In the Footsteps of the Ancestors: The Matsieng Creation Site in Botswana

South African Archaeological Society

In the Footsteps of the Ancestors: The Matsieng Creation Site in BotswanaAuthor(s): Nick WalkerSource: The South African Archaeological Bulletin, Vol. 52, No. 166 (Dec., 1997), pp. 95-104Published by: South African Archaeological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3889074 .

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South African Archaeological Bulletin 52: 95-104, 1997 95

IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE ANCESTORS: THE MATSIENG CREATION SITE IN BOTSWANA*

NICK WALKER National Museum & Art Gallery of Botswana P/Bag 114 Gaborone Botswana

ABSTRACT

Most rock art research in southern Africa has focussed on paintings, although more attention has been given of late to naturalistic and abstract petroglyphs. One category of petroglyph which has, however, been largely ignored is the footprint. This paper describes the famous Matsieng site and compares it with other footprint petroglyph sites in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Although there are no records as to the meaning and use of these symbols by Bushmen, it is suggested that there is some evidence to link them at least originally with Bushman religious practices and possibly with possessing animals for magic purposes. It seems that such sites in Botswana were incorporated into Tswana mythology and, in the case of Matsieng, this became (or continued to be) an important rainmaking place. Quite possibly, maintenance and revamping of the footprint images at Matsieng contributed to the unique character of these designs.

*Received July 1996, revised December 1996

"According to native tradition, Marimo as well as man, with all the different species of animals, came out of a cave or hole in the Bakone country ... where these footprints are still to be seen in the ... rock, which was at that time sand" (Moffat 1842:262-263).

Introduction Tradition tells us that Matsieng, the first Motswana,

emerged from a hole in the ground and this place is often named after him (Chapman 1863:44; Wilman 1918, 1933; Brown 1926:162; Willoughby 1932). There are several places where Matsieng is believed to have climbed out from the earth, but the most significant is that in Kgatleng district (24.20.52S 26.05.48.E). The site lies just north of the Bakgatla capital, Mochudi, north-east of Gaborone (Fig. 1).

Matsieng is on the south-eastern hardveld of Botswana (Wilman 1919, 1933; Molyneux 1920). Here, the outcropping rock is sandstone belonging to the Waterberg series which dates from mid-Cambrian times (Geological Map of Botswana 1973). Rivers draining eastward into the Limpopo valley have removed any Tertiary or Recent Kalahari Beds, exposing the older underlying rocks.

Southern Botswana is a semi-arid country and palaeoclimatic studies suggest that this has been the case since at least Tertiary times, interspersed perhaps with relatively short phases of more humid or drier climates (Deacon & Lancaster 1988). Drought is a perennial problem today.

Archaeological research in south-east Botswana is relatively new. At present, little evidence of human

habitation is known in this area and the adjacent North- West Province of South Africa from at least 20 000 until about 4500 BP (Walker 1995a). Climatic factors apparently rendered the region peripheral to sustained human occupation for much of this time (cf Deacon 1984). Even after 4500 BP, Later Stone Age (LSA) hunter- gatherer settlements are sparse and most such excavated sites appear to date to the last two millennia (see Mason 1962; Robbins 1985, 1986; Walker 1994). This is significant, for research suggests that the first farmers entered the subcontinent approximately two thousand years ago. Recent work has identified an apparent continuum of agropastoralist sites dating from the sixth or seventh century AD within 60 km of Matsieng (Denbow 1981, 1986; Segobye 1987; Campbell et al. 1991).

20 22 24 26 28

\STRIP X _ZAM BIA C TRIP..,.,8

20 X i ! x ''- - \. Z I M BZIMBABWE 20 AUN i ^' f t__L1,96v i._20

e ,X SFRANCISTOWN. *

z *GHANZI --

2

2 2 l--_2t.

*SEROWE

24 Ma elgd 24

t2 t ~~~~~~~~~GABORONE._ 2

26 - 26 | / Jo S O U T H A F R I C A

20 22 24 26 28 Notionot Museum and Art Gallery

Fig. 1. Map of Botswana showing location of Matsieng.

The implications of the increase in LSA sites within the last two thousand years are that forager populations in marginal subsistence areas such as this and the Shashe and middle Limpopo valleys (Walker unpubl.) grew, not only because of displacement from better agricultural areas, but perhaps through the improved subsistence security provided by trade and symbiotic relationships with farmers. Farmers offered foragers access to milk, livestock and domestic cereals, which provided them with a reliable protein and carbohydrate supply. In addition, dogs and metal improved hunting success, while pottery allowed more efficient cooking, all of these items seemingly introduced at about the same time (Walker unpubl., 1995a). In return, in addition to supplying natural products, hunter-gatherers probably contributed to the well-being of farmers through ritual, for example rain- making, which may have included rock art production (cf Hall 1994).

Although this remains to be tested, forager sites are likely to have become more visible because of greater sedentism as people became tied into a farming economy. Bushmen tend to concentrate near cattleposts today,



96 South African Archaeological Bulletin

because of the availability of food and water, or employment opportunities as herders, or to visit relatives, coupled with the decline in natural resources. Evidence for similar interaction in the past shows up in the form of Iron Age potsherds at transitory Later Stone Age/forager camp sites (Robbins 1985, 1986; Walker 1994) and typical Later Stone Age lithics at semi-permanent, early Iron Age/farmer villages (Denbow 1986; Campbell et al. 1991; Walker 1994, in prep. a). There is, however, no evidence that the southern Botswana Bushmen were ever autonomous pastoralists, unlike some northern click- speaking Bushmen along the Botletle river and Lake Makgadigadi area (cf Denbow 1986).

The precise nature and extent of this initial interaction with agropastoralists remains obscure. In south-east Botswana, however, at least by the 19th century, LSA descendants (or Basarwa as Bushmen or San are commonly called in the area) occupied a subservient role and had lost much of their culture. [Although several authors have adopted the word 'San' for foragers descended from Later Stone Age people in southern Africa, the word 'Bushman' seems to have less genetic or linguistic ambiguity and so is preferred here.] Reports by 19th century travellers indicate their low, client status (e.g., Chapman 1863). The /Hua or Tshasi Bushmen can still be found in the more remote parts of Kgatleng and Kweneng Districts and, as they also live in North-West Province in South Africa (Vierich 1981), quite likely they have lived in this region for millennia and further research into their beliefs and traditions is warranted. Regrettably, these relict populations have hardly been seriously researched, apart from a few short socio-political reports (e.g., Caye & Koitsiwe 1976), but studies further west (Vierich 1981; Solway & Lee 1990; Kent 1992) indicate the type of integrated economy practised by the less-subservient Kua Bushmen and their Bantu-speaking neighbours.

Documentary and oral history can supply names and more precise details of events during the last century or so. We know that the Bakgatla moved into the region only recently, setting up their capital at Mochudi in 1871, in response to pressures from the Boers in the Transvaal. In the process they displaced the Bakwena, who had initially given them sanctuary, further westward (e.g., Sillery 1952).

The site

Matsieng is a flat outcrop of coarse sandstone extending over an area of about 100 by 80 metres, partly protected from the prevailing easterly winds by a low, rocky ridge. The rock pavement is by no means level and includes two deep holes and several shallower basins. It is not clear how these cavities formed, but they are certainly natural and may have been volcanic vents. More probably, they were originally inclusions of less-bonded material, or have formed through spheroidal exfoliation along fractures and eroded more rapidly than the rest of the rock, perhaps assisted by rainwater and dissolved organic matter. The two large holes retain rainwater for several months of the year, depending upon rainfall intensity and timing, and local people still collect water here for domestic use.

The north-eastern hole is about three metres deep and two metres wide, but irregular in shape (Fig. 2). It fills up with rain water more quickly than the larger south-western cavity and, being well-like, retains water longer, losing less to evaporation. It is around this cavity, hereafter referred to as the main hole, that most of the petroglyphs are found, especially on the western side (Figs 2 & 3; Table 1). [Some authors prefer to use the term 'rock

engravings' to describe all chipped or cut rock art, but the word 'petroglyph' is retained here and used in the generic sense as it includes peckings, rubbings, etc. as well as incised or engraved designs.]

Deep hole

Q Rock

Soil heap / floor Blood Stone p Petroglyphs

Grinding area )

Groove

III

0~~~ *--0 a ~ bm fo

a b > e X d o ? ?

Fig. 2. Plan of Matsieng. The upper deep hole is the main hole in the text.

A B C D E F G

1 M

I-

0

4

deep hole in Fig.,2.



South African Archaeological Bulletin 97

Table 1. Counts of petroglyphs in the main cluster at Matsieng.

Human footprints 29 Ovals (toeless prints?) 8 Ovals with spikes at one end 4 Feline footprints 28 Intermediate tracks 5 Dot rows (toes?) 12 Dot clusters 15 Meandering lines 2 Indeterminate tracks/circles 8 Other designs 6 Total 117

Cattle and small stock were watered at Matsieng, and the petroglyphs suffered accordingly, until the site was recently fenced. Herders simply drew water with buckets and poured it into shallow depressions in the rock, and many of the petroglyphs are now damaged or faint from repeated trampling of hooves.

The main hole has a sandy deposit which has not been excavated. Excavation is, however, unlikely to prove instructive as the hole apparently has been regularly cleaned out (see below). An examination of the area within 100 metres of it has yielded little cultural material. Some LSA artefacts have been collected from the site some time ago (and are now housed in the National Collections) and a few were noted during this survey (see Fig. 2). The only associated artificial features are a low stone wall to the south of the main hole, about 0,4 m high, 15 m long and 1,5 m wide, with a possible gravel platform on its south side, and the remains of a hut circle to the north-east (Fig. 2). The latter has late 19th century rubbish, such as corroded tin and weathered glass bottle fragments. An interesting feature nine metres north of the main hole is a stone slab with a dark red, glossy surface, with the appearance of recently solidified liquid, an example of case-hardening or silica skin-formation. To the south of the main hole is a crude, east-facing semi-circle of large stones. To the west of the south-west hole, there is a soil heap, possibly of material removed from it, judging by the ferricrele it contains. In this area there are also several grinding patches and a few canoe-shaped sharpening grooves (Fig. 2).

The first serious study of the site was in 1918 by Wilman, who took rubbings of some of the petroglyphs (Wilman 1918). Most petroglyphs are pecked outline human footprints and fully pecked feline pugmarks (Figs 4-13; Table 1). One of the smallest human foot marks is also fully pecked and one possible feline pugmark is a pecked outline (Fig. 5; it may be an intermediate type - see below). Other pecked designs include small cup- shaped hollows or dots frequently in rows or patterns, meandering or straight lines often ending in a dot (Fig. 11) and more abstract or badly weathered line and dot designs or symbols (Fig. 12), some of which may be incomplete or eroded footprints. Pecked ovals and rectangles, including a few with 'spikes' (toes?) at one end, probably also represent human footprints (Figs 8 & 10).

The human footprints tend to be U-shaped (occasionally V-shaped), usually with well-defined toes represented by dots or dashes at the open end of the U. Some seem to have the heels or balls of the feet emphasised (Figs 7 & 9). Alternatively, perhaps the images have been lengthened, with these fainter lines being the original outlines, if they do not have other meaning. Most human footprints are between 120 and 290 mm long, with one giant-sized exception of 340 mm. There seems to be a cluster between 130 and 180 mm (12 footprints) and another between 250 and 290 mm (10 prints). Wilman (1918:531) refers to a natural 300 mm 'footprint' but I could not locate it.

4'~~~~~~~~1

A; I. LX -t is i~~~N- lI';H

A ; g3 '-i7 ' 8'--i [ ~~~~~~ /'~~~~~~~~~~~~V .44

Fig. 4. Copy of footprints at Matsieng (arrow = grid north, scale 50 mm).

P i *\ \ 4 *4 -e;~?' *

grid noth scl = 0m)

4 .

A',i

- ZA*, --,

Fig. 6 Copy of footprints n ie at Matsieng (arrow gi gorid, north scal 50mm)



98 South African Archaeological Bulletin

Fig. 7. Copy of footprints at Matsieng (arrow = grid north, scale - 50 mm).

- - ;, ..e ..i , , S:~~~~/

, . t K-Ks *I.. . .._

'J K .~ ....

Fig. 8. Copy of footprints at Matsieng (arrow grid north, scale = 50 mm).

A.

Ant~~- Jo : . 'w'.--- .:.

Fig. 9. Copy of footprints at Matsieng (arrow = grid north, scale = 50 mm).

gi nr scale = m

1 I

.,~~~~~~~,e Jid

Fig. 1 C y sil d

Ar~~~~r

Fig. 12. Copy of anml-lie design adfopit at Matsieng (ro (arw=grid north, scale = 50 mm).

9 /d-

4~~~~~




i~~~l.~.

i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:

I 4I

S <

Fig. 13. Copies of footprints at Matsieng (arrow grid north, scale = 50 mm).

The numbers of toes per footprint vary and are difficult to count because of the stylised designs, faintness or proximity of other dots and symbols. Many of the toes in a foot are joined by lines and it is uncertain whether the ends of the U-shapes constitute toes. Most feet seem, however, to be four- or five-toed (Fig. 14). A few are three-toed and at least one is six-toed.

14 N Human

12 0 Feline

cn 10 | l l 30 Intermediate C 10

0L

0

0

.0

E

2P n

0 3 4 5 6 or more

number of toes Fig. 14. Histogram of toe frequencies in the main

petroglyph cluster at Matsieng.

Similarly, the pecked animal spoor (footmarks) vary, although the toes are more distinct than on many human footprints. Most have four toes, but a few are three-toed, and several are five- or six-toed (Figs 4 & 9); one is possibly even eight-toed. The tracks might include those of carnivores other than felines but, even allowing for the stylised designs, claw marks would likely have been included if it had been important to distinguish non-felines from felines. Baboons, monkeys, otters, honey badgers and zorillas have five toes, but the shape of the foot is usually more rectangular than those depicted here and so these animals are considered not to be represented.

The pug marks range between 50 and 140 mm in length, but most are less than 110 mm. Five tracks (from 90 to 140 mm long) appear to be intermediate between felines and humans (Fig. 13). Quite possibly, some of the dot motifs and cup or circle designs are incomplete pugs: one arc of toes, in fact, incorporates a natural light colouration in the rock.

A few pecked designs may represent footprints of other animals - bird (Fig. 8?), elephant, baboon (Fig. 7?), buffalo/cow, rhino (Figs 8 & 10?) and hippo (Fig. 6) have been suggested (Wilman 1918) (see also Fig. 1 1). Two undulating line patterns (Fig. 11) have been described as snakes emerging from holes (Wilman 1918), but most of these identifications are not convincing and certainly such images were not an important element. Some of the meandering line-motifs may be palimpsests of several feet (Fig. 12), but the peckings have all weathered to the same degree and it is impossible to recognise any chronological development in the designs. A few pugmarks seem to be linked by lines to human footprints (Fig. 9). Two line- motifs recall animal forms in profile (e.g., Fig. 10), but are probably simply line and dot motifs. Lines and dots are thus often autonomous elements in the designs, or complement the footprints.

Few footprints are orientated according to the hole, but of those that are, most face it (11 to 5). The majority face in a south-westerly to south-easterly direction (81 % of human footprints face between 550 and 1650 [relative to north] or between 2100 and 2800; 86% of felines face between 1000 and 2600), but any significance of this orientation pattern is unclear. Similarly, the clustering on the western side of the hole probably had meaning. There are no footprint trails (i.e. sequences of tracks) but there is a suggestion that many symbols were deliberately juxtaposed, quite frequently cat with human. Some are also superimposed or enclosed by others (Fig. 9). It is, however, difficult to deduce relationships, especially in the crowded main concentration, and other combinations and single motifs certainly occur. A couple of human footprints can be identified as left or right where the toes are angled relative to the soles; they are seldom paired. A few track petroglyphs occur, mainly to the west of the second, larger hole (Fig. 2), but these are fainter. They do not appear different from the main cluster.

To summarise, the distinctive features of the site are, first, the basic dot and line design element, second, the predominance of human and feline foot tracks (the latter including adult lions, if to scale, but possibly also cubs and leopards), third, the lack of consistency in toe numbers (both humans and cats usually have between three and six toes), and fourth, some footprints are intermediate between human and feline.

Beliefs and practices relating to the site Several early missionaries and travellers mention

creation sites with footprints in the broad southern Kalahari region; the earliest was Wikar (1779), followed



100 South African Archaeological Bulletin 52: 14-20, 1997

by Campbell (1822:192), Moffat (1842) Chapman (1863) and Anderson (1888:159). We cannot be certain that they were referring to this particular site, although Moffat probably was as he described it as being in the land of the 'Bakone' (Bakwena), which at that time extended eastwards from the present location to the Limpopo. Other such sites occur near Mambo (north-west of Francistown), Serowe, Molepolole and Kanye in Botswana (Walker in prep. b) [the latter two towns are west and south-west of Gaborone respectively; see Fig. 1]. Others are reported in Namaqualand (Andersson 1856) and in the Northern Cape Province in South Africa (Wikar 1779). Matsieng, however, is apparently the most impressive and famous today.

All sources quote a broadly consistent legend about Matsieng (Moffat 1842; Chapman 1863; Dornan 1917; Wilman 1918; Brown 1926). Like many ancestral figures, Matsieng was a giant of his time. He led his people from the darkness of the earth, followed by the animals. Another version has the animals emerging first, followed by Bushmen and finally the Batswana (Wilman 1918:532). Still further versions describe how Matsieng's footprints were discovered and backtracked by women. All this happened long ago when the sand was still soft and thus, when the soil subsequently dried and hardened, the footprints were preserved. Some traditions refer to Matsieng as a one-legged man, a great hunter. One can see links with other legends, for example, those pertaining to Mwari in the Matopos, who is also linked to caves and a natural, foot-like depression in the rocks (Walker 1995b:69).

One tradition incorporates the legend of how whites and blacks came to have different material culture (Wilman 1918, quoting J. Knobel; see also Wilman 1919:445 quoting a variant of this in an article in the Christian Express). In the latter instance, both whites and blacks came out of the ground and were told to wait as God had an important message for them. Matsieng was hungry and disobeyed the order. He took the blacks to scavenge a wildebeest kill, only to find on their return that God had imparted knowledge to the whites. I was told by an informant that the rock with the red, resin-like crust just to the north of the main hole is the place where the animal was butchered.

These myths thus neatly account for both the origins of the Tswana people and the existence of the footprints. They fail to explain the rough, pecked texture, crudity and outline form of many of the prints, the predominance of carnivores and lack of domestic stock, why some footprints are six-toed and others four- or even three-toed, why relatively few point away from the hole, the parallels in toe frequency between felines and humans, and the more enigmatic designs. Nor can they explain the multiplicity of creation sites. Some 'footprints' are found, however, at sites which lack human tracks (e.g., Lowe, north of Molepolole) or are natural shapes formed by differential weathering of inclusions or veins (e.g., Mambo).

Interestingly, some local people today interpret the designs as solar bodies (as told to Alex Matseka pers. comm.) and it seems that the old Tswana tradition is dying out. These people have moved here recently.

There are few records of how people used Matsieng in the past. The most important account is of its use in rain- making in the late 19th century (Schapera 1971:14-15). The Bakgatla elders accompanied the rain-maker and chief to the hole in September before the commencement of the rainy season, sacrificed a black ox and sang the rain songs. The hut floor and the wall may relate to these times, but

without further research it is unclear how these features were used. We know that the rain-kraal, where the rain- medicines were kept, was often away from the towns (Schapera 1971:68). It remains uncertain, also, whether this use as a rain-making venue was taken over from the Bakwena or was relocated here when the Bakgatla immigrated from South Africa. Rain-making shrines in Botswana are often at archaeological sites (e.g., zimbabwe-type ruins or painted rock shelters) or places with curious natural features, which are regarded as maholoholo (places of the spirits, not necessarily ancestors; see also Ouzman 1995a).

Today, this traditional practice of rain-making has died out, although in September 1989 a small animal was butchered next to the main hole, the blood covering many of the tracks; this of course need not have been a sacrifice. Local people deny that any ceremony is carried out here. They say, however, that every year they clean rubbish out of the hole, for otherwise it will not rain (Neo Mochudi, Ralenateng Matale pers. comm.). Considering that this also improves the palatability of the water, it seems a practical exercise, but is possibly a relic of a traditional custom. Attempts to find out when the last rain-making ceremonies were carried out at Matsieng have not been successful.

Discussion Petroglyphs of footprints have an interesting

distribution as they tend to occur around the edge of the Kalahari (see Rudner & Rudner 1970). The most northerly site is in central Angola, where local inhabitants believe that the footprints were left by a powerful queen (Livingstone 1857). Some pecked footprints in southern Angola are attributed to God (Rudner 1976). The Creation-Hole story thus seems to be unique to the interior of southern Africa and the occurrence of footprint petroglyphs outside the ancestral Tswana area (i.e. North- West Province of South Africa and adjacent parts) in the Karoo, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Angola implies a more ancient origin (Kearney 1907; Wilman 1933; Summers 1940; Schoonraad 1960; Rudner & Rudner 1968, 1970; Scherz 1970, 1975; Litherland et al. 1975; Rudner 1976; Fock 1979; Willcox 1984; Morris pers. comm.; Kinahan pers. comm.). Some of the southern regions are seemingly beyond the prehistoric penetration of Bantu-speaking farmers and the common factor is that most occur in areas where Bushmen or Stone Age foragers live or lived until fairly recently. Allowing for several generations to have passed since earlier beliefs were lost and for the Matsieng tradition to have become acceptable in Tswana tribal lore, we can presume that the petroglyphs existed before the movement of the Bakwena into the region some 400 years ago and perhaps predate the even earlier splitting of the main Tswana tribes, to explain its occurrence among all Tswana groups (Tlou & Campbell 1984). There are in fact similar creation beliefs among the Khoe and Bushman people (Wikar 1779; Palgrave in Stow 1905). Although Wilman (1918) suspects that these were adopted from Bantu speakers, it is possible that the tradition originated in hunter-gatherer religious practices.

No footprint petroglyph site has been dated. Allowing for the similarity of some wild and domestic animal spoor, livestock or dogs are not definitely present and, as with the rock paintings, the peckings appear to be the work of hunter-gatherers. Elsewhere, it has been possible to date or estimate the age of certain petroglyphs and these indicate an antiquity going back at least to the early Holocene (Butzer et al. 1979; Thackeray et al. 1981; Morris 1988; Morris & Beaumont 1994; Whitley &




Annegarn 1994). These studies do not consider footprint sites, which constitute a neglected category of rock art. Footprint petroglyphs in north-west and southern Zimbabwe are in rock shelters with Later Stone Age assemblages, often with potsherds (Summers 1940, unpublished data). The Later Stone Age of the Lowveld of Zimbabwe and adjacent Botswana and South Africa seems to date only to the last 2000 years (Walker 1995a) and at one site, in south-eastern Zimbabwe, the footprints are later than rock paintings, as they have been carved (i.e. superimposed) on them (Walker 1987). Coupled with the fact that many of the footprint petroglyphs are on soft and crumbling sandstone, it seems likely that surviving examples are relatively recent; their ages measured perhaps in centuries rather than millennia.

There are two main types of footprint petroglyph sites in Botswana, namely those dominated by wild animals, especially herbivores (e.g., Wilman 1919; Walker in prep. b) (Table 2), and the so far unique type described here where human and carnivore tracks are prominent (Fig. 15). In the herbivore-dominated sites, human footprints tend to be fully pecked, emphasising the differences. The herbivore-dominated group is fairly numerous in Namibia (Scherz 1975) and Zimbabwe, with game species represented in frequencies similar to those in rock painting sites (Table 3); perhaps similar beliefs were being

* Human footprints

0 Feline footprints

o Herbivore footprints

100 30 Stellate motifs

. Oval-grid motifs 90 U

Other designs 80

70

60

c, 50

U 40

CL30

20

10 0

Mamuno Matsieng Lowe Masowe Deteema Bumbuzi 1

Fig. 15. Histogram of petroglyphs at sites in Botswana (Mamuno, Matsieng, Lowe and Masowe) and Zimbabwe (Deteema and Bumbuzi). 'Herbivores' at Bumbuzi 1 include ostrich and baboon. Data from Walker (unpublished).

Table 2. Counts of spoor petroglyphs at sites in north- western Zimbabwe. Asterisks indicate that a motif is present.

Deteema Bumbuzi I Bumbuzi 3 Bumbuzi S Sunga

Lion 13 2 Other feline 11 7 4 Elephant I Giraffe 4 4 2 Zebra 7 30 55 I Buffalo 6 6 2 Eland 1 4 Sable 1 3 1 Kudu 9 7 Waterbuck I I Bushbuck I Impala 7 5 2 Duiker 5 I Steenback 2 Smnall antelope 69 202 4 Large antelope 45 16 28 Warthog I 1 Baboon 2 1 Human 18 2 Ostrich 2 Bird 7 Crocodile1 Dots Circles

Total 1 35 342 11 86 32

Table 3. Counts of petroglyphs in Botswana.

Mamuno Lowe Masowe Matsieng

Footprints Human 9 29 Feline 1 4 2 28 Giraffe 2 Zebra Buffalo 1 2 Eland 3 Gemsbok I I Kudu I Hartebeest I Intermediate 5

Other Ovals (including spikes) 12 Dot rows/clusters 6 27 Stellate motifs 13 Oval-grid motifs 12 Other desigm 6 8 Faint/incomplete 17 8

Total 64 10 10 117

expressed, albeit in a different manner. The Namibian group (Scherz 1970, 1975), including the few in western Botswana (Litherland et al. 1975) and indeed the sites in the Northern Cape Province (Fock 1979; Fock & Fock 1984, 1989) and adjacent parts tend to have many geometric designs, with animal profiles present. The latter are very rare in Botswana and Zimbabwe (Walker in prep. b).

Rock paintings of animals and humans are almost invariably profiles (or occasionally handprints) and are almost always on near-vertical faces, while footprints (and petroglyphs in general) are usually on pavement or horizontal rocks. Quite possibly, the visual factor of tracks in the sand and upright, living animal profiles influenced the evolution of the two art traditions. (Of course, many animal-profile petroglyphs are on flat rocks in South Africa and Namibia, while several of the Zimbabwean spoor are on vertical shelter walls, but we are concerned here with origins of symbolic uses, not their acceptance and spread.) Hunters are master trackers and so footprints carry a great deal of information: about the presence of meat, danger (or lion kills and therefore meat to be scavenged) and the movement of strangers or kin, often long before they are encountered. It is thus possible that tracks acquired symbolic value in flat or sandveld areas and that this art form spread out from the Kalahari. It is worth noting, further, that it is easier both to orientate and view pictures on vertical faces than on horizontal surfaces and this may have influenced the development of the respective core-symbols and syntaxes (for example, inverted animal paintings are considered to represent dead creatures, something which is not possible to do on pavement sites without introducing further conventions).

Wilman (1933), following Stow (1905), has suggested that pecked footprints are title deeds to waterholes as they frequently occur near them (see also Hahn [referred to as Halmi and Peringuey quoted in Molyneux 1920). Certainly those in Botswana are near natural pools in the hard rock, generally in arid parts where some form of territorial rights to water might be expected. Those in Zimbabwe, on the other hand, tend to be in rock shelters, often a few kilometres from water. In the Northern Cape, pecked footprints along the Orange River are near water, but this is not true of all examples in the Vryburg district (Dave Morris, pers. comm.). There are numerous waterholes in rocky terrain without petroglyphs nearby and it is unlikely that this is entirely the result of loss through weathering. Many 19th century travellers vouched that Bushmen hunter-gatherers liked to keep their waterholes secret. Vtedder's (1938) suggestion that the footprints pointed to water is unlikely, as there is little orientation towards the waterholes and the prints are, in fact, often right at them. Another suggestion, that they



102 South Africa/l Archaeological Bulletin

were used to train young hunters in recognising game, also seems unsatisfactory, as human footprints are present (Willcox 1984) and many prints are duplications of a few species, some of them crude and not identifiable beyond broad categories.

An important feature is the recurrence of six-toed human prints in the broad footprint petroglyph belt (see Rudner & Rudner 1970; Walker, unpubl. notes), but there are no traditions as to what this might mean. The correlation between numbers of toes of felines and humans is a further striking feature of the art. We may recall the five-clawed 'lion' in the famous so-called 'lion-hunt' in the Matopos, in which the therianthropic feline shows shamanistic attributes of bleeding from the nose and hair standing on end, casting doubt on the scene as a depiction of a literal hunt (Walker 1996). It is worth noting the symbolic link between Bushman shamans during trance and lions, with shamans often adopting lion bodies for out-of-body travel (Alexander 1838; Bleek 1935; Katz 1982; Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1989:132), and perhaps this footprint imagery is also related to trance ritual and shamanism. The loss or gain of toes may relate to sensations experienced during trance - shamans often describe the feeling of seemingly growing extra limbs (Lewis-Williams 1988). There are also references to some shamans healing with their feet in trance states (Katz 1982), so feet may have been symbolically associated with potency. Again the dots and zigzag lines recall entoptics seen during trance (Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1989); lines in rock paintings may represent out-of-body trails of shamans or the means of transmission of supernatural energy (Woodhouse 1975; Lewis-Williams 1981b; Walker 1996). Even the possible conflated-foot symbols and intermediate feline-human footprints may be trance- inspired (cf Lewis-Williams 1981 a), representing stages in perceived body alteration from man to lion. This hypothesis - can also explain juxtapositioning and superpositioning of prints, where symbolic values are being adjusted and possibly symbolic energy transferred (Lewis-Williams 1981a).

We can speculate that the presence of footprints near underground chambers (especially at waterholes) related to beliefs about Bushman shamans travelling underground, or feeling as if they are underwater when trancing. Potgieter's (1955:30) observation that novice shamans jumped into deep waterholes during their training may be pertinent, while there are other references to shamans entering waterholes (e.g., in Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1989:54-55). Perhaps the tracks helped with the trance- metamorphosis of dancing shamans, much as the paintings may have done (Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1989), and were equally repositories of supernatural potency, similar to the circular troughs that form in the sand through dancing (Lewis-Williams 1981). By dancing in the supernatural 'footsteps', magic energy might have been absorbed by the trancing shamans, assisting them to metamorphose into lions. We may even speculate that the prints were inspired by the 'magic' wet footprints of shamans returning from the waterpit.

Expanding upon a suggestion by Ouzman (1995b: 13- 14) that shamans may have 'travelled' underwater along rivers, it is possible that the hole was an entrance to underground tunnels that reached to the spirit world or camps of kin at distant waterholes. Of course, the waterhole itself also suggests rain-making practices and it is possible that shaman-lions were involved in rain- making. Certainly a ritual model offers a better explanation than the more pragmatic uses suggested previously. Wood (1893:83) in fact describes people

worshipping at a spoor petroglyph site in north-west Zimbabwe.

Waterholes are places where Bushmen aggregated and these were times of increased ritual. It is therefore not surprising that art should be relatively common here. Deacon (1988) and Ouzman (1995a) have noted the importance of place and these may have been spiritually good locations for religious activities. What is curious, however, is the uniqueness of Matsieng; perhaps it represented a central ritual place for several local bands.

No Bushmen have yet been found who claim that they or their ancestors chipped out the tracks or indeed know what their meaning was, but the few LSA tools and the interpretative value of the trance model suggest that the site began as a hunter-gatherer ritual place. From the evidence of the structures, Matsieng was used by Bantu- speaking people, and was incorporated into their beliefs. Several Tswana rain-making customs seem to have been inherited from Bushmen (Schapera 1971; Ouzman 1995a:14) and the identification of the place with rain- making may stem from earlier Bushman practices. Bushmen may thus have been employed as rainmakers by early farmers (cf Hall 1994) and worked magic for them here. Even the emergence of Matsieng from the ground might have been based on ideas of shamans exiting from the spirit world, as learnt from the Bushmen, allowing for distortion through the passage of time. Quite possibly, the petroglyphs were maintained by more recent rainmakers beseeching the ancestors for rain and this may have contributed to their unique character.

It has been suggested that the Matsieng myths provided Tswana legitimacy of ownership of the land by right of descent from the first inhabitant (Tlou & Campbell 1984). Ouzman (1995a) suggests a similar appropriation of a petroglyph site in South Africa by recently-arrived people. The footprints of the forgotten practitioners of magic thus seem to have become the legacy of the ancestors through the distorting mists of time; we as archaeologists are left to try to follow the fading traces back to their origins.

Acknowledgements I am grateful to all the people cited for making their

knowledge available to me and to Chief Lentswe and Sandy Grant for initial encouragement to do the research. Personnel of the Wildlife Services of Zimbabwe assisted in the counts of spoor petroglyphs presented in Table 2. I particularly wish to commemorate Alex Matseka's help and the many happy expeditions we made together before his tragic death. Greek Phaladi, John Parkington and Sven Ouzman kindly commented on the paper. Thanks to Dave Morris and John Kinahan for providing me with information in their areas and to Peter Mitchell for help with identifying species in some of the Zimbabwe sites. Thanks are due to Antonieta Jerardino for re-drawing Figs 2, 14 & 15 for publication.

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Documents

In the Footsteps of the Ancestors: The Matsieng Creation Site in Botswana