Expressions of Fertility in the Rock Art of Bantu-Speaking Agriculturists 175

The African Archaeological Review, 12 (1994), pp. 171-203. (~) 1994 Cambridge University Press

Expressions of fertility, in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists

FRANS E. PRINS and SIAN HALL

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the 'Late White' rock paintings of south-central and southern Africa. It is argued that the most recent paintings were produced by matrilineal or bilateral Bantu-speaking agriculturists, although links with earlier hunter-gatherer groups are also implied. It is noted that certain motifs reoccur over great geographical distances. Ethnographic data are used in order to suggest a possible meaning for these motifs and for the paintings in general. It is argued that many of these paintings embody conceptual associations linking them to fertility. A general outline of the most obvious associations is presented, and a plea is made for detailed regional surveys in order to explain temporal and spatial differences.

R~sum~

Cet article prrsente une vue d'ensemble sur les peintures rupestres 'Late White' d'Afrique australe et du sud de l'Afrique centrale. I1 drfend l'idre que les peintures les plus rrcentes ont 6t6 produites par des agriculteurs matrilinraires ou bilatrraux parlant le bantou, tout en supposant des rapports avec des groupes plus anciens vivant de la chasse et de la cueillette. On remarque que certains motifs rfapparaissent .~ de grandes distances g6ogra- phiques. L'article s'appuie sur des donnres ethnographiques pour suggrrer une significa- tion possible h ces motifs ainsi qu'aux peintures en grnrral. II drmontre que nombreuses de ces peintures repr6sentent des associations conceptuelles les associant ~ la fertilit& Un aper~;u g~ndral des associations les plus ~videntes est present6 et les auteurs demandent que des 6tudes rrgionales drtaill6es soient effectu6es afin d'expliquer les diffrrences temporelles et spatiales.

Introduction

Rock art has a wide and varied distribution in Africa; and diverse styles and affinities have been recorded in the continent (Willcox 1984). However, it is only in recent years that substantial progress has been made in the interpretation of rock art. Currently, our best understanding comes from the Sahara, the Nile Valley, and the San rock art of southern Africa (Davis 1984, 1990). In South Africa the use of ethnography, as pioneered by Patricia Vinnicombe (1976) and David Lewis-Williams (1981), has been an invaluable aid towards a better understanding of San rock art. Indeed, San ethnography has also been used in the interpretation of broadly similar rock art in Zimbabwe (Huffman 1983; 172 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

Oarlake 1987), Namibia (Kinnahan 1991; Dowson 1992), Botswana (Walker 1991) and Tanzania (Lewis-Williams 1987). Rock art attributed to the San, to their predecessors, or to related peoples generally includes engravings and fineline paintings of humans, animals (both wild and domesticated), and the abstract and schematic depictions usually attributed to trance symbolism. In many areas these examples of San art, especially the fineline paintings, co-occur with a second type of painting which is less well understood (Davis 1990). These are painted in various sizes with the finger and include what appear to be crude or highly schematized depictions of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic beings, with a predominance of domesticated animals in some parts of southern and eastern Africa (Woodhouse 1972; Chaplin 1974; Masao 1991) as well as abstract signs and smears. The rather unrefined look of these fingerpaintings is in stark contrast with the general 'artistic' appearance of San fineline paintings. However, it appears that fingerpaintings have a much wider distribution than finelines, with excellent examples occurring in virtually every country of southern and south-central Africa (Willcox 1984). Although these fingerpaintings are executed in various colours, red and white depictions seem to dominate with black and yellow being secondary. Where superimpositioning is discernible, as in parts of Malawi (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978), northern Mozambique (Morais 1984), Zimbabwe (Cooke 1972) and the northern Transvaal (Hall et al. in prep.), it appears that the most recent paintings were executed predominantly in white or yellow/white: they are therefore also referred to as tile 'Late White' tradition (Cooke 1972; Willcox 1984). It seems unlikely that all paintings belonging to this tradition were painted with the finger, but there is good evidence that most were not painted with fine 'brushes' as is the case with the San finelines. A literature survey suggests that regional variations occur (see also Phillipson 1972), but it is nevertheless interesting that certain motifs are repeated over large geographical areas. This paper is an exploratory analysis which seeks to interpret the 'Late White' fingerpaintings of southern and south-central Africa. Our approach is essentially ethnographic. It is acknowledged that ethnographically derived information is limited in time and space; however, our ultimate application of such information is based on certain generalised principles rather than on contextual particulars. There is some ethnographic evidence as to the authors of these paintings, but the available data relating to interpretation are fragmentary. Nevertheless, it is inconceivable that these paintings were produced in isolation from the general fabric of African society; and we therefore feel justified in applying complementary ethnographies, which do not necessarily refer to fingerpaintings, in this analysis.

Who were the authors?

The distinction between finelines and fingerpaintings is especially notable in parts of Zimbabwe (Cooke 1959, 1972, 1974), Mozambique (Morals 1984; Willcox 1984), Tan- zania (Masao 1979, 1991) and the northern Transvaal (Roberts 1916; Boshier 1972; Miller 1992). In contrast, rockpaintings in Zambia (Phillipson 1971, 1976), and Malawi (Lindgren and Schofl'eleers 1978; Juwayeyi 1991) are predominantly of tile fingerpainting type. The latter, together with those occurring around Lake Victoria and in Zaire, Angola and Mozambique, have collectively been referred to as the 'central African schematic art Expressions of fertilit~ in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 173 group' (Clark 1959; Willcox 1984). More isolated occurrences are also found in Botswana (Arnold and Schultz 1958: Rudner 1965) and as far north-east as Kenya (Gramly 1975; Kenny 1976; Odak 1992) and in West Africa (Vaughan 1962). No one-to-one correlation between these paintings and particular social groupings should be proposed; however, there is convincing ethnographic evidence to link at least some of the more recent paintings with known groups. Some fingerpaintings in eastern Africa have been attributed to Nilotic pastoralists, such as the Masai or Karamojong (Clark 1950; Gramly 1975; Kenny 1976; Lynch and Robbins 1977; Masao 1979; Odak 1992); but, these differ iconographically from those referred to the 'Late White' tradition. Ethnographic evidence suggests that authorship of the most recent fingerpaintings in south-central and southern Africa should be attributed to Bantu-speaking groups rather than to Khoisan hunter-gatherers. But, there is also evidence to suggest that some fingerpaintings, at least the earlier ones or those situated in areas unsuitable for subsistence farming, can be linked to hunger-gatherers who were, or are, of mixed Khoisan-negroid, or negroid origin. Some of these earlier fingerpaintings are accorded special ritual status by the present-day Bantu-speaking population of these or adjacent areas (Burkitt 1928; Culwick 1931; Arundell 1936; Cooke 1959; Odak 1992; Van Gogh pets comm).

Pre-agriculturist groups

Whilst it is almost certain that the predominantly red fingerpaintings occurring ~o the south of the Orange and Kei Rivers (cf. Rudner 1965) were produced by Khoisan hunter- gatherer-pastoralists, as Bantu-speaking groups occupied these areas only in recent times (Humphreys 1976; Maggs 1980), it is more difficult to identi~ the authors of earlier fingerpaintings to the north. These paintings are usually executed in red and are sometimes overlaid by white paintings (Phillipson 1972, 1976; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978). Tent- ative dates ranging from 6000 to 1800 BP have been suggested for some of these red paintings (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978), but it is entirely possible that many of them may be significantly younger. Oral tradition in Zambia and Malawi attributes crudely drawn red schematic paintings to the Akafula who were still living in Malawi in the nineteenth century (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978). They are described as being very black, sometimes bearded, and hunting with bows and arrows (ibid.). More evidence for the association between fingerpaintings and non-agriculturist Bantu-speaking groups has recently been obtained in the Soutpansberg of the northern Transvaal. According to Venda oral tradition some fingerpaintings were produced by Ngona groups, who were hunter- gatherer-pastoralists (but see Loubser 1991 for an alternative explanation). The descrip- tions of the Ngona related to the present authors are very similar to those given for the Akafula in Zambia and Malawi. According to these traditions the Ngona coexisted and interacted amicably with the local San (Hall et al. in prep.). One aged Venda informant told us that the San used to paint in the shelters using fine brushes, hence the fineline paintings, while the Ngona also painted, but by using their fingers. Given the assumption that negroid hunter-gatherers, who were broadly contempora~' with San groups in the area, painted in rockshelters, it is possible that earlier red schematic paintings may have been produced by them. However, it is clear that more reliable information is needed. Elsewhere, fingerpaintings have also been linked to pre-Bantu- 174 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall speaking hunter-gatherers, such as the Cuissi or Kwisi in southern Angola (de Almeida 1965; Willcox 1984). Substantial support for a link between fingerpaintings and non-Bantu peoples has been obtained from Tanzania where the Sandawe, a semi-sedentary agro- pastoralist people who are possibly of Khoisan derivation, produced crudely painted figures on a rock face (Ten Raa 1971, 1974). It has also been suggested that the Oropom, a Khoisanod people who occupied parts of the Lake Victoria region before the present inhabitants, were responsible for fingerpaintings of concentric circles (Chaplin 1974). The available evidence, although inconclusive, thus suggests that at least some fingerpaintings may have been produced by groups other than Bantu-speaking agriculturists. A similar view is held by contemporary Bantu-speaking inhabitants of Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and the northern Transvaal.

Bantu-speaking agriculturists The white schematic fingerpaintings in the northern Transvaal, Zimbabwe, northern Moz- ambique, northern Botswana, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, and parts of Tanzania which, where superimpositioning is discernible, were painted at a later stage than the red schematics (see Cooke 1963, 1972; Phillipson 1976; Hall et al. in prep.), though not identical are similar in style and content. Much evidence suggests that the majority of these paintings were made by Bantu-speaking agriculturalists or their immediate ancestors. One of the most thoroughly studied areas where these fingerpaintings occur is in eastern Zambia where Phillipson (1972, 1976) found ethnographic evidence linking this tradition with Nsenga agriculturists (see also Chaplin 1962). The Chewa in both Zambia and Malawi were also responsible for the production of white fingerpaintings well into the twentieth century (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978; Juwayeyi 1991). The paintings in the northern Transvaal, particularly those in the Waterberg and Soutpansberg mountains, are directly related to Bantu-speaking agriculturalists. Sotho-speaking groups, such as the Tlokwa, Birwa, and Koni (Roberts 1916; Boshier 1972; van Gogh pers. comm.) had direct knowledge concerning the authorship and meaning of more recent paintings, whilst some Venda informants interviewed by th e authors expressed similar opinions. In the 1960s a Bailunda informant told the Rudners that his people were responsible for some white fingerpaintings in the Huambo district of Angola (Rudner 1976), whilst similar associations between agriculturalists and fingerpaintings have been suggested in Tanzania (Masao 1979, 1991). In fact, the attribution of these paintings to agricuituraiists can be found in many parts of Bantu-speaking Africa (Arundell 1936; Robinson 1957; Mason 1962, 1971; Rudner 1965; Cooke 1972; Harlow 1974; Odner 1971; R~dner and Rudner 1970; Woodhouse 1972; Pager 1975; Morais 1984; Willcox 1984). In conclusion it would seem that some of the earlier fingerpaintings, particularly the red schematics of south-central Africa and the northern Transvaal, can be attributed to people who were hunter-gatherers or for whom hunting and gathering played an important role. The scanty evidence available suggests that they had a flexible, egalitarian social structure. These societies, together with the San who may also have inhabited some of these areas, would have been perceived by later agriculturalist groups as autochthones - first 'owners of the land'. As such they would have been closely identified with the natural environment and its many ramifications (e.g. Culwick 1931; Wilson 1985b; Felgate 1982; Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 175

Harinck 1969; Stayt 1931; Turnbuli 1984a, 1984b; Turner 1969). This, together with the fact that their position as the first owners of the land was acknowledged by the politically dominant agriculturists, ensured their ritual status and the place of particular landmarks (caves, boulders, forests, pools, lakes, mountains) associated with them in the belief systems of many agriculturist groups. It needs to be emphasised, however, that all autochthonous people were not necessarily hunter-gatherers but could also have been earlier agriculturist communities (see Loubser 1991; Hall in prep.); nevertheless they were still perceived as living close to nature and as important ritual specialists. Although it appears that the later Bantu-speaking agriculturists maintained their own beliefs and conceptual structures, their world-view allowed them to incorporate those of the autochthones whom they encountered. A graphic illustration of this incorporation in the religious experience of later agriculturist groups can be found in the ritualised behavi- our associated with rock art believed to have been executed by these first owners of the land. Ethnographic evidence suggests that autochthonous rock art occurrences, whether finelines or fingerpaintings, were either intentionally avoided (Loubser and Dowson 1987; Prins and Lewis 1992) or ritually utilised, as by the placing of offerings or by utilisation for rainmaking ceremonies (see below). Although the content of the late white paintings differs from those of the earlier red schematics (Phillipson 1976; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978; Morais 1984; Hall et al. in prep.), it is nonetheless important to note that their superimpositioning on some of the earlier red paintings may have been a powerful symbolic statement which acknowledged the status of autochthones in ritual matters. Nevertheless, the distinct appearance of the 'Late White' tradition suggests that these paintings were executed by people who, despite their links with earlier autochthonous groups, had different social structures and belief systems. The obvious question is whether the 'Late White' paintings, like some earlier red schematics, are also connected to the religious beliefs and rituals of the agriculturists who produced them. The great secrecy or apparent ignorance often displayed to outsiders by Bantu-speakers discussing, these paintings suggests that such may indeed be the case. However, the available ethnographic evidence permits the outline construction of a general hypothesis.

Interpretation Much of the existing information on the rock art of Bantu-speaking people is based on documentation and fragmentary ethnographic observations made prior to the 1960s, mostly in south-central Africa. These ethnographic accounts are sometimes quite informat- ive as to the motive behind and the function of the rock art, but provide very little insight as to the meaning embodied in the motifs. However, it is through function that aspects relating to the meaning of the art can be inferred. A literature survey concerning the known distribution offingerpaintings, especially those referred to as the 'Late White' tradition, suggests that their occurrence broadly follows the historical distribution of those Bantu-speaking peoples who had a strong 'matriarchal' component in their social structure (Fig. 1). Typically, these societies were matrilineal or bilateral in their descent systems. Indeed, the fingerpainting tradition seems to have been particularly prevalent in south-central Africa, notably in Zambia and Malawi (Cooke 1959; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978; Phillipson 1972, 1976) where the matrinlineal ele- 176 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

Marghi

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+ + + + ' + + ~ + + + f KWiSS' '1" 4" + + + + F § 4 + 4- " J I + + + + + + + + + Tsonga~ Khoisan + ~ ' ' ++ + -I -f~7 + 4- -I- ~ Ovambo Kavango +++

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Figure 1 Historical distribution of groups m)entioned in the text. Shaded areas show the known occurrence of fingerpaintings belonging to the 'Late White' tradition.

ment is highly emphasised (Murdock 1959). Although no 'pure' matrilineal people live in the northern Transvaal, functioning matrilineages are known among the Venda (Stayt 1931; Kuper 1982; Hammond-Tooke 1981b). In contrast to groups with a heavy emphasis on patriliny, such as the Nguni and southern Sotho, Venda women frequently act as ritual officiants in offerings to their ancestor spirits, and the chief's sister, the Machadzie, wielded considerable power in the past (Stayt 1931). The north-eastern Sotho (Kgaga and Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 177

Lovedu), who have a historical connexion with the Venda, also stress both patrilineal and matrilineal descent and, like the matrilineal peoples of central Africa, have few cattle and place more emphasis on agriculture and hunting (Krige and Krige 1980; Hammond-Tooke 1981a). The Shona-speaking peoples in Zimbabwe are culturally related to the Venda and, like the latter, also afforded women more status than the patrilineal cattle-dominated people further south (Schapera 1937; Gelfand 1959; Bourdillon 1976). Groups such as the Yao, Lunda, Nsenga, Chewa, Bemba and Ndembu, also considered in this paper, can be regarded as good examples of matrilineal organisation. However, it should be noted that fingerpaintings, possibly executed by predominantly patrilineal Bantu-speakers, do occur further south and north-east: these differ iconographically from those attributed to the 'Late White' tradition (see below) and are not discussed in detail here. Although ethnographic accounts of the various 'matriarchal' societies in south-central and southern Africa may appear unrelated, all in fact share certain common characteristics which transcend ethnic, historic and geographical boundaries. Despite obvious differences, Bantu-speakers in these areas share common elements in both their social systems and cosmology. Cosmological correlations are complemented by virtually identical painted motifs, but the composition of many paintings differs. Ethnographic data suggest that few if any of these paintings were produced for purely decorative purposes, but rather that they formed part of and actively contributed to reinforcing social values and actions, being thus highly symbolic. Symbolic meaning is related to ritual action and both are integrally linked to many other aspects of a group's social structure and beliefs (Turner 1967, 1969; Douglas 1970). The way in which these symbols are perceived and manipulated reflects a people's attempts to manage the natural and supernatural forces of their physical and conceptual worlds. Ethnographic observations indicate that these paintings were related to various ritual activities which included rainmaking, divination, appeasement of the ancestors and other spirits, and initiation practices. These ritual practices are discussed in more detail below.

Rainmaking In Bantu-speaking Africa rock shelters, amongst other places, were favoured by many ritual specialists for rainmaking activities. Certainly in Tanzania (Culwick 1931; Lawrence 1953, 1957; Chaplin 1974; Masao 1979, 1991), Zambia (Phillipson 1972, 1976), Malawi (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978), Zimbabwe (Cooke 1959) and the northern Transvaal (Hall et al. in prep.) shelters with ritual status are frequently decorated with paintings. This may be linked to a belief widespread in Bantu-speaking Africa that holes, hollows and rockshelters were the entrances to the ancestor world, and so it was through these areas that communication with the ancestors and other deities took place (Shropshire 1930; Mbiti 1982; Aschwanden 1982; Masao 1979; Auckema 1989). And, as it was believed that ancestors, other territorial or nature spirits and the supreme being was able to control the elements, it was through these places that appeals were made. The scanty ethnographic evidence suggests that caves containing rock art executed by both the San and Bantu-speakers were used for rainmaking purposes. The sacred rainmaking caves in the Matopos, for instance, contain finelines as well as fingerpaintings (Cooke 178 Frans E. Prim and Sian Hall

1974). In the Transkei, assimilated San individuals performed rainmaking rituals for the Mpondomise in a cave richly decorated with finelines (Jolly 1986; Prins 1990). Unfortu- nately we still lack sufficient data to indicate whether interactions further north between San and Bantu-speakers were characterised by a similar relationship. Nevertheless it is possible to make certain inferences regarding the context of fingerpaintings and the rainmaking beliefs of agriculturists in the northern Transvaal, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.

The earlier red schematic paintings

Several authors have noted that some of the red schematic paintings in Zambia and Malawi, which are often ascribed to the Akafula hunter-gatherers, appear to depict climatic phenomena such as sun-bursts, rain falling from clouds, etc. (Fig. 2; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978). It would seem that this perception has also been maintained by the recent population because part of their traditional rain-calling rituals has involved the pitting and throwing of stones at these and similar rock paintings (Phillipson 1972, 1976; Cooke 1976; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978). However, it should be noted that there is no evidence that such stone throwing was a custom of the original painters. Recognition or interpretation by later groups does not necessarily mean that the original meaning was the same. Nevertheless the stone throwing and pitting again illustrate the conceptual link between autochthones and natural phenomena in the belief systems of later agriculturist groups. The situation described above may be paralleled in the northern Transvaal even though there is no direct evidence that similar red schematic paintings, presumably made by earlier populations, were used by the recent inhabitants for rainmaking. Representatives of earlier populations, such as the Ngona, were employed by the Venda for ritual purposes, including rainmaking (Stayt 1931). A tenuous link with some of the red schematics can thus be established, since Venda oral tradition refers to the Ngona as the authors of much of this art.

Figure 2 Schematic red fingerpaintings at Nachikufu, Zambia (after Summers 1959). Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 179

The 'Late White' tradition

It has been argued that there is good reason to believe that paintings belonging to the 'Late White' tradition, in contrast with the early red schematics, were made by present-day Bantu-speaking agriculturists or their immediate ancestors. Some sites containing such art were associated with rainmaking, as in the placing of valued offerings in caves and the smearing of these paintings with clay, recorded in Zimbabwe and eastern Zambia (Phillipson 1976; Summers 1959) and in the Lake Victoria region (Masao 1992). More specifically a metaphorical link can be demonstrated between some of the painted motifs and rainmaking. In several parts of Africa certain animals were associated with the summons of rain. In south-central Africa and the northern Transvaal these animals included, amongst others, snakes and crocodiles. Whilst snakes, either real or imaginary, were widely associated with rain (Schmidt 1979), the crocodile - a symbol of fertility - was prominent amongst matrilineal people (Richards 1954). Even Shona, Venda, and northern Sotho had this association; but the concept was very poorly developed, or entirely absent, among more southerly Bantu-speakers such as the Nguni. Here crocodiles and other lizard-like animals were seen rather as messengers to the ancestor spirits and the supreme-being (Hammond-Tooke 1975), whilst they were also of totemic significance among the southern Sotho (Wilson 1985b). Although the available ethnographic data suggest that crocodiles were seen by matrilineal and bilateral groups as a symbol of fertility, other associations may also have been attached to them in different contexts (see below). The more specific association between crocodiles and rainmaking was perhaps most evident in stratified societies, such as the Venda and the Bemba - both of which were characterised by divine kingship. Here the crocodile became a symbol of the traditional ruler who, through his ritual specialists, was instrumental in the rainmaking process and in maintaining the fertility of the land (Richards 1950, 1954; Nettleton 1989b). Venda-symbols associated with crocodiles and referred to as the 'eye of the crocodile' or 'pool of the ancestors' were abstractly depicted on items of material culture by means of a dot surrounded by concentric circles. Not surprisingly, these designs were frequently found on chiefly items such as specially decorated ngwena (crocodile) doors and on ngoma rainmaking drums. However, this motif had a far wider distribution in central, southern as well as parts of eastern Africa where it was not only a symbol of chieftainship and status (Harding 1961; Kenny 1976; Masao 1991), but also employed by diviners in various contexts associated with fertility and divination (Von Binsbergen pets. comm.). This motif was to be found on the divining dice of the Venda, Shona, Tsonga, and others (Junod 1962; Cooke 1985; Plug 1987). In Zimbabwe the concentric circle motif was usually replaced by the more naturalistic representation of a crocodile (Bourdillon 1976; Cooke t985). Although, in this context, crocodiles indicated the senior male status representing wisdom, maturity, and political and social power (Huffman 1987), it also linked crocodile symbolism with divination practices so emphasising the fertility and well-being of humans and the environment alike. Given the relationship between crocodiles and rainmaking, concentric circles and dots (Fig. 3), widely distributed where fingerpaintings occur, greater meaning can be read into these motifs, especially where they occur in conjunction. Good examples have been recorded in 180 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

Figure 3 Concentric circle motif in association with stylised human and animals at Sibafo, Zimbabwe (after Summers 1959).

the northern Transvaal (Hall et al. in prep.), Zimbabwe (Cooke 1957), Zambia (Phillipson 1976), Angola (Ervedosa 1974; Rudner 1976), Tanzania (Collinson 1970) and Uganda (Chaplin 1974). In the Makgabeng, northern Transvaal, monitor lizards and fingerpaintings together were observed to be instrumental in rainmaking rituals. During a ritual to encourage rainfall a northern Sotho group offered monitor lizards in shelters which contained fingerpaintings of saurian motifs (Van Gogh pers. comm.). In other instances, depictions of monitor lizards were drawn in the sand by the same people for similar reasons (ibid.). It is uncertain whether monitor lizards were also associated with rainmaking further north, but the fact that many saurian depictions seem to illustrate a merging between lizards and crocodiles (Fig. 4) strongly suggests their association with the latter and thus possibly with rainmaking and fertility. Saurian motifs (e.g. Fig. 5) have a wide distribution, and good examples have been recorded and observed in the northern Transvaal (Hall et al. in prep.) as well as in Swaziland (Mason 1971), Zimbabwe (Cooke 1959), Zambia (Phillipson 1976), Mozambique (Morais 1'984), Malawi (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978; Juwayeyi 1991) and Tanzania (Masao 1979), although some of these are obviously crocodiles. In several regions, among both Bantu-speakers and ]~hoisan, snakes - especially the python - were linked to rainmaking and fertility (Schmidt 1979). Among the Shona and Venda the python, which was usually depicted)as a chevron design, was believed to be both the bringer and the withbolder of rain (Nettleton 1989a, 1989b) and, in ancient Zimbabwe, the correlation between spirits, kings and rain was expressed in metaphorical form - that of a snake in a cave (Huffman 1981). Schematic depictions of snakes occur in fingerpaintings (Fig. 6), as in the northern Transvaal (Hall et al. in prep.), Zimbabwe (Cooke 1959) and Malawi (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978), but are rather scarce in comparison with other depictions of animals, although snake-like motifs are numerous in areas traditionally inhabited by the Khoisan where they appear in both fineline paintings (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1989), as well as in engravings (Wilman 1933). Again, there are numerous fingerpainted examples in the lakeside regions of Uganda, where an ancient Expressions of fertilit~, in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 181

Figure 4 'Late White' fingerpaintings in the Makgabeng,'northern Transvaal, showing ox-wagons and saurian motifs (after Pager 1975). python cult flourished until quite recently (Hambly 1931 ). Here it was noted that the Hima and Nkole royal families had strong connexions with pythons in which it was believed the spirits of their ancestors dwelt (ibid.). Masao (1991) has recorded good examples of this depiction on Lukaba Island in Lake Victoria, and in Tanzania shelters containing snake- like depictions were said to be used for communication with the ancestors and for rainmaking by the Iramba (Culwick 1931). The available evidence therefore suggests that at least some fingerpaintings related to rainmaking activities or concepts associated with rain. Certain depictions, such as the saurian motifs of the Makgabeng, may have been painted with the direct objective of producing rain. But there is also evidence that the depiction of concepts relating to rain may have been secondary or only part of another ritual activity. Certainly the activity with the most ethnographic evidence as to the functional motive of fingerpaintings is initiation practices and puberty ceremonies, as will be discussed in more detail below. 182 Frans E. Pri~s and Sian Hall

"1, J 400ram

Figure 5 Saurian motifs at MsuLe Irimiya, Tanzania (after Masao L979).

I I 300ram

Figure 6 Snake-like scribblings at Rukurongo, Lake Victoria (after Chaplin 1974).

Initiation and puberty ceremonies The manifest similarities in initiation practices between Bantu-speaking groups in the northern and eastern Transvaal and those of south-central Africa provide additional evidence for a widespread system of beliefs which - it may be argued - is also expressed in the fingerpaintings. As early as the 1930s Schapera observed that the initiation practices of the bilateral north-eastern Sotho and Venda were reminiscent of those in central African matrilineal peoples' secret societies (Schapera 1937). These parallels have recently been echoed by Hammond-Tooke (1981) who, in his analysis of Kgaga (a bilateral lowveld Sotho group) initiation ceremonies, remarked on the similarities with those practised by the matrilineal Ndembu in Zambia and Zaire nearly 2000 km to the north. Despite these Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 183 broad comparisons it must be emphasised that the details of initiation and puberty ceremonies varied considerably between the various groups discussed. Yet, most matrilineal and bilateral Bantu-speaking groups seem to emphasise institutionalised rites of passage in which both male and female initiation was an elaborate affair. In contrast with the more cattle-orientated peoples to the south and north-east, male and female initiation schools may sometimes have combined during certain phases of the rites. Yet another characteristic feature among some societies was the formation of secret societies with their own initiation ceremonies. Various icons were prevalent in these initiation ceremonies and were used to demon- strate different lessons. These icons usually included both schematic and naturalistic figures, as well as masks made out of clay or wood, and costumes of fantastic beings; they may also have included a wide range of symbols painted on different materials. Among the Venda instructive figurines were either made by the initiation master himself, or alternatively, he appointed certain women to craft them (Nettleton 1989a, 1992). Similarly, Bemba Chisungu clay figurines used in female initiation, and clay figurines made by the Venda for similar purposes were usually manufactured by female tutors (Richards 1954; Nettleton 1989a). The dancing costumes of most groups were made by the initiates, although costumes of mythical beings were often made and worn by individuals who had already been initiated. It would seem that fingerpaintings formed an integral part of the iconography used in these initiation ceremonies and complemented other iconic items. The available evi~tence points to the initiates painting as an expression of their various experiences and the lessons taught to them. However, there is also circumstantial evidence that some of these motifs were produced by tutors, as among the Nsenga (Phillipson 1976), as instruction media. In south-central and eastern Africa, fingerpaintings -some of which are similar to those found in rock shelters - were characteristically painted on the inside walls of the initiation hut by female neophytes during the seclusion period (Rich~irds 1954; Colson and Gluck- man 1951; Schneider 1980). In southern Africa a similar practice can be inferred for the Venda (Blacking 1969a). More particularly, among the Lukuba of the Lake Victoria region, rectangular schematic fingerpaintings are believed to represent initiation symbols and tattoos on the body of male initiates (Masao 1991). Male members of the Chewa Nyau (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978) and the Marghi (Vaughan 1962) also produced fingerpaintings. Phillipson (1972), in a similar vein, argued for a relationship between zoomorphic paintings and the in,ago (male initiation) figures of the Malawian Yao. This evidence suggests a direct association between male initiation and the occurrence of fingerpaintings in rock shelters. However it is also possible to link fingerpaintings with female initiation rites. Among the Bemba, mbusa - sacred emblems shown to female initiates - included floor and wall paintings which were made on the inside of initiation huts (Corbeil 1982). More substantial data for a link between female initiation and fingerpaintings, particularly those executed in rock shelters, have been obtained among the Venda in the northern Transvaal. Here depictions of some divining dice, in the Soutpansberg, were said to have been executed during female initiation ceremonies (Hall et al. in prep.). The Ngoni inhabitants adjacent to the Thandwe shelter in Zambia also expressed their belief that the white paintings there were connected with Nsenga girls' puberty ceremonies (Phillipson 1976). 184 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

Once again, as in rainmaking, there is evidence to suggest that the motifs depicted in the fingerpaintings complement other icons and symbols used in initiation ceremonies. Perhaps the most graphic expression of one such concept - those relating to the crocodile - has been recorded among the Hananwa, a northern Sotho group who live in the far northern Transvaal. The tribal spirit of the Hananwa was a crocodile of which a stylised wooden carving was hidden in a secret shelter. The carving was only removed during male initiation ceremonies when it was painted white and displayed to the initiates (Roberts 1915). In view of this, it is not surprising that white crocodile motifs abound in fingerpaintings (Fig. 4) which are found in Hananwa territory (see Pager 1975). In addition the use of crocodile-like initiation masks has been recorded among the lowveld Sotho (Krige and Krige 1980) whilst stylised clay crocodiles, amongst other objects, formed part of the secret instructive items shown to initiates among the Venda (Tyrrell 1968; Nettleton 1989a) and matrilineal peoples in Malawi and Zambia (Richards 1954; Sanderson 1955; Corbeil 1982). The crocodile symbol and its accompanying concepts most probably extend back at least to the sixth century AD, since terracotta masks with crocodile-like features, which were most probably also painted white, have been uncovered in Early Iron Age contexts in the eastern Transvaal (Inskeep and Maggs 1975) and in Natal (Maggs 1984). Although these examples show that the crocodile concept was instrumental in initiation ceremonies it was also used as a metaphor for fertility. Ngwena, the Venda word for crocodile, for instance, was used in a number of sayings or phases associated with procreation, rain and fertility. Ngwena nowa: the uterus or procreative apparatus; ngwenayo mila: conception has taken place; ngwena limiwa nga: to become pregnant (Van Warmelo 1970; see also Blacking 1969b; Nettleton 1989b). Among Shona-speaking peoples more specifically the crocodile was a metaphor for male virility (Aschwanden 1976). In any liminal situation, such as the initiation event, one can expect to encounter the reversal of norms (Turner 1969). During Venda initiation ceremonies the drooping penis represented potency and virility, while an erect penis represented infertility (Stayt 1931). The drooping penis is reminiscent of the hanging tails on anthropormised saurian creatures depicted in the rock paintings. However, it can be argued that these hanging tails may have represented either hanging or erect penises. The depiction of male figures with these emphasised sexual characteristics is a very characteristic motif of the 'Late White' tradition with good examples occurring in many areas (Roberts 1916; Culwick 1931; Cooke 1959; Vaughan 1962; Phillipson 1976; Rudner 1976; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978). An example from Thandwe in Zambia (Phillipson 1976) suggests the merging of a human identity with that of a crocodile-like motif, while at the same time emphasising male sexuality (Fig. 7). Certainly such merging between humans and ~rocodile-like animals is meaningful when considering Shona and Venda beliefs which, in some contexts, ascribe a phallic character to crocodiles (Van Warmelo 1970; Aschwanden 1982). However, concepts relating to crocodiles were not the only ones used in the initiation context. Snakes played an equally important role in initiation ceremonies, as they did in rainmaking. Snake imagery was used extensively in female initiation ceremonies both among Bantu-speaking groups and among Khoisan (Schmidt 1979). Such imagery, which in most cases denoted fertility, was especially evident among the Venda, Shona (Stayt 1931; Blacking 1969a, 1969b, 1969c; Bourdillon 1976; Nettleton 1989a, 1989b) and the matrilineal Yao, Bemba, Nsenga and Chewa of south-central Africa (Richards 1954; Expressions offertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 185

I lm

Figure 7 Saurian motifs at Thandwe, eastern Zambia (after Phillipson 1976). 186 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

Chaplin 1965; Phillipson 1972, 1976). Chewa girls' initiation rites, for instance, involved dancing on pictures of snakes and crocodiles in a small circle of mud. Even as far north as Tanzania, paintings of snakes featured prominently on the walls inside huts used as lodges for the initiation of youths into a secret Nyamwezi Snake Guild. Various kinds of snakes, including pythons and mambas, were painted in preparation for the rite (Adamson and Carnochan 1937). Finally, although it should be noted that concepts relating to creatures so powerful and pervasive as crocodiles and snakes are likely to have been involved in initiation ceremonies of many African peoples, this was not necessarily the case with other animals such as elephants, buffalo, and large felines. Crocodiles, in particular, did not have the same cosmological significance among patrilineally emphasised groups, such as the Nguni, as they had among the bilateral and matrilineal people referred to in this paper. The genet cat (Fig. 8) and pangolin (see Masao 1979) were also important initiation figures which featured in some Bantu rock art. Although the genet-cat motif was used during Zambian Nsenga and Chewa womens' initiation (Chaplin 1965; Philtipson 1972, 1976), there is also evidence to connect it with the male initiation ceremonies of the Malawian Yao (Stannus and Davey 1913). Among the Venda the genet cat was metaphorically associated with a pregnant woman. It was said that: 'the genet comes from the harsh, dry country.., out of this heat and hardship comes a baby' (Blacking 1969a). The pangolin was also associated with climatic phenomena such as drought and rain, and was used in the initiation ceremonies of the Venda (Blacking 1969c) and Bemba (Richards 1954).

I I lm Figure 8 Genet cat or saurian motif at Chaingo, eastern Zambia (after Phillipson 1976). Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 187

At this point it should be mentioned that various other motifs, for which we have little explanation, are encountered in the fingerpaintings. Depictions of giraffes occur over a wide area of East and southern Africa. Both the Venda (Blacking 1969b) and the Kgaga (Hammond-Tooke 1981) referred metaphorically to the giraffe in girls initiation ceremonies. Adamson and Carnochan (1937) specifically mentioned paintings of giraffe inside initiation lodges of a secret Snake Guild in Tanzania, whilst Masao (1991) refers to the giraffe as the most frequently depicted animal in the 'Late White' p.hase of Tanzanian fingerpainting: however, we have a poor understanding of its significance in the initiation context. Similarly depictions of kudu and other wild antelopes are often encountered in fingerpainting (see Hall et al. in prep.). The start of the Venda Domba initiation school was usually announced by blowing the horn of a kudu bull, which suggests a link between the two (Blacking 1969c, 1969d). However, we have little evidence as to the specific ritual significance of the kudu here or elsewhere, although various researchers have noted that matrilineal and bilateral groups traditionally placed more emphasis on hunting than did the patrilineal societies further south (Stayt 1931; Colson and Gluckman 1951; Murdock 1959; Richards 1969; Wilson 1985b). Certainly, among the matrilineal peoples of Zambia, hunting and the killing of prey was associated with male sexuality (Richards 1954; Turner 1967): an interesting parallel also found among San hunter-gatherers (Marshall 1959). Thus, even though we do not understand the meaning of a particular motif, it is possible that the depiction of these wild animals, as a communal concept in the fingerpaintings, is yet another expression of fertility. Among the Bemba a shooting ceremony with bow and arrow was often performed at puberty rites should two of the initiates be betrothed. The shooting rite was highly symbolic. The girl crouched beneath a concentric circle motif symbolising the female sexual organ, which was painted on the initiation hut's wall, and the youth shot his arrow into it (Brelsford 1937:39), an act which clearly symbolised intercourse. Similar rituals are also known to have occurred among other matrilineal peoples, such as the Lungo (Richards 1954). Given the complementary belief systems of matrilineal and bilateral peoples in south-central and southern Africa it is not surprising that similar practices have also been recorded among the Venda in the northern Transvaal. Here a small boy would aim with a bow and arrow at a girl and her bridesmaid as they left her home and began the night journey to her husband's home (Blacking 1969a). The arrow, in the initiation context, may also have referred to a potent man (Blacking 1969b). Depictions of arrows (Fig. 9) and the concentric circles representing the female sexual organ, are often associated with paintings of wild animals. It is thus also possible to relate the latter motifs to concepts associated with fertility and procreation. Abstract signs, particularly circular ones, are also frequently encountered in the fingerpaintings. Reference has already been made to the 'crocodiles' pool', but another painted motif- the so-called subdivided circle - occurs in both Zambia (Phillipson 1976) and southern Africa (Pager 1975; Battis 1948; Hall et al. in prep.), including the Tsodilo Hill paintings of Botswana (Rudner 1965). When rock art copies of subdivided circle motifs were shown to Nsenga women in Lusaka they were recognised as ceremonial sex-education diagrams (Phillipson 1976). Similar motifs and patterns were recently made on the floors of female initiation huts but these were usually executed with coloured maize grains (Chaplin 1962). The meaning attributed to subdivided-circle motifs elsewhere is less clear, 188 Frans E. Prinss and Sian Hall

Figure 9 Crudely painted animals in association with arrow at Bezuidenhoutshoek, Transvaal (after Woodhouse 1972).

but it is possible that they may also have related to fertility. Other abstract designs frequently encountered in the rock art are crosses and the encircled cross (Fig. 10). Crosses depicted on Shona divining dice personified the 'old woman' who stood for unity (Huffman 1987). It is likely that the depiction of crosses in the fingerpaintings of the northern Transvaal and Zimbabwe also referred to this concept, especially as senior women played an important part in the teaching of moral codes in female initiation schools. Depictions of strange 'mythical' animals are widespread in south-central Africa and the northern Transvaal, while models and masks of such beings were used in the initiation schools of several societies in this region. A characteristic feature of many of these figures, whether rock art depictions (Roberts 1916) or ceremonial masks and dresses (Krige and Krige 1980), is their elongated necks (Fig. 11). Whilst the exact meaning of the elongation is still unclear, it is nevertheless important to note that this form of exaggeration is typical of tile liminal states often ascribed to initiates (Turner 1967, 1969) when certain points or lessons are being emphasised. In conclusion, ethnographic information relating to tile meaning of motifs, other than crocodiles and snakes, is patchy and incomplete. Nevertheless, it is significant that tile available information points to them all being related, in one way or another, to concepts associated with fertility.

Multivocalih,

Given the different meanings attributed to similar motifs it appears that the symbolism underlying this rock art is multivocal. As a rule, traditional African world-views were unified: phenomena faded into one another so as to create a holistic structure of both the physical and conceptual worlds. Objects and associations tended to merge into a hazy, but rich, tapestry of events (Mbiti 1982). This concept is neatly illustrated with reference to the saurian motifs which may depict leguans, crocodiles or humans with emphasised sexual characteristics. On one level this motif may have been linked with tile chiefly status afforded to crocodiles, on another level it may have been representative of rainmaking rituals, whilst at tile same time it could also symbolise the sexual potency of young men Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 189

t I lm Figure 10 Human merging into saurian motif with encircled cross, Kalemba, eastern Zambia (after Phillipson 1976).

in initiation. There was also an association between crocodiles and snakes, as exemplified in Shona belief systems by the 'snake-like' creature of the pool (Aschwanden 1982). In addition, crocodile-like depictions may be seen as representing tile genet cat, which was a signilicant symbol in puberty ceremonies among some Zambian peoples (Apthorpe in Chaplin 1962). Another multivocal motif was the concentric circle symbol which may have been linked with crocodiles, diviners and their associated meanings: it was also a symbol ofstatt, s and maturity, whilst in a different context it symbolised tile female sexual organ. Paintings in the northern Transvaal of bird-like figures may depict the so-called ndadzi or lighting bird - a much feared mythical creature said to be responsible for lightning and also referred to metaphorically during initiation in these areas (Stayt 1931; Blacking 1969c). However, it may equally have represented a masked being, the khiudogani, which was perhaps tile most important initiation mystery shown to neophytes among the north- eru and eastern Sotho (Schapera 1937; Krige and Krige 1980). This creature, said to have emerged from a pool in a river, possessed both reptilian and bird-like features. These features, indeed, are discernible in a spectacular painting (Fig. 12) of a bird-reptilian like creature in tile Aintrce shelter in the northern Transvaal (Hall el al. in prep.). 190 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

I I

Figure 1 I Fantastic animals with elongated necks at Makgabeng, northern Transvaal (after Roberts 1916).

Colour s~,mbolism

The symbolic nature of the motifs depicted is emphasised by the colours in which they are executed. "Fhese nqay be interpreted with reference to Turner's co[our triad of black, red and white which holds true for many south-central and southern African Bantu- speaking peoples (Tu,'ner 1967; Ngubane 1977; Hammond-Tooke 1981a; Aschwanden 1976, 1982). In this triad black was generally a negative co]our, while red possessed qualities both positive - such. as nubility of women - and negative - menstruation and associated pollution. White was a positive colour, identified with semen and often associated with fertility and virility: it was also the colour of tJw ancestors. A particular elabora- tion of this colour triad was seen among the Venda and their Bantu-speaking neighbours, with four distinct colours relating to the tbur categories of people in society': white was symbolic ofyoung men and virility'; red a limin~ colour svmbolic ofyoung women, nubility and danger; yellow stood for old men and represents wisdom and authority; whilst black represented old women or infertility and was gqnerally perceived as a negative colour. All these colours and their associated meanings were presented to female initiates during their lessons (Blacking 1969b). A parallel association is found in the four distinct tablets ofShona, \:enda, and northern Sotho divining dice sets as each tablet was named and schematically stylised to fit one of the four categories of people mentioned above (1)ornan 1923; Eiselen 1932; Cooke 1985; Huffman 1987; Plug 1987; Von Binsbergen 1992}. These underlying meanings may in one way or another have applied to the fingerpaintings, not only because divining dice are Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 191

~ 0 oA!

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Figure 12 Bird reptile-like motif at Aintrec, northern Transvaal (after Miller 1992).

sometimes depicted in the rock art but also because the colours used in the 'Late White' paintings included white, red, yellow and black. However, the facts that black, a negative colour, is either very scarce or absent in this rock art, and that the vast majority of the paintings are white, which is a positive colour, supports the authors' argument that the 'I,ate White' paintings were related to fertility. Particularly in the Soutpansberg, it is onh" the highly abstract motil~s, such as slashes, smears and some crosses, which are painted in colours other than white. Motifs more directly associated with rainmaking, initiation and male fertility, such as snakes and crocodiles, were predominantly executed in white 192 Frans E. Prinss and Sian Hall or yellow-white (Hall el al. in prep.). It is evident that the colour symbolism of rock art requires further research.

Diviners and members of secret societies

Knowledge of the meaning of rock paintings was sometimes restricted to diviners and members ofsecret societies (Adamson and Carnochan 1937; Shorter 1967; Collinson 1970; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978; Juwayeyi 1991). The Nunguli secret society of the Nyamwezi in Tanzania, for instance, was linked with the ritual use of the well known Makalo rock painting site (Collinson 1970). However, our best evidence for a relationship between fingerpaintings and secret societies comes from Malawi and Zambia. Here there is a clear link between some fingerpaintings and the Nyau secret society of the Chewa which may date back to tile first millennium AD (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978). The formation of the Nyau may be linked with the strong matrilineal-matriarchal system of the Chewa. Males frequently joined these societies to achieve male-bonding in a society dominated by matrilineal principles (Juwayeyi pers. comm.). Reed and grass woven masks, costumes and representations of ancestors and mythical beings were displayed during dance performances associated with male and female initiation ceremonies, in which they played an important part (Cooke 1972; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978; Faulkner 1988). White stylised paintings representing tile mythical and fantastic figures of these ceremonies have been recorded in Malawi and are attributed to the activities of this society (Fig. 13), tile members of which were the authors of the rock art (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978). As initiates were instructed never to tell the secrets of tile N~,au, our understanding of the meaning of these paintings is limited. Likewise, Adrian Boshier in the Makgabeng only learned the meanings of certain paintings from northern Sotho diviners when he was initiated into a local divination school (Boshier 1972; Van Gogh pers. comm.). It has been suggested that designs found on Venda, Shona and northern Sotho divining dice are the same as those on other ritual items such as doors, drums and rock art. For the most part these motifs include concentric circles - the 'eye of the crocodile' - and chevrons which are schemati.c depictions of pythons. The inclusion of these motifs on divining dice directly links the diviners to rainmaking and initiation, and thus to fertility.

Figure 13 .V~,au symbols at the Namzeze shelter, Malawi. The car, which indicates tile recent age of these paintings, is fi)llowed by a zebu humped cow, a man and a ,~au animal costume (after Lindgren and Scholl'eleers 1978). Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 193

In fact, among the Venda, initiation masters were often diviners. The diviners were usually individuals from autochthonous stock, such as the Mbedzi whose Luvhimbi rainmakers acted as initiation masters (Blacking 1969b). And it is the diviners who are said to have performed ritual activities in the shelters - activities which were connected to rainmaking, initiation and communication with the ancestors (Hall et al. in prep.). In effect, they were responsible for the fertility of man, beast and the land. Autochthonous peoples in many parts of the world are perceived as having an intimate relationship with the land, and the power to control the elements and fertility (e.g. Turnbull 1984a). Like tile initiation event, and like the shelter itself, the diviners were regarded as liminal entities. They were neither truly human as they were closely associated with tim ancestors and had the gift of prophecy, nor were they of the ancestor world - they were truly ambiguous figures. It was this very ambiguity that entitled them to be the masters of initiation, to control the elements through the ancestors and the gods. It also permitted them to enter the shelter where these marginal activities could take place in an equally marginal and powerful area.

Concluding discussion

Coherence of the fingerpaintings

It has been argued that tile Bantu fingerpainting tradition and associated world viei,v has a distribution which transcends certain geographical, historical and cultural boundaries. Tile 'Late White' tradition referred to by earlier authors and discussed in this paper is seen as a coherent group. However, many variations call be identified within this tradition in terms of style, content, and size. The 'Late White' tradition is a loose and open category in which most known paintings were executed with a finger or stick. These paintings, which may appear rather crude to the western eye, were ~enerally painted in white or yellow-white, although red, black and yellow paintings also. occur. Schematised humans and animals, fantastic beings, and abstract symbols and smears are characteristic of these paintings which occur over a wide geographical area including south-central and parts of southern Africa. Ethnographic information suggests that the authors, at least of the most recent paintings, were Bantu-speaking agricuhu,'ists. Despite variation over time and space there is a common thread which connects the diverse examples of these paintings. Whether the motifs depicted are linked with traditional rulers, rainmaking, initiation, diviners or secret societies, in essence all can be associated with [i~'rtility. However, it cannot be claimed that all these paintings were necessarily executed as part of fertility rites perse. It is merely argued that concepts relating to [;ertility can be identified in the motifs and the associated world-view within which these paintings were produced. There is also evidence suggesting that the relationship between rock art and fertility was not restricted to Bantu- speaking agriculturists but also occurred among hunter-gatherers and people of Khoisan derivation (Ten Raa 1971, 1974; Solomon 1992). However, these relationships probably only apply to those groups where less emphasis was placed on cattle keeping (Campbell 1959), where women had some social and ritual status, where there was some emphasis on hunting as an economic strategy, and where the latter was associated with sexual imagery. 194 Frans E. Prim and Sian Hall

Among Bantu-speakers it appears that expressions of female fertility was more emphasised in those groups whose descent was matrilineal or bilateral. Correspondence may be discerned between such groups and the 'Late White' tradition.

Coherence and general patterns discerned in the ethnographic record

'Many matrilineal people emphasised biological descent through the mother's side (Richards 1940, 1950). Matrilineal people, as a rule, arranged marriage by service as well as by payment (Colson and Gluckman 1951); bilateral societies arranged marriages by means of payments but these did not necessarily include the cattle 'payments' (Krige and Krige 1980; Stayt 1931) which were characteristic of some patrilineal societies. Tradition- ally the economy of matrilineal and some bilateral societies was based on hunting and cultivation. The former importance of hunting in the economy .of bilateral societies like the Venda, for instance, is still reflected in their ritual practices today (Blacking 1969b). Both males and females could practise agriculture. Herding might have been added to the economy but many of the tropical and subtropi6al areas typically inhabited by these societies are environmentally unsuited to herding, being plagued by tsetse infestations and livestock diseases. Where livestock herding was practised, as in the northern Transvaal and parts of Zimbabwe, the associated descent system was usually bilateral rather than purely matrilineal. However, even among these bilateral people cattle were of less significance in the economic, social and ritual spheres than among predominantly patrilineal Bantu-speaking people, such as the Nguni (Wilson 1985a). The accumulation of livestock over time could, however, have been instrumental in the transformation of matrilineally emphasised societies inl;o ones dominated by male principles. The Ovambo in Namibia provide a good example of such a transformation in progress (Malan 1980), and it is tempting to suggest that similar processes in tile past could eventually have led to the development of patrilineally emphasised societies. Where tile society was completely dominated by patrilineal descent, as among the Nguni, the economy was squarely based on cattle, with agriculture and hunting being secondary. Cattle, which helonged to tile male domain, were also instrumental in the transfer ofbridewealth, in sacrifices to the ancestors, and in tile accumulation of weahh (Kuper 1980, 1982). Given the difference in economic base and descent system between patrilineally emphasised and matrilineal peoples, it is to be expected that perceptions of their social and physical environments would differ. For the matrilineal and some bilateral peoples the pre-eminent threat to their hunting and agricultural economy would have been drought and other natural disasters (see Stayt 1931; Richards 1969). Positive expressions of)fertility, such as abundant rainfall or tile successful hunt, were probably seen as the ultimate symbol of well-being and a manifesta- tion that tile social order was operating smootl)ly. These conceptual associations relating to the fertility of tile land would have permeated throughout the society on different levels, and would also have been expressed in the fertility of males and females entering adult- hood. Another interesting concept would have been tile analogical relationship between the good hunter and male virility - a concept especially evident among purely matrilineal societies (Richards 1954), ahhough also indicated in bilateral societies (Blacking 1969b). Tile existence of functioning matrilineages among matrilineal and hilateral societies affords women considerable social, ritual and political status. Women, either directly or Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 195 indirectly, played a significant role in both the public and private spheres which related to the well-being of people and land. Among patrilineally orientated societies the tension between society and ecology was in a sense cushioned by their herds, in that cattle were notas immediately affected by drought as were agricultural produce and wild animals. Fertility remained an important concept, as could be seen in the 'first fruit festivals' traditionally arranged by the chiefs of most Nguni chiefdoms (Wilson 1985a). Although initiation ceremonies occurred among these groups they, especially those for females, appear to have been less elaborate. Certainly, the joint tutoring of males and females at some stage of the initiation ceremony, which was so characteristic of matrilineal and some bilateral groups, never took place. Patrilineal peoples' preoccupation with cattle in the social, ritual and political spheres, together with the fact that women were excluded from these activities, meant that overt fertility symbolism, especially related to women, was often complemented or replaced by cattle orientated beliefs - thereby emphasising the male dominance of these societies. These broad differences between matrilineal and patrilineal societies in economy, envir- onmental perceptions, marriage patterns, status of women and beliefs about procreation represent two distinct world-views which are reflected in the fingerpaintings produced by the respective societies. Cattle symbolism, for instance, occurs in the fingerpaintings executed by bilateral groups such as the Venda, and more especially in those of patrilineally emphasised people. Fingerpaintings presumably executed by bilateral peoples in the northern Transvaal are iconographically very similar to those produced by 'l~urely ' matrilineal people in their use of virtually identical motifs and colour, even though they contain some depictions of cattle. In contrast, fingerpaintings in areas like Natal, traditionally inhabited by patrilineal societies, contain less elaborate fertility symbolism and a smaller range of motifs, ahhough schematised depictions of domestic animals (Fig. 15) are more common (Prins el al. in prep.). This generalisation can probably also be extended to Bantu-speaking and Nilotic groups in Fast Africa whose ~'conomv was based on pastor- alism. Here it has been demonstrated that motifsdepicted in fingerpaintings are identical to those used to mark cattle by contemporary pastoralists (Gramly 1975; Kenny 1976). Some rock art sites were also intimately associated with the consumption of large numbers of livestock (ibid.). However, it needs to be stressed that cattle among patrilineal societies may also have embodied fertility-related concepts, but usually only in a mediatory capacity as they related to the male domain. The fingerpaintings executed by cattle-orientated societies are therefore sufficiently distinct, in their emphasis on cattle symbolism (Figs. 14, 15) and in the exclusion of marked female fertility-related concepts and symbols, from those produced by matrilineal and bilateral societies to merit their separate designation. They are not theretbre included in the 'fingerpainting tradition' which forms the primary subject of this paper. However, even among matrilineal and bilateral people the conceptual associations out- lined in this paper provide only a limited degree of explanation for the similarities between various fingerpaintings. I t is clear that large-scale surveys of fingerpaintings are necessary in order to identity, local styles and variations in both time and space. Once this information i's available a programme can be initiated to explain regional and temporal differences more adequately. 196 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

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Figure 14 Scheinatic cattle depictions from tile Lake Victoria area (after Chaplin 1974).

Chronology,

Ahhough we have suggested that conceptual associations with fertility may underlie many of the 'Late White' paintings, it is nonetheless important to note that the ethnographic data on which this hypothesis is based were largely collected in the twentieth century. Informants ira the northern Transvaal, for instance, maintained that such paintings were being made as recently as the 1970s (Hall et al. in prep.). The depiction of colonial and western elements in some paintings (see below) is an indication of the age of these examples. The associated reconstructed cosmology therefore most probably represents the latter part of tile nineteenth century and a la~rge portion of tile twentieth. However, there is reason to believe that aspects relating to this fertility-orientated world-view had rnucfi earlier beginnings amongst Bantu-speaking agriculturists. Tentative dates ranging fi'om between 6000 and 1800 BP have been obtained for" red schematic paintings in Zambia and Malawi (Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978), but a dated sequence for the 'Late White' tradition still needs to be established. However, estimates of tile age of the belief systems underlying these fingerpaintings can be made with reference to other material. For instance, various expressions and modifications of the world view related to the fingerpainting tradition can be found in tile material cuhure of several African societies. It has been convincingly argued, for instance, that societies utilised a set of symbols/motifs which Expressions offertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 197

J 50ram

Figure 15 Schematised animal, probably a goat or cow, at Thornville, Natal.

find common expression in a wide range of media (Turner 1967; Evers 1988). These may have ranged from patterns in beadwork and wall murals to decorative motifs on wood carvings and pottery. Furthermore, even though the messages conveyed by these symbols may have been slightly varied in different media and contexts, the basic underlying meaning remained the same. It is thus hardly surprising that motifs frequently occurring in the fingerpainting tradition were also expressed in other media as, for example, on grain-bins (Robinson 1957), but especially on items associated with ritual and divination such as drums, initiation figurines and masks, and divining equipment. The first millennium AD terracotta masks (Loubser 1993) from southern Africa may be an early expression of fertility-related concepts among bilateral agriculturists (Whitelaw in prep.) in the eastern Transvaal and Natal. The occurrence of initiation figurines elsewhere ill Africa also argues for the widespread nature of these beliefs and practices over the last two millennia 198 Frans E. Prins and Sian Hall

(Robinson 1958, 1988; Voigt 1983). Moreover, it has been indicated that first-millennium Iron Age sites are known in all the areas of Zambia where schematic art occurs, and that the regional variants in the art show some correlation with those observed in the Early Iron Age industries (Phillipson 1972). These preliminary observations suggest that paintings of the 'Late White' tradition were most probably executed during both Early Iron Age and Later Iron Age periods.

Continuity and change That social changes - including those relating to population upheavals, missionary activity and westernisation - led to the discontinuation of the fingerpainting tradition over large areas of Africa is hardly beyond doubt. Initiation, which was an important way of com- municating and reinforcing symbolic messages, ceased to be practised among some groups, such as the Shona (Huffman 1987), whose society experienced marked transformation since the disintegration of the Zimbabwe state (Beach 1980). This may have been an important factor leading to the disappearance of the fingerpainting tradition in large parts of Zimbabwe. Nevertheless the possibility that fingerpaintings are still being produced in isolated areas where initiation and rainmaking practices are maintained should not be ruled out (Boshier 1972; Morais 1984). Indited evidence for the renewing of paintings in the Makgabeng of the northern Transvaal (Van Gogh pers. comm.) indicates that some are still being actively utilised in the maintenance of an ancient world view. The depiction ofwestern items and objets in the more recent fingerpaintings suggests a level of adaptabil- ity to modernisation. Depictions of cars, for instance, are common in both a realistic and an abstract form. Realistic paintings have been found at Thandwe shelter in eastern Zambia (Phillipson 1976) and as part of Nyau symbolism in Namzeze shelter in Malawi (Fig. 13; Lindgren and Schoffeleers 1978), while stylised depictions ofcars are also painted in the huts of Wahi female initiates in Tanzania (Schneider 1980). Good examples of trains and ox-wagons (Fig. 4) are found in the fingerpaintings of the northern Transvaal (Roberts 1916; Pager 1975). Like the motor car among the Wahl in Tanzania (Schneider 1980), the symbol of a train was presented to female initiates (Blacking 1969a) and it is possible that the ox-wagon may have had a similar association. Although the precise meaning of some more recent depictions is unclear, it is significant that they also figured in initiation ceremonies, where they occurred in association with more ancient icons, illustrating both continuity and change in African systems of thought.

Acknowledgements We thank S. Miller and other members of the Western Soutpansberg Rock Art Conserva- tion Group for making their data available to us. Thanks are also due to A. Mazel, S. Miller and G. Whitelaw for discussion. We also thank D. Phillipson and the referees for their comments on the first draft of this paper. Acknowledgements are due to K. Mack for preparing the figures. We are indebted to the Natal Museum for financial assistance. Expressions of fertility in the rock art of Bantu-speaking agriculturists 199

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