Africa 2001

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Rock engraving of human forms at Twyfelfontein

The Twyfelfontein area is at the base of the mountain range including the Brandberg, the highest peak in Namibia.

It is one of Africa's richest sites of rock art. There are some rock paintings, but most of the images are petroglyphs, or rock engravings.

Elsewhere in Namibia, rock art includes substantial numbers of human figures. At Twyfelfontein, most images are of animals and their tracks (or spoor).

The images are believed to be about 3,000 years old, but my reading suggests that there is significant dispute about the dating of the engravings among experts. The Twyfelfontein area includes 2,500 engravings. The area only gained nature reserve protection in 1986.

Interpretation of the engravings is disputed, but within these pictures I can identify giraffe, lion, gemsbok, kudu, elephant, zebra and ostrich.

This human figure is overlaid on a giraffe image. It may be that the images seek to portray shaman, or to signify the relationship between people and animals, or the animals' spirits.

This giraffe is on a rock that might have been used as a shelter.

This is my favourite. I really like the lion with the long tail. Below the lion, to the left, is a rhinocerous, and further to the left is a giraffe.

Some of the animals, including this lion, are depicted not with feet, but with an image of their footprints at the end of their legs.

This is a rock painting, not an engraving. It may be of a shaman.

Rock engraving of ostrich and several kinds of tracks

This image depicts several ostrich, and several kinds of tracks.

Rock engraving of animals including several gemsbok, distinguished by their horns

The animals at the top of this engraving are gemsbok, identified because of their long horns.

This is a Welwitschia plant. They are common in the area around Swakopmund, where I had seen them in Namibia in 1999. I never expected to see one again, and I didn't know they were found in the area around Twyfelfontein and Khorixas.

These are remarkable plants. There are separate male and female plants (I think this one is a male). They grow very, very slowly. This one would be several hundred years old. The oldest one known is in the Namib-Naukluft National Park outside Swakopmund, and is estimated to be 1,500 years old.

They only have two leaves, from this angle, on the left and the right. Over the years, the leaves are shredded in the wind.

Africa 2001

Twyfelfontein

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