was placed at certain sites for different reasons.
There is also an important landscape element in
terms of the differentiation between large and small
sites. Figure 5 shows a box plot representing the
number of rock art elements per site broken down
by location on the landscape. This clearly shows
the tendency for large rock art sites to form in low
rock shelters. Once again, this is not a revelation
for southern African rock art researchers, but it
does raise a number of important questions con
cerning why large sites tend to occur at this land
scape location. One possibility that is frequently
raised is that these were convenient locations for
habitation sites, and that rock art accumulated in
large quantities in the context of domestic activi
ties. This explanation was particularly popular
among "art for the sake of art" rock art researchers,
such as Willcox (1984) and Woodhouse (1969),
who tended to see all San rock art as domestic dec

14

12

10
C/)

E6
z
4

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Total Number of Paintings

Figure 4. Histogram showing the number of painting element

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McCall] CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 779

Figure 5. Box plot showing variation in the number of paint elements for theinthree
the Didima
levels Gorge.

tion. However, there were large-scale differences

oration of one form or another. In the Brandberg,
in artifact
Kinahan (1991; see also McCall 2004) prefers to concentrations that are useful in terms of
see large sites as the locations of dry-season multi
thinking about site functions.
band aggregations, where several bands would join If rock art accumulated at archaeological sites
and concentrate around reliable water sources. as a function of the length of occupation and/or the
Thus, he attributes the large site/small number
site of individuals present, then we should
dichotomy to seasonal variation in group size expect
anda strong direct relationship between the
mobility. In both models, large rock art sites are of artifacts present at sites and the number
number
seen as resulting from exclusively domesticofcon rock art elements. In order to test this expecta
texts. tion, a regression was performed examining the
While the connection between large sites and relationship between the total numbers of painting
long-term habitation makes sense, is it possible that elements at each site with the total number of
ritual rather than economic contexts might affect surface-collected artifacts, excluding faunal
aspects of this patterning? This is an extremely remains. The results of the regression weakly sup
important question, and Pager's (1971:37) surface port this expectation (r2= .465; Beta = .682; F =
collections offer another source of information with 7.831; p = .021). While statistically significant, the
which to examine it. For the purposes of this analy correlation was unexpectedly weak, even given the
sis, it was assumed that, at the three sites where no presence of a bimodal distribution of data points
artifacts were reported, there were no artifacts pre (in other words, the large site/small site dichotomy).
sent. This avenue of investigation works from the Figure 6 shows the studentized residual values for
assumption that the number of artifacts present at the number of paintings for each surface-collected
a painted rock shelter acts as an index of the inten painted site compared with the adjusted predicted
sity and/or the duration of economic site use. In values. Three of the four sites with the highest num
other words, the more frequently and the longer a ber of rock paintings were the most extreme out
site was used, the more archaeological waste should liers in this regression. This suggests that there
be present (see Yellen [1977] for an ethnoarchae were, in fact, significant non-economic factors
ological explication of this principle). Obviously, influencing the occurrence of large rock art sites
surface collections at rock art sites with a great deal and that rock art sites formed at locations without
of public traffic are not ideal sources of informa significant domestic activity.

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780 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4, 2010

Adjusted Predicted Value

Figure 6. Graph plotting the studentized residual values against the adjusted predicted values for the number of paint
ing elements at each site based on the number of surface-collected artifacts.

support the idea that rock art was frequently pro

Two of the large sites, Botha's Shelter and Junc
duced at domestic sites.
tion Shelter, both had a much larger than predicted
number of rock paintings based on the number ofThere are also several large sites that do not fit
artifacts recovered during surface collection. In
the expectations of the characteristics of domestic
sites. Botha's Shelter and Junction Shelter repre
contrast, Poacher's Shelter had far fewer paintings
than predicted and also a relatively large unpainted
sent a category of site with a large number of paint
section of the rockshelter. The third large site, ings but relatively few artifacts. In contrast with
Sebaaieni Cave and Poacher's Shelter, these sites
Sebaaieni Cave, is relatively close to the predicted
value. There are also four sites with substantialdo not have many features associated with occu
accumulations of surface artifacts and paintablepation, such as hearths or lower grinding slabs.
Botha's Shelter was discovered in a highly intact
rock surfaces with no rock paintings. These facts
state by the forester A.P. Botha in 1957, and the site
have the implication that some large rock art sites
were associated with intense (probably domestic)showed a very high degree of preservation and very
little subsequent human disturbance. Interestingly,
economic activity, while others were not. They also
demonstrate that the number of rock paintings preit has no hearths, no other domestic features, nor
sent at a site is not mainly a function of the sizeany
of evidence for occupation in general. This site is
the available painted area. also in a high and difficult to reach location. It is
not accessible from the river floor, and it is easiest
Sebaaieni Cave most clearly represents a site
with intensive domestic economic activity?in
to access from the top of the gorge rather than the
other words, it is the clearest case of a "home base."
base. The isolated and secluded position of Botha's
It has both many paintings and surface-collected
Shelter explains its late discovery; it casts doubt on
artifacts, and also shows other evidence for regu
the functionality of the site as a residential center
since it would be laborious to reach the river in the
lar occupation, including clear hearth areas and
valley floor on a daily basis. This points to the
heavy architectural lower grinding slabs. Poacher's
Shelter also has many artifacts but relatively few
intentional selection of this site for painting because
paintings, and it is also a good candidate for of aits secluded location.
domestic site. Like Sebaaieni Cave, it also has clearThe characteristics of Junction Shelter are quite
complex and warrant special attention. Like
hearth areas and lower grinding stones. These sites

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McCall] CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 781
Botha's Shelter, this site has far fewer artifacts than Pager's Recording and Pattern Recognition
would be expected given the extremely large num Data Analysis
ber of paintings. Interestingly, the artifacts that are
Another important line of evidence for examining
present are almost all lithic pieces, with very few
spatial variation in rock art site composition at the
ceramics (perhaps a total of two vessels [Pager
landscape scale is the extremely detailed typolog
1971]). The site has no visible hearths, but does
ical catalog of the 3,909 recorded rock art elements
show some evidence for occupation, including 20
at the 17 painted sites reported by Pager (1971).
grinding stone fragments and one architectural
This offers an ideal dataset for examining spatial
lower grinding stone?by far the largest number of variation in the occurrence of various rock art ele
such artifacts in the area. One quite speculative
ment types. Pager originally reports 66 categories
explanation for this pattern is that Junction Shelter
of elements2; this is actually too detailed to be very
might have been a home base location in early time
useful for statistical analysis, since many sites often
periods, explaining the large number of lithics and
lack elements belonging to many of the existing cat
grinding stones. Then, as the incidence of local egories. For this reason, this analysis collapsed the
conflict increased, the site ceased to be occupied original typological framework into one with only
as a residential center in a regular way, as it is 15 categories (listed in Table 1). This was accom
located in a vulnerable position at the junction of plished largely by combining categories with small
the Didima Gorge with the main canyon.
numbers of data points.
The use of lithic tools declined over time in the
Even with the simplification of the typological
Drakensberg, as access to iron implements became scheme, this left the daunting task of comparing
more common. For example, Gooch (1882) notes head-to-head the frequencies of 17 variables (the
the almost exclusive use of iron tools by the Drak
rock art element categories in addition to the fre
ensberg San by the mid-nineteenth century. Also,
quencies of lithics and ceramics) for 14 separate
the use of ceramics acquired through exchange rock art sites. For the purposes of data reduction,
with neighboring groups increased in later time a principal components analysis (PCA) was per
periods (Plug et al. 2003). Early periods of occu formed using these 17 variables and the individual
pation followed by abandonment and subsequent rock art sites as cases. This analysis also included
use of the site for painting would explain the large the frequencies of ceramic pieces and lithics as two
number of lithics and grinding stone fragments, the variables.
small number of ceramics, and the lack of visible
The PCA produced a three-component solu
hearth features. In this sense, the context of rock
tion reported in Table 2. The first component
art production at Junction Shelter might have begun explained 63.5 percent of the variation, the second
as mainly domestic, and then shifted as the loca component explained 19.5 percent of the variation,
tions of habitation sites moved farther up the gorge.
and the third component explained 11.1 percent of
Comparisons with Sebaaieni Cave and Poacher's the variation. All other components combined
Shelter further suggest that the lower part of the
explained less than 6 percent of the total variation.
gorge was more intensively occupied in earlier time A varimax rotation was performed to clarify the
periods, and that the upper portion of the gorge was initial solution and used to generate regression
occupied in later time periods. scores for the cases showing how strongly each
The remaining seven sites are quite similar, with rock art site correlates with each of the three com
a relatively small number of paintings and few arti
ponents.3
facts. These sites are mainly located on riverside The main question for this analysis concerned
boulders and in low rock shelters near the base of
the recognition of the co-occurrence of certain ele
the gorge. These sites were the least extensively sur ment types. In other words, were there rock art ele
face collected, which mainly resulted from the fact ments that tended to appear together as a package
that most contained no or very few surface artifacts.
at these rock art sites? Addressing this question is
In this way, the small sites at the base of the gorge
an important first step toward understanding the
near the river represent their own category of site
spatial variation in the occurrence of these element
type, separate from the large domestic and large packages. The PC loading scores were used as a
non-domestic sites.
basis for clustering variables, and Figure 7 shows

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 782 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4, 2010
Table 1. Typological Categories Used in this Analysis Taken from Pager's (1971) Catalogue.

Typological Category Variable Code Basic Description

Man man Identiflably male human figures.
Woman woman Identiflably female human figures.
Child child Human figures that are clearly sub-adult.
Human human Human figures that do not have clear features of age/gender.
Eland eland Large antelope that are identiflably eland.
Large Antelope lgant Large antelope that are not identiflably eland.
Small Antelope smant Any species of small antelope.
Cow/Sheep bovsheep Includes cows and fat-tailed sheep.

Baboon baboon Baboons.

Bees bees Bees (not including beehives).
Other Animal otherant Any animal not identifiable to the other categories.
Mythological Antelope Man m.antman
Antelope-headed human figures? therianthropic figures.
Mythological Ales m.ales
Winged anthropomorphic figures.
Tools tools Bows, arrows, hunting bags, digging sticks, carrying bags, etc.
Obscure obscure Non-representation figures, including entoptic phenomena.

a dendrogram produced from a cluster analysis to this package as domestic in natur

based on these scores. erally associated with occupation sites
The results show that there are fairly distinctive prominent at Sebaaieni Cave. A goo
patterns of element co-occurrence at the sites in the from this may be that this list of cat
Didima Gorge. The cluster of variables that load sents a pattern of rock art imagery ass
strongly on the first PC includes both lithics and mainly domestic contexts.
ceramic pieces. It also contains large antelope, The cluster that corresponds with
small antelope, mythological antelope men, and PC contains men, women, humans, wi
felines. The association of the surface-collected pomorphic figures (ales), baboons,
artifacts with this cluster of rock art elements points and other animals. This set of variab
driven by the large accumulation of roc
tion Shelter. This finding is interestin
Table 2. Rotated PC Solution for Didima Gorge PCA.
Emboldened Values Are Those Greater Than .5. earlier proposition that this site was a
Rotated Component Matrix3 pation and later reused in other contex
the production of rock art. In this sens
Component_1_2_3_ combination of domestic and religiou
MAN .397 .825 .399 is unlike Sebaaieni Cave, though th
WOMAN .473 .720 .489
many important characteristics.
CHILD .038 .074 .989
HUMAN .689 .578 .421 The cluster that corresponds with t
MYTHALES .258 .899 .305 contains children, eland, tools, and obsc
MANTMAN .956 .129 -.003 and this component stems mostly from
BABOON -.002 .985 .125 at Botha's Shelter. As this site is remo
FELINE .820 -.045 .187
and mostly lacking surface artifacts,
ELAND .642 .198 .709
BOVSHEEP -.099 .977 .084 would seem to belong to mainly relig
LARGEANT .817 .348 .353 contexts rather than being associated
SMALLANT .922 .174 .236 tions of other kinds of economic activ
OTHERANM .627 .752 .133 of categories is interesting, as it con
OBSCURE .317 .335 .880
(which are among the most comm
TOOLS .050 .329 .921
TOTLITH .837 .365 .249 types), alongside children and obsc
TOTCERAM .922 -.006_-.074
(which are quite rare). The category of
ures refers
Notes: Extraction Method: Principal Component to geometric, non-represe
Analysis.
Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser ments, referred
Normalization. to as entoptic ph
aRotation converged in 4 iterations. Lewis-Williams and Dowson (1988). In

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McCall] CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 783

Cluster Coefficients
(Rescaled Euclidean
Distances)

BABOON PC 2

BOVSHEEP 3 Variables

3
MAN

WOMAN
M. ALES
HUMAN
OTHERAN
PC 3
CHILD
Variables
TOOLS
OBSCURE
ELAND

3
LRGANT
TOTLITH
SMANT
M.ANT

TOTCERAM
PC 1
FELINE Variables

Figure 7. Dendrogram produced from a cluster analysis based on the results of the PCA showing the relationship
between the frequencies of painting element categories.

is interesting that there are so few such geometric
figures given the importance ascribed to them under
the Lewis-Williams perspective, and it is more
specifically noteworthy that this element type tends
to occur in combination with the appearance of
children.
For the purposes of clustering sites, a series of
PC regression scores was calculated, measuring
how strongly sites corresponded with the principal
components. Figure 8 shows a dendrogram based
on a cluster analysis informed by these PC regres
sion scores. This cluster analysis in many ways
mirrors the distinctions in site types recognized
through the comparison of the number of rock art
elements and surface-collected artifacts at the sites.
It clearly suggests that there are three kinds of sites
based on content in terms of rock art elements and
surface artifacts: (1) large domestic sites, perhaps
"home bases," (2) large uninhabited sites, and (3)
small, isolated sites. In short, this finding shows that
there is variation in the content of rock art sites that
both mirrors their larger archaeological context and
has a strong relationship with their position on the
landscape. Not only does this strongly confirm the
notion that rock art was made at different points on
the landscape for different purposes and in differ
ent contexts, it actually points to some clear possi
bilities in terms of how this division of space might
have worked in the past.
The information derived from the PCA can also
be applied directly to the landscape-scale spatial
analysis. Figure 9 and Table 3 show the percentage
of the total rock art elements belonging to each of
the PC categories. Figures 10-12 show maps of the
regression scores for the three components for the
various sites in the Didima Gorge and Table 4 shows
the frequencies of rock art sites belonging to each
component broken down by landscape location.
Figure 10 offers a map representing the regression
scores for PC 1 (the domestic component). This
map, which shows the two main domestic sites in
terms of rock art content and the four unpainted

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784 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4, 2010

Cluster Coefficients
(Rescaled Euclidean
Distances)

Water ?,
River ?
Small, isolated sites
Exhaustion ?
Sorcerer's ?
Sugar-Loaf ?"
Rock-Fall ?
Nanni's ?
Elephant ?
Leopard -?
Poacher's
Sebaaieni
Home bases
Junction ?

Botha's ?

Large uninhabited sites

Figure 8. Dendrogram based on regression scores produced during rotation of PC solution showing relationships
between rock painting sites.

archaeological sites in close proximity, clearly sug an occupation locality, followed by the later use of
gests a preference for living in the upper part of the the area for religious purposes away from domes
gorge. Figure 11 supports the tentative model of tic spaces. Another way of looking at this may be
the alternate early use of the base of the gorge as that Figure 10 shows the more recent "home base"

50.00
40.00
30.00

10.00

10.00

6 o o 6% PC1

Figure 9. Percentage of image from each PC category pr

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McCall] CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 785

Umhlwazine

Sebaaieni Cave
Memesine Elephant Shelter
Water Shelter
Botha's Shelter
Rock-Fall Shelter
River Rock
Sorcerer's Rock
8. Nuttall's Shelter
9. Shirley's Shelter
10. Poacher's Shelter
11. Leopard Cave
12. Nanni's Rock
13. Silt Rock
14. Sugar-Loaf Rock
15. Asbestos Shelter
16. Junction Shelter
17. Exhaustion Shelter
lkm

Figure 10. Map showing the PC scores for sites in the Didima Gorge for PC 1?the "domestic" component.

site use patterning, and Figure 11 shows the ear art site away from locations of occupation.
lier. Figure 12 shows the unusual character of This analysis has clearly suggested that there
Botha's Shelter as a large, distant, and isolated rock three separate and distinct rock art site types in
Didima Gorge. This finding supports the ideas t
(1) not all rock art sites formed as the result of
Table 3. Percentage of Image from Each PC Category
Present at Each Individual Site. tical social, religious, or economic contexts, an
it is possible to recognize the formal differe
Site_% PC 1 % PC 2 % PC 3 between rock art site types at the landscape s
Sebaaieni Cave 35.55 28.86 22.27 A more difficult question concerns the relatio
Elephant Shelter 2.80 1.71 .94 of these observed rock art site types to the ac
Water Shelter .55 .20 .59
contexts in which they were made and the next
Botha's Shelter 11.04 16.99 42.67
Rock-Fall Shelter .37 1.37 1.64 tion offers a brief discussion of some possibil
River Rock .49 .24 .23 in that regard.
Shirley's Shelter 3.23 .10 .00
Poachers'Shelter 18.17 4.44 4.22
Discussion
Leopard Cave 8.11 3.66 2.46
Nanni'sRock 2.56 .98 .47
This study demonstrates the potential for the com
Sugar-Loaf Rock .00 .20 .00
Asbestos Shelter .61 .39 .23 bination of multivariate statistical approaches to
Junction Shelter 13.72 39.06 22.51 rock art panel composition and spatial analysis to
Exhaustion Shelter .55 .93 .70 isolate important patterns of landscape decoration.

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786 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4, 2010

Umhlwazine

1. Sebaaieni Cave
Elephant Shelter
Water Shelter
Botha's Shelter
Rock-Fall Shelter
River Rock
Sorcerer's Rock
8. Nuttall's Shelter
9. Shirley's Shelter
10. Poacher's Shelter
11. Leopard Cave
12. Nanni's Rock
13. Silt Rock
14. Sugar-Loaf Rock
15. Asbestos Shelter
16. Junction Shelter
17. Exhaustion Shelter

Figure 11. Map showing the PC scores for sites in the Didima Gorge for PC 2.

This information, in turn, offers an important basis
for addressing theoretical questions concerning the
division of economic, social, and ritual division of
space by forager groups. This methodological
approach is essentially a tool for landscape-scale
pattern recognition; identified patterns, then,
become the basis for the generation of research
questions and the evaluations of our models of past
human cultural dynamics.
One aspect of the observed patterning is espe
cially interesting in terms of recent research on the
role of shamanism in southern African rock art: the
imagery most commonly attributed to altered states
of consciousness occurs most frequently at the
large, remote, and unoccupied sites. This suggests
that not every southern African rock art site was
equally related to trance dance rituals and that the
large unoccupied rock art sites specifically may
have been the locations of trance-related ritual
activities done away from home bases. In his recent
ethnoarchaeological work, Jordan (2003) offers a
striking account of the performance of certain
important rituals away from domestic areas at loca
tions on the landscape with cosmological signifi
cance (which are often decorated). The idea that
some rituals cannot be performed near domestic
areas is a very old one in anthropology, and is rem
iniscent of Douglas' (1966) writings on the reli
gious avoidance of domestic "pollution" under
certain circumstances.
One important possibility in terms of ritual con
texts that is quite prominent in San ethnography and
ethnohistory is the puberty initiation ritual. Male
and female initiation rituals have been described in
innumerable cross-cultural contexts and have also
been suggested as the ritual context for many rock
art sites around the world (e.g., Whitley 1998).
They are frequently performed away from resi

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McCain CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 787

s^. Umhlwazine

1. Sebaaieni Cave
2. Elephant Shelter
3. Water Shelter
4. Botha's Shelter
5. Rock-Fall Shelter
6. River Rock
7. Sorcerer's Rock
8. Nuttall's Shelter
9. Shirley's Shelter
10. Poacher's Shelter
11. Leopard Cave
12. Nanni's Rock
13. Silt Rock
14. Sugar-Loaf Rock
15. Asbestos Shelter
16. Junction Shelter
17. Exhaustion Shelter

Figure 12. Map showing the PC scores for sites in the Didima Gorge for PC 3?the "non-occupation / ritual" comp

dential areas because of the need for privacymale

and and female puberty initiation ceremonies
among
isolation from the opposite gender, and this is also both recent and historical San groups, and
the case for modern Kalahari San groups. For exam
this is frequently cited in discussions of the eland
ple, among the Ju/'hoansi in the northwestern in San rock art (e.g., Lewis-Williams and Dowson
Kala
hari, young male initiates are taken to secluded
1988; Vinnicombe 1976). Likewise, it is easy to
sites and sequestered for several weeks of exposure
construct narratives explaining the importance of
to extreme elements, hunger, thirst, and trance
subsistence tools and the supernatural potency rep
dancing (Biesele and Howell 1981; Lee 1979; Mar
resented by geometric forms for children transi
shall 1976). This is one clear possibility for the
tioning into adulthood. In addition, modern San
initiation rituals also involve trance dancing, and
large unoccupied rock art sites in the Didima Gorge.
The content of the large unoccupied sites isthealso
presence of geometric forms may point to depic
quite interesting in terms of thinking about initia
tion rituals. For example, at Botha's Shelter, there
Table 4. Cross-tabulation of the Number of Sites at Each
is the unusually frequent occurrence of elements Elevation Belonging to Each PC Category.
depicting children, eland, tools, and geometric
Shelter
forms. The depiction of children at an initiation rit Elevation PC 1 PC 2 PC 3 None
ual site might be expected, but the other motivesRiver 0 0 0 3
Low 2 10 2
are also quite interesting in this context. The eland
is known to have had very important roles in both
High_0

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 788 AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 75, No. 4,2010

tions of trance hallucinations or the supernatural Recently, Lewis-Williams and Pearce (2004a,
potency such forms symbolized. 2004b) have suggested that some rock art sites were
While there is a strong case to be made for the locations where San shamans went to perform
Botha's Shelter and, in later time periods, Junction private rituals related to the magical influence of
Shelter as puberty initiation sites, this does not the natural world. Specifically, they suggest that this
address the connection between the increasing fre was sometimes the result of San shamans offering
quency of painting around and during the period their rainmaking services to agricultural neighbors
of conflict in which it is situated. Presumably, with for payment or in the face of intimidation. This is
all other things being equal, there would not have a very interesting suggestion, and possibly applic
been an increase in the number of puberty initia able given the historical context of the rock art sites
tions caused by some set of external variables. in the Didima Gorge. Furthermore, the individual
While there are innumerable potential explanations and private use of rock art sites for magical pur
for this pattern, it may have been the case that there poses has been historically documented in numer
was generally an increase in all kinds of ritual ous places around the world (e.g., Keyser and
related to painting. For example, Katz and col Whitley 2006), and such rock art sites have many
leagues (Katz 1985; Katz et al. 1997) demonstrate similarities with the small sites in the Didima Gorge
among the Ju/'hoansi in the Kalahari an increase and elsewhere in the Drakensberg (Lewis-Williams
in the frequency of trance dancing with periods of and Pearce 2004a, 2004b).
food shortage and other forms of social stress. This The content of the small isolated sites is also
fact is employed by Kinahan (1991) in his quite distinct from that of the larger sites in the
seasonality-based account, which sees increased Didima Gorge. The small isolated rock art sites
painting activities around waterhole localities dur tend to have far less superposition than do the larger
ing stressful periods of the dry season. This is cer sites and they are quite idiosyncratic in their con
tainly a strong possibility for the Didima Gorge tent. For example, one Didima site is particularly
during this period of upheaval, as well. well-known because of its unusual and highly infor
Another possibility is that the frequency of mative content: Sorcerer's Rock. At this site, there
painting did not increase uniformly at all site types is an example of a female figure carrying a bow
for the same unitary reason. In this sense, finer and arrows with genital emissions running to other
grained chronometric chronology of the rock art at elements on the panel?a "mythic woman" in the
various site types would be highly useful. Largely language of Willcox (1984) and Solomon
lacking this, the chronology of rock art sites can be (1994:Figure 13). Such figures have been discussed
addressed in less accurate ways with Pager's (1971) by many scholars (e.g., Lewis-Williams 1981;
seriation-based relative approach. Unsurprisingly, Solomon 1994, 1998; Vinnicombe 1976; Willcox
Sebaaieni Cave, Poacher's Shelter, Junction Shel 1984), and continue to be an important topic of dis
ter, and Botha's Shelter show the longest duration cussion concerning Drakensberg San ideology and
of painting activity?they are all large sites with gender. One possibility is that the lines emerging
many paintings. Future analyses might focus on from the figure's exaggerated genitalia represent
establishing when the periods of most intense paint cosmological beliefs concerning the connection
ing occurred at these large and important painted between menstruation, reproduction, life, death,
sites. rain, and renewal (Solomon 1994,1998). For these
The small sites are easier to deal with using reasons, images such as these make a good deal of
seriation-based chronology, and they appear in sense in the context of magical rainmaking, which
higher frequency in later time periods. In fact, Pager touches on all of these cosmological concepts.
(1971) suggests that several of the painted boulders In its search for rock art site types, this paper
have actually come after the stylistic period he has shown the difficulties of category construction
places between 200-300 B.P., perhaps as recently and the identification of the social, religious, and
as the early twentieth century. This interesting economic contexts in which rock art was made.
chronological pattern underscores the importance Admittedly, much of this post hoc explanation of
of the question of what the social or religious con the observed patterning is quite speculative and
text of these paintings was. dependent on further research for evaluation. At the

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 McCall] CHANGING VIEWS OF DRAKENSBERG SAN ROCK ART 789
same time, it has shown that there is demonstrable
spatial variation at the landscape-scale in the char
acteristics and content of sites, and that not all rock
for their astute comments and recognition of important
art sites formed in the same context. While there is
clearly a great deal of overlap and ambiguity in the
past uses of rock art sites, it is equally clear that
spatial variation can potentially provide crucial
information concerning the social, religious, and
economic division of the landscape. Perhaps this
approach will prove productive in bridging the epis
temological gap between our understanding of
long-term cosmological orientations and specific
historical contingencies as they affected rock art
production.
Conclusion
Learning about the contexts in which rock art was
made in the past depends on the recognition of spa
tial patterning in the content of rock art sites. This
paper has presented an analysis of spatial variation
in the archaeological characteristics and content of
rock art sites in the Didima Gorge. The recognized
patterning demonstrates some important facts con
cerning Drakensberg San rock art: (1) it is possi
ble to recognize three basic rock art site types; (2)
these site types relate to separate social, religious,
and economic activity in which they were made;
(3) the spatial variation offers important clues con
cerning the organization and division of landscape;
and (4) this information offers insight into the spe
cific historical contexts acting on San peoples in
the face of agropastoralist and European colonial
expansion.
Rock art, by definition, is a class of archaeo
logical artifacts designed to mark space. More
important than the specifics of scenarios offered to
explain patterns of rock art in the Didima Gorge,
this paper has presented a methodological approach
for pattern recognition rooted in multivariate sta
tistical and landscape-scale spatial analysis. As rock
art datasets increase in number and quality, and
GIS-based approaches to spatial analysis (e.g.,
viewshed and cost-path analyses) become more
powerful, rock art researchers must expand their
horizons to broader spatial and temporal scales.
Acknowledgments. I wish to thank the following individuals
for help with data transcription and analysis: Garrett Kubik,
John Willman, and Jonathan Thomas. I am grateful for
Judith Maxwell's help in abstract translation and also to
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James Enloe, Merritt Sanders, Jonathan Thomas, and Sarah
McCall for commenting on an early draft. I also wish to
thank J.D. Lewis-Williams and three anonymous reviewers
errors. Of course, any mistakes in this paper are mine and in
no way reflect on any of these individuals.
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Notes
1. The mfecane itself is a somewhat controversial histori
cal concept. Cobbing (1988) argues that the mfecane was
nothing more than an "alibi" for colonial expansion into
Natal invented by Eurocentric historians. In contrast,
Etherington (2004) presents substantial evidence for conflict
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in at least part of the region, and this was likely the case for
the Didima Gorge.
2. It is fair to question the validity of Pager's (1971) cat
egorization of rock art elements in the light of subsequent
research informed by San ethnography/ethnohistory (e.g.,
Lewis-Williams [1981] and later work). As a pilot study, this
analysis is merely interested in understanding spatial varia
tion in the frequencies of these elements as categorized by
Pager.
3. It should be noted that the rotation of PC A solutions is
somewhat controversial. For example, Jolliffe (1989) warns
against rotating solutions until a pre-desired solution is
attained (see also Baxter [1994]). This problem notwithstand
ing, varimax rotation is recognized as a method for simplify
ing or clarifying initial PCA solutions (Manly 2005). It keeps
the principal components orthogonal while rotating them into
a position that maximizes the difference between high and
low values.
Submitted October 2, 2007; Revised December 4, 2008;
Accepted February 11, 2010.