Game Pass Shelter - Kamberg Nature
Reserve
The 'Rosetta Stone' - San Rock Art of Game Pass Shelter
Game Pass Shelter in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa houses one
of the finest examples of some of Africa’s earliest and also most beautiful
rock art - that of the San or Bushmen. Game Pass Shelter is commonly
referred to as the 'Rosetta Stone' of South African rock art, it was here
that archaeologists first uncovered a vital key to understanding the symbolism
of San rock art. The rock art at Game Pass Shelter focuses on a particular
part of San experience: the spirit world journeys.
Dying eland are common in San rock art. The explanation for this
lies in the fact that the San word for dying is the same as the San word for
entering deep trance. Many San painters depicted dying eland in close association
with 'dying' dancers. The experiences of trembling, sweating and bleeding from
the nose before finally collapsing were common to both; beyond this the eland
was the supreme source of the potency sought by San dancers. The San describe
their experiences of out-of-body travel as like flying.
All people resort to metaphors when they try to express the ineffable and
sometimes bizarre experiences of trance. Today Westerners speak of a 'trip'
or a 'high'. San shamanic dances and art were similarly given form by a
set of metaphors that were peculiar to their own circumstances. In San
thought and art 'death' in trance is closely associated with the physical
death of eland which the San believe to have more supernatural potency
than any other creature. When a shaman 'dies', he bends forward, bleeds
from the nose, trembles, sweats profusely, staggers and eventually falls
unconscious.
Similarly, when an eland dies, it lowers its neck so that
its head sways from side to side. Its hair stands on end, blood and foam
gush from its nose and mouth. It trembles violently, sweats and staggers.
Finally, it collapses. Sans artists were sensitive to these parallels and
painted shamans in association with dying eland.
In the well-known painting from the Game pass shelter in Kamberg Nature
Reserve in the Central Drakensberg a partly transformed
shaman holds the tail of a dying eland. Its head is lowered and it has exaggerated,
erect hairs. The man's hoofed legs are crossed in imitation of the eland's
legs. On the right, another shaman with erect hair is also
partly transformed into an antelope. Near him is a cloaked figure with an
antelope head. In the centre, a shaman dances in the bending forward, arms-back
posture. A short skin cloak hangs down in front of him. By juxtaposing a
number of figures, the painting shows how shamans are transformed by the
power that they have obtained from the dying eland. That power changes them
partially into eland.
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