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The Future of Africa's Past The Future of Africa's Past Proceedings of the 2004 TARA Rock Art Conference Nairobi Trust for African Rock Art Janette Deacon, Editor About TARA TARA, a Nairobi based non-governmental not-for- Since 1996 TARA has recorded rock art in over 16 profit organization, is committed to promoting the African countries; created an archive of over 20,000 awareness and preservation of Africa’s unique rock rock art photographs; produced a major illustrated art heritage. Its mission is to “create greater global book, African Rock Art, Paintings and Engravings awareness of the importance and endangered state on Stone, by David Coulson and Alec Campbell; of Africa’s rock art; survey sites; monitor status; be published articles in National Geographic Magazine, an information resource and archive; and promote Time Magazine, USA Today, London Times and and support rock art conservation measures”. other international publications; worked with the Government of Niger to conserve that country’s The Trust for African Rock Art (TARA) was rock art; helped to prevent destruction of 10,000 founded in 1996 by international photographer year old rock engravings by oil prospectors, hosted David Coulson with the support of palaeontologist an international rock art conference in Nairobi Mary Leakey. The goals of TARA are to create a (2004); staged East African rock art awareness permanent visual archive of Africa’s rock art before exhibitions in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar; it is too late, share this priceless archive with the made videos; conducted lecture tours and generally world community, and, to the extent possible, promoted the conservation of African rock art preserve today’s most threatened rock art sites, round the world. however remote, across the African continent. The Editor would like to thank the TARA Board of Trustees and the TARA staff for organising the November 2004 confer- ence in Nairobi at which the papers in this volume were presented. It was made possible by a generous grant from the Ford Foundation to whom we are most grateful for their continuing interest and assistance. As this collection of papers shows, the conference was a milestone in African rock art studies and provided a valuable meeting-ground for specialists and interested members of the public from all corners of the continent. TARA’s Chief Operations Officer, Amolo Ng’weno, was the driving force behind the organising team and has also carried many of the post-conference initiatives through to completion. These included overseeing the production of the Proceedings and moving the exhibition that opened in Nairobi to Dar-es-Salaam, Kampala, Kisumu and other regional museums. She was ably assisted by Kaye Makuku-McIlwaine as the conference organizer and Bridget McGraw as the exhibition organizer. The conference preparation committee included Dr Mzalendo Kibunjia of the National Museums of Kenya, Dr Paul Lane of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, Judy Ogana of the Kuona Trust, Gladys Nyasuna-Wanga and Amolo Ng’weno of TARA, TARA Board directors Dr George Abungu, Alec Campbell and David Coulson; and TARA’s Kenyan trustees Rupert Watson and Rick Anderson. Other sponsors of the conference, for whose support TARA is extremely grateful, included the Giraffe Manor, the Australian Embassy in Nairobi and the Heritage Insurance Company Ltd. © TARA and individual authors 2005 ISBN 9966-7055-4-6 TRUST FOR AFRICAN ROCK ART Kenya PO Box 24122 Nairobi 00502 Tel: +(254) 20 884467 Fax: +(254) 20 883674 E-mail: [email protected] USA 501 Delancey Street #607 San Francisco CA 94107 TARA is registered in the United States as a 501 (c)3 not-for-profit corporation TARA is a member of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations Edited by Janette Deacon | Designed by Job Ballard www.africanrockart.org Contents The Future of Africa’s Past: African Rock Art in the 21st Century 4 An exceptional painted cave in the Ardeche (France): the Chauvet Cave 6 African Rock Art 8 Rock art and the evolution of human imagination 11 Rock art and the public 17 Challenges of rock art conservation in Africa 23 The meaning of rock art: ethnography, comparison, metaphor 30 Dating of rock art in Africa 34 State-of-the-art-technologies in heritage documentation: the giraffe 44 engravings of Oued Djerat Rock art research, conservation and social transformation 52 For whom the bell tolls: rescue recording of petroglyphs and rock gongs 57 in the Merowe Dam Reservoir area of the Fourth Nile Cataract (Sudan) Saharan rock art, a vanishing heritage: government and community cooperation in Niger 67 Rock art patrimony of Morocco: an endangered cultural property 75 Management strategies for African rock art 81 Rock-art research for the 21st century: bringing art, science and people together 88 Rock art, cultural tourism and the indigenous peoples of Southern Africa 98 Schematic rock art in Benishangul (Western Ethiopia): a preliminary report 107 Ancient rock art sites in Eritrea: distribution, classification and current status 112 New perspectives on rock art from Mt. Elgon, Trans-Nzoia and Kara-Pokor: 115 a preliminary report Note on the transformation of a rock art panel at GVJM16 Lukenya Hill, Kenya 120 Tara conference excursion to Lukenya Hill 121 Community participation and rock art management in Zimbabwe 123 Analysing and comparing rock art sequences in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, 134 KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa The Future of Africa’s Past: African Rock Art in the 21st Century International Conference At the start of November, 2004 management and sustainable · Calls on the world community TARA hosted an international development of Africa’s rock to outlaw all trade in rock art conference on African rock art art heritage; immediately. here in Nairobi. The conference was officially opened Novem- · Recognises the need to use the Temporary Museum Exhibition ber 1st by Kenya’s Minister for latest digital technology for of African Rock Art National Heritage, Mr. Najib the benefit of ockr art preser- A temporary exhibition of Af- Balala and was attended by over vation; rican rock art opened at the 80 delegates from 20 different countries, including 17 African WHAT THE PARTICIPANTS SAID nations. In his speech the Minis- ”Africa’s greatest asset is its cultural heritage and the foundation stone ter pledged his strong support for of this is rock art. This was a terrific conference...” Prof. Wilmot James, the preservation of Kenya’s rock Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa. art heritage and underlined the Fig. 1: TARA Board Members uniqueness and vulnerability of “It was helpful, educative and interesting. I and my fellow students have and other conference learnt so much.” Habiba Chirchir, Anthropology student, University of these early cultural records. participants pose for Nairobi. a photo with Kenya’s Overall the conference was Minister for National judged an enormous success and “Very interesting and challenging... will in time to come be considered Heritage. Left to right: Alec participants have requested that a watershed event”. Dr. Aron Mazel, world authority on rock art dating, Campbell (TARA); Dr. Ben TARA enhance its role as an in- University of Newcastle, U.K. Smith, Director Rock Art Research Institute, South formation resource and database Africa; Dr. Paul Taçon, rock “I commend TARA for bringing us all together, and... was impressed by on African rock art projects and art research specialist, sites, thus validating TARA’s mis- the commitment shown by the Minister for National Heritage towards Australia; Tom Hill (TARA); sion. rock art preservation in Kenya.” Dr. Benjamin Smith, Director of the David Coulson (TARA); Mr. Rock Art Research Institute in South Africa. Najib Balala, Hon. Minister The conference concluded that for National Heritage, the African rock art fraternity: “I have enormously enjoyed the conference which was outstanding Kenya; Prof Wilmot James, Human Sciences Research · Acknowledges the significant in all ways. Not only was it brilliantly organised, it was academically challenging, with diverse views, and was truly international with so Council, South Africa; Prof. progress that has been made Jean Clottes, International many African nations attending.” Nigel, Winser, Royal Geographical by many communities in the Committee of Rock Art; Sidi past decade to safeguard Afri- Society, London. Mohamed-Ilies, President ca’s greatest and least known Anigourane, Niger; Robert art; “It was extremely useful... well organised and provided me with a lot of Burnet, Ford Foundation new information.” Dr. Esmond Bradley Martin, World Rhino Authority (East Africa); and Simon Gatheru, Principal Curator · Expresses concern about the and Geographer, Kenya. National Museum, Nairobi. future protection of the esti- mated 100,000 sites through- out Africa due to the increased vandalism and theft of Africa’s art; · Recognises the importance of engaging with local com- munities in drawing up any development plans for local and national benefits; · Calls on Governments of all African nations to assist in the long-term protection, Fig. 1 The Future of Africa’s Past - Proceedings of TARA Conference, November 200 Fig. 3 Fig. 2: Prof Wilmot James Nairobi museum on November The opening cocktail for the ex- Foundation has given about delivers the keynote address 1st 2004. Combining a recon- hibition was attended by a capac- $15,000 towards an interpretive at the conference. structed rock shelter, a photo gal- ity crowd of about 300 Ambas- center and restoration of van- Fig. 3: Huge banner in lery and multimedia exhibits, the sadors, CEOs, museum admin- dalism damage at the Kakapel Nairobi Museum stairwell exhibition has been hailed as one istrators, academics and other rock shelter in western Kenya. of the most creative and interest- interested people, with speeches Fig. 4: Dr Idle Farah, ing to be shown at the Nairobi by the Director of the National Director-General of the museum in recent years.
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