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10,000 Years Ago in South Africa

Traditional activities San hunter-gatherer clans (also called "bushmen") were established throughout the region, possibly as far north as modern Kenya. While it is not proven, San people or people related to them may have lived throughout Africa and Southern Europe before the last ice age.

Unlike Europe where erosion from rain has eliminated rock art except in very protected locations, such as deep inside caves, rock art in South Africa has survived on cliff sides, boulders and cave walls. However, dating wall paintings and etchings is not easy. You can date the rocks or the materials used for paint, but this only tells you how old those materials are, not when the painting was done. Sometimes, however, ancient camp sites built under the protection of a cliff face, and long since buried under the ground, can hold a valuable clue. In Namibia, one ancient camp site has been found dated to be 29,000 years old, and in the camp site were found flakes of paint that had fallen off a nearby wall painting. That means the painting had to be at least 29,000 years, which means the people of South Africa, likely the ancestors of the San people who still live in the area, were making art at the same time as the cave painters of Europe.

What are all these paintings for? No one knows for sure, but recent theories say the pictures show ceremonies or rituals held by shamans. The zig zag lines or dots that are common may represent the passage of the shaman into a dream or trance state, while the animal drawings represent the animal spirits the shaman is contacting.

An important archaeological site is near Lake Nakuru in Gamble's Cave. Evidence has been found here of people who lived from the resources they took from the area's rivers and lakes. Similar river cultures were also located along the Nile, Niger and Congo rivers. Harpoons for spearing fish were made at least by 8000 BC, and advanced boat-building and fishing techniques were used.

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