Driekopseiland and the 'rain's magic power': history and landscape in a new interpretation of a Northern Cape rock engraving
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Date
2002
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Westen Cape
Abstract
The rock engraving site of Driekopseiland, west of Kimberley in the Northern Cape is distinctively situated on glaciated basement rock in the bed of the Riet River, and has a wealth of over 3500 engravings, preponderantly geometric images. Most other sites in the region have greater proportions of, or are dominated by, animal imagery. In early interpretations, it was often considered that ethnicity was the principal factor in this variabilty. From the 1960s the focus shifted more to establishing a quantative definition of the site, and an emperical understanding of it within the emerging cultural and environmental history of the region.
Description
Keywords
Petroglyphs, South Africa, Northern Cape, Driekopseiland, Rock paintings, Antiquities