Monday, 5 November 2012

Rocks and Rock Art

Had a great weekend away recently with my friend Tracey, exploring an interesting area about 3 hours north of Cape Town, around the Cederberg Mountains. We stayed in a lovely cottage on a farm in the Biedouw Valley and hiked a trail to see some pre-historic cave paintings. The art was created by the San people, with estimates of their age dating the paintings to between 800 and 8,000 or more years old. The rocks themselves are also fascinating and it is a spectacular landscape. We enjoyed cooking our dinners over the open fire each night and watching the starscape from the comfort of our outdoor couch!

A thumb-less handprint

Head-less figures carrying something important


Head-less and without fore paws - not sure what these are!

The archer - one of the most striking paintings

Run, man, run!

Dancing ladies, but with weird giraffe shaped figures!
More dancing ladies

Bringing home the bacon



Some paintings were hard to access...
... while others were easier to find

Dr Trace contemplating the art
The rocks themselves are fascinating,

not that this dude seemed to care much for them!

Biedouw Valley

Excuse the power lines, but the rock folds are quite impressive
 
Our little farm cottage, with the stone couch by the fireplace