Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

Prehistory and Early Cultures

Thousands of rock engravings and paintings found at hundreds of
sites across the continent constitute the earliest known African art.
Some painted animals (FIG. 1-3) from the Apollo 11 Cave in south-
western Africa date to perhaps as long ago as 25,000 years, earlier
than all but the oldest Paleolithic art of Europe (see Chapter 1). As
humankind apparently originated in Africa, archaeologists may yet
discover the world’s earliest art there as well.

Rock Art

The greatest concentrations of rock art are in the Sahara Desert to the

north, the Horn of Africa in the east, and the Kalahari Desert to the

south, as well as in caves and on rock outcroppings in southern Africa.

Accurately naturalistic renderings as well as stylized images on rock

surfaces show animals and humans in many different positions and ac-

tivities, singly or in groups, stationary or in motion. Most of these

works date to within the past 4,000 to 6,000 years, but some may have

been created as early as 8000 BCE. They provide a rich record of the en-

vironment, human activities, and animal species in prehistoric times.

TASSILI N’AJJER A 7,000-year-old painting (FIG. 15-2) from

Tassili n’Ajjer in southeastern Algeria in the central Sahara (at that

time a verdant savanna) is one of the earliest and finest surviving ex-

amples of rock art. The painter depicted a running woman with con-

vincing animation and significant detail. The dotted marks on her

shoulders, legs, and torso probably indicate that she is wearing body

paint applied for a ritual. Her face, however, is featureless, a common

trait in the earliest art (see Chapter 1).The white parallel patterns at-

tached to her arms and waist appear to represent flowing raffia dec-

orations and a raffia skirt. Horns—shown in the twisted perspective,

or composite view, typical of prehistoric art (see Chapter 1)—are also

part of her ceremonial attire. Notably, the artist painted this detailed

image over a field of much smaller painted human beings, an indica-

tion of why it is often so difficult to date and interpret art on rock

surfaces, as subsequent superimpositions are frequent. Nonetheless,

scholars have been able to establish a rough chronology for African

rock art, an art form that continues to this day.

394 Chapter 15 AFRICA BEFORE 1800

MAP15-1African peoples and sites before 1800.

Djenne

Rafin Kura

Tada

Tassili n’Ajjer

Ife

Benin City

Igbo Ukwu

Apollo 11 Cave

Great Zimbabwe

Makapansgat

Lydenburg

Lalibela

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

INDIAN

OCEAN

INDIAN

OCEAN

Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea

Red SeaRed Sea

Lake

Chad

Lake

Victoria

Lake

Tanganyika

Lake

Malawi

(Lake Nyasa)

Nil

e (^) R
.
Blu
e (^) N
ile
Wh
ite
N
lei
Congo^
Nig
er
Horn of
Africa
CameroonGrasslands
InlandDelta
Kalahari
Desert
Sahara^ Desert^
MAURITANIA
WESTERN
SAHARA
MOROCCO
ALGERIA
MALI
BURKINA
FASO
NIGER
CHAD
NIGERIA
CENTRAL
AFRICAN REP.
GABON DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC
OF THE
CONGO
RWANDA
BURUNDI
TANZANIA
UGANDA
KENYA
MALAWI
ZIMBABWE
ZAMBIA
MADAGASCAR
MAURITIUS
ANGOLA
NAMIBIA
BOTSWANA
SWAZILAND
SOUTH LESOTHO
AFRICA
COMOROS
SAO TOME
& PRINCIPE
EQUATORIAL
GUINEA
CÔTE
D’IVOIRE
LIBERIA
SIERRA
LEONE
GUINEA
GAMBIA
SENEGAL
GUINEA-
BISSAU
CAPE
VERDE
GHANATOGO
BENIN
TUNISIA
LIBYA EGYPT
SUDAN
ERITREA
ETHIOPIA
DJBOUTI
SOMALIA
M
OZ
AM
BI
QU
E^
CA
ME
RO
ON
CO
NG
O^
SAPI
BENIN
SHONA
YORUB NOK
0 500 1000 miles
0 500 1000 kilometers
Modern nations are noted in brown type.
Ancient and modern peoples and sites
are in black type.