Continuity and Change in San Belief and Ritual: Some Aspects of the Enigmatic ‘Formling’ and Tree Motifs from Matopo Hills Rock Art, Zimbabwe

Continuity and change in San belief and ritual: some aspects of the enigmatic ‘formling’ and tree motifs from Matopo Hills rock art, Zimbabwe Siyakha Mguni A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the degree of Master of Arts. Johannesburg 2002 ii Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own work unless otherwise acknowledged. It is being submitted for the degree of Master of Arts in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university. This 14th day of April , 2002 iii Preface Voyage of discovery This study was motivated by a personal revelatory experience I had when, in April 1995 shortly after I joined the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe as a trainee archaeologist and monuments inspector, I first encountered one of the most spectacular rock art sites in Matopo Hills (hereafter called Matopo1), and, perhaps, in southern Africa. And little did I realize that this experience heralded my future career. This site is Nanke Cave on the eastern part of Matobo National Park. Ironically, although I had read about the Drakensberg paintings as part of my Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Zimbabwe, I had never heard of or seen a picture of Nanke paintings. It was a two‐hour walk to the site, but one filled with surprises as we strolled through dramatic ‘castle‐kopjes’ and gigantic ‘whalebacks’ called dwalas (isi‐ Ndebele word for bare granite domes, Plate 1) typical of this landscape. Located in Matabeleland South Province of southwestern Zimbabwe within the granite belt of Zimbabwe (Map 1), Matopo (Appendix 1 Map 1) comprises 3, 000 million years old granites. These are interspersed with intrusions of other rocks, such as quartz, dolerite veins and dykes. Altitudes range generally between 1 200 m and 1 500 m (Moger, no date). This hilly landscape covers an area of 2 180 km². They spread from the Mangwe River in the west to Mbalabala in the east. It contains a 1 The origin of the word ‘Matopo’ (Anglicised version ‘Matopos’) is obscure. Some argue that it is a corruption of a Kalanga word ‘Matombo’ (stones), referring to rock outcrops. Others say it derives from se‐Sotho, meaning ‘bald heads’. Legend has it that Mzilikazi (Ama‐Ndebele King ca. 1830‐ 1868), used an analogy of bald heads of his indunas (council of advisors and military commanders), in astonishment at the jumbled mass of bare domes and balancing rocks, to describe this landscape. iv profusion of overhangs and hemispheroidal shelters (Plate 2, Walker 1995, 1996). Along the way we inspected a few smaller overhangs and shelters with small but interesting panels. Walking this distinctive rugged landscape of repeated hill‐and‐ valley scenery is difficult. It requires negotiating one’s way along these valleys to avoid high and impossible hills and dwalas. Within this hill‐and‐valley landscape is a wide variety of flora and faunal species. Micro‐climatic conditions have given rise to vegetation types that change markedly over short distances. Open woodland areas on the valley sides and scrubland comprise Terminalia sericea, Brachystegia spiciforms and Collophospermum mopane species while localised thickets and forests make up valley vegetation. Every so often we would spot plains game that dominate the area and diverse bird species, but the more specialised fauna that live in circumscribed environments are not easy to spot. The Matopo climate, conducive to this species diversity, is argued to have remained relatively unaltered since the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 13, 000 years BP, Walker 1995; Cooke 1964c). This environment has provided sanctuary for human habitation for, at least, the last 100, 000 years (Walker 1987, 1995). We assume that people have been painting in the hills for most of this period of habitation, but our direct dating evidence shows that most or all of the surviving art dates from the Holocene period (Walker 1987, 1996) to about 1, 500 BP. Occupation evidence and painting is abundant in sites such as Nanke Cave. Tens of thousands of painted images are contained in these sites, recently estimated to be around 3, 500 in number (Walker 1996: 60). The District is now called Matobo. I have chosen ‘Matopo’ because this is how the locals today call their area. v Nanke Cave is an east‐facing, very large shelter of about 80 m in width, 15 m high and 12 m deep. It is situated high up, about 50 m above a small river at the bottom, in the middle level of a large whaleback running in a northerly‐southerly axis. A dense thicket of vegetation masks the shelter such that only the lip forming the drip line can be seen from a distance. An ashy deposit that bears evidence of prehistoric occupation covers the floor. Potsherds and ostrich eggshell beads are still visible on the surface. Looking up on to the painted surface, I was struck by the amount of imagery and the level of over painting covering an area of about 30 square metres. But even more awe striking is the central image of a polychromatic design of outstanding beauty and exceptional complexity (Plates 3, 3a). Not far from it are three paintings of plants. I contemplated this image and discussing it with my colleagues, Kemesi Ncube and Edward Sibindi, who took me to the site, they admitted to not having heard any plausible explanation of this design. Dumfounded by the image, I became highly motivated to investigate it and I began an intellectual voyage to discover its hidden mysteries. Matopo is profuse with these paintings of curious ovoid or oblong designs called formlings, which I define in Chapter One. Nicholas Walker (1996: 32) notes that the care and detail lavished on formlings is unsurpassed anywhere in the rock art of Zimbabwe, suggesting that, for these painters, this was a very significant class of imagery. Peter Garlake (1990: 17) estimates that the whole of Zimbabwe (Map 1) has many hundreds, and probably thousands, of formlings. Associated with formlings are trees and plants, also abundant in Matopo. The abundance of these motifs and the greater archaeological visibility of the area (Walker 1996: 13) vi resulted in researchers concentrating their work in Matopo. Yet, despite the great attention and interest these motifs have held for many writers, they remain, relative to other motifs in San art, elusive. One of the pioneers in the interpretation of formlings, Leo Frobenius (1929: 333), wrote, “…oddities occur which are completely outside our understanding. There are large forms, shaped like galls or livers, into which human figures are painted…” Thirty years later, his student and assistant, Elizabeth Goodall (1959: 62), remarked that formlings are “not easily explained”. Recently, Walker (1996: 73) wrote, “It is impossible to be certain what they represent” while Garlake (1995: 96) argues that within the range of these motifs “none has easy visual equivalents.” Uneasiness and pessimism concerning the interpretation of these images has thus lingered into the present. Some writers still hold that formlings are mysterious. Explanations of these motifs to date are thus widely divergent. By comparison, trees and plant motifs have been uncontroversial in that it is clear what they depict. But, these motifs have been superficially explained as depictions of landscape features (Frobenius 1931; Breuil 1966). This view has not taken us anywhere nearer to their symbolism and meaning. Some writers have elided these motifs completely from consideration. My review of published literature and re‐ investigations of some previously studied sites raise a significant observation. It is evident that while writers have noted the frequent co‐occurrence of formlings and trees and other plants, none has examined closely this association and its significance. In my interpretative study, a fundamental tenet is that the close association of formlings and trees holds the key to the unpacking of the complex symbolism of these motifs. vii My aim therefore is two‐fold: 1. To extend the understanding of Matopo San art, with specific reference to formlings and trees and, 2. To show that this art fits well within the wider southern African context of San rock art. I show that these images are explicable through the analysis of their painted contexts and San ethnography, which provides fruitful insights into this art. I combine San supernaturalism with other elements of their cosmology to give a detailed explanation of, first, what formlings depict and, secondly, what they symbolised for the Matopo San. Formlings and trees may be a peculiar feature of rock art in Zimbabwe, but they embody core concepts within the broad San belief system, shown to exist in southern African San rock art. I examine these motifs within the framework of our understanding that the Matopo art tradition is very old and possibly indicating the antiquity of the San belief system. While it is true that specific details and nuances vary in different regions, I show, using formlings and tree motifs in Matopo art as an example, that there are more commonalities between San art in South Africa and Zimbabwe than has been allowed. In eight chapters I go through different stages of my study and the interpretation of formlings and trees. viii Acknowledgements I thank the University of the Witwatersrand for its support in various ways, and especially the Rock Art Research Institute for placing resources at my disposal. The Swan Fund, Oxford University, funded my fieldwork and research. Their generosity is gratefully acknowledged. I am especially indebted to Professor David Lewis‐Williams, former Director of the, then, Rock Art Research Centre, for supporting my study proposals and the project from its inception.

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