i 

 

EXAMINING THE REMAINING ROCK ART AT LINTON, EASTERN 

CAPE, AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LINTON PANEL AT THE 

IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM IN CAPE TOWN  

 

 

Sandee Michelle Oster 

 

 

A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the 

Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of 

Master of Science 

 

 

Johannesburg, 2023



i 

 

DECLARATION 

I declare that this Dissertation is my own, unaided work. It is being submitted for 

the Degree of Master of Science at the University of the Witwatersrand, 

Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any degree or examination at 

any other University. 

_______________________________________ 

(Signature of candidate) 

On the 26th day of March 2023 in Johannesburg  



ii 

 

ABSTRACT 

The Linton panel has been the subject of great awe for many decades. It has been 

displayed in various exhibits worldwide and the subject of multiple research 

publications. However, its history and origin are not nearly as well understood as 

once believed, as a large part of its past has been omitted or forgotten. In this 

dissertation the images of not only the Linton panel are discussed, but those that 

remain in the shelter from whence it came are brought out of obscurity. How the 

panel came to be where it is today and the images’ relationship with the shelter 

and the remaining paintings are examined. Lastly, a forgotten piece of the shelter, 

a second panel, will be examined in greater detail than ever before: how it fell into 

relative obscurity and what its images tell us about the Linton shelter and its 

artists’ beliefs and purposes.  



iii 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

I would like to thank David Pearce for putting up with my constant jokes and 

weird antics this year. The countless drafts he read and edited over and over again 

and the time he spent trying to help me make this research dissertation a reality 

are greatly appreciated. Thanks David! I would like to thank my boyfriend, 

Matthew for his love, support and for pushing me; in doing so I did more than I 

ever could have achieved on my own. My dad, Klaus for his support and help, and 

all the sheets and printer ink he sacrificed so I could read and edit the many 

sources I needed for this dissertation. To the Naude family, especially Donie, for 

showing us the site and answering my many, sometimes rather odd, questions 

about the surrounding area and history. To my uncles and my aunt, Joachim, 

Friedel and Yolanda who constantly showed interest in what I do, enquired about 

my research every step of the way and even did some proof reading. I would like 

to thank my friend, Nithya for reading my lengthy research and giving me 

feedback or fixing mistakes without any complaint. And finally, I would like to 

thank all my friends and family who are too many to name for their love and 

support. This work is based on the research supported in part by the National 

Research Foundation of South Africa (grant number: 136515). 



iv 

 

Contents  

DECLARATION ................................................................................................ i 

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................... ii 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................. iii 

LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................... v 

CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION.............................................................. 1 

1.1 General Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 

CHAPTER TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................. 4 

2.1. Regional Background............................................................................. 4 

2.2. History and Interpretation of the Linton Panel ........................................ 8 

CHAPTER THREE – METHOD AND TECHNIQUE .................................. 12 

3.1. Method........................................................................................................ 12 

3.2. Techniques .................................................................................................. 14 

CHAPTER FOUR – DESCRIPTION OF THE LINTON IMAGES ............. 17 

4.1. Farm Linton Shelter and History ................................................................. 17 

4.2. Rock Art Remaining in the Linton Shelter ................................................... 18 

CHAPTER FIVE – INTERPRETATION OF THE PAINTINGS ................. 34 

5.1. The Trance Dance and Trance Symbolism .................................................. 34 

5.2 Therianthropes and Flying Buck ................................................................... 42 

5.3. Threads of Light .......................................................................................... 51 

5.4. Neuropsychology and Trance ...................................................................... 57 

5.5. The Eland and the San ................................................................................. 58 

5.6. The Panel and Shelter as One ...................................................................... 61 

CHAPTER SIX – THE SISTER PANEL ....................................................... 65 

CHAPTER SEVEN – OBJECT BIOGRAPHY .............................................. 77 

CHAPTER EIGHT – CONCLUSION: ........................................................... 87 

REFERENCES ................................................................................................ 94 

 

  



v 

 

LIST OF FIGURES 

Figure 2.1. Map of Maclear District and location of Linton Shelter……………...4 

Figure 2.2 Tracing of the Linton panel by Dowson (1985)……………………….9 

Figure 2.3. South African Coat of Arms figure (Lewis-Williams 2013a)……….10 

Figure 4.1. Image showing the front of the Linton shelter sceened by shrubbery.18 

Figure 4.2.Therianthrope in a kneeling position, closely followed by an eland…20 

Figure 4.3. Five human figures, two eland & a faded antelope………………… 20 

Figure 4.4. Three figure painted in red and white. From left to right Figure A, B & 

D………….………………………………………………………….23 

Figure 4.5. In the top right corner, a figure is walking away from “Figure D”….24 

Figure 4.6. Three human figures…………………………………………………25 

Figure 4.7. A human crouching forward over a zigzag figure…………………...25 

Figure 4.8. A female polychrome fine-line eland………………………………..27 

Figure 4.9. A running figure with a shoulder bag and a white object in hand…...28 

Figure 4.10. A monochrome antelope & a part of a human figure………………29 

Figure 4.11. A monochrome antelope followed by two human figures…………30 

Figure 4.12. Two male figures…………………………………………………...31 

Figure 4.13. A toddler-like human figure………………………………………..32 

Figure 4.14. A human-like figure with splayed arms……………………………32 

Figure 4.15. Three human figures carrying digging sticks………………………33 

Figure 5.1. A therianthrope crawling on a thread of light……………………….45 

Figure 5.2. A therianthrope and an eland at Bosworth…………………………..47 

Figure 5.3. A flying buck from Snake Shelter (Lee & Woodhouse 1968)………49 

Figure 5.4. A painted recreation of the Klipfontain panel……………………….51 

Figure 6.1. The Sister panel. Courtesey of the Iziko SA Museum……………….67 

Figure 6.2. The Sister panel in situ, taken by Mandy & sent to Péringuey………68 

Figure 7.1. Image showing the eastern removal scar within the Linton shelter, 

including chiselling and drill marks...………………………………..80



1 

 

CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION 

1.1 General Introduction  

Once you enter the Iziko South African Museum in Cape Town and stroll about 

its many displays, you will come across a large rock slab. Upon its surface are 

painted figures of all creeds, humans engaging in an array of activities, eland, fish 

and odd creatures you cannot identify. Upon the little plaque the museum has 

assigned to this rock art, you may learn that its artists were the San people who 

have lived in South Africa for thousands of years. This particular painting you are 

examining was recovered from a rock shelter in the Eastern Cape in 1918 by Mr 

G.S.T. Mandy, courtesy of the farm and shelter owner Mr S. Naude. In brief, the 

plaque mentions that the rock art depicts the shamanic experiences of trance, 

where it came from and explains some of its motifs. Having read this, you may 

leave and never give the panel a second thought, or if you were curious, you may 

do your own research and find that a whole plethora of work has been published 

on the meaning behind the figures in the Linton panel, and the figure that was 

ultimately chosen to form part of South Africa’s Coat of Arms. However, you will 

walk away with only half the story. 

 

This research examines the remaining rock art at the Linton shelter, Eastern Cape, 

and its relationship with the Linton panel at the Iziko South African Museum in 

Cape Town. It also examines a previously unresearched and largely forgotten 

second panel, the Sister panel, which comes from the same shelter as the Linton 

panel. The objective of this dissertation is to complete a comprehensive object 

biography and broaden the interpretation and wider understanding of the Linton 

paintings. 

 

In short, this project aims to record and interpret the art remaining in the Linton 

site and link it to the Linton panel in Iziko Museum. 

 

The Linton panel is one of the most viewed pieces of rock art in South Africa and 

has even been exhibited internationally (Phillips 1996). In 2000 a figure from the 

Linton panel was included in South Africa’s new Coat of Arms (Smith et al. 



2 

 

2000). A detailed interpretation of the art on the Linton panel has been published 

(Lewis-Williams 1988). This dissertation draws heavily on Lewis-Williams’s 

work to interpret the remaining rock art and draw links between the images. This 

dissertation draws heavily on Lewis-Williams’s (e.g., 1988, 1990, 2006, 2010, 

2016) work to interpret the remaining rock art and draw links between the images. 

This dissertation also focuses on the largely unstudied context from which the 

panels came and the remaining imagery at the site. This research remedies this 

lack of broader contextualisation by studying the remaining art in the Linton 

shelter as well as the second slab called the Sister panel. In this way, a more 

complete understanding of this iconic object may be achieved. 

 

This dissertation seeks to find the hidden and lost history of the panel and its 

origin, thus completing its currently spotted object biography. It reconstructs its 

full meaning and purpose by linking its imagery to the depictions still within the 

shelter, thus piecing together the fragments like a puzzle, albeit a puzzle with 

missing pieces. Chapter 2 commences with an overall introduction to the known 

history, interpretations and meaning of the area, the Linton panel paintings and the 

San cosmological belief system. Chapter 2 first touches upon the regional 

background of the panel; from the earliest evidence of hunter-gatherers living in 

the region 22 000–29 000 years ago up until the recent past (Opperman & 

Heydenrych 1990; Opperman 1996). Chapter 2 also looks at the history of the 

panel, from when it was first removed over one-hundred years ago to its 

subsequent travels and the interpretations that have accompanied it since. 

Explanations on the importance of the trance dance and the eland (Tragelaphus 

oryx) within the San communities follow, so as to better understand the meaning 

and purpose of later discoveries within the shelter and how the San possibly 

interacted with the paintings. 

 

Chapter 3 gives an explanation of the  methodology, including object biography, 

mapping the site location with GPS, completing the site record form, giving a 

detailed description of the site, and the removed panel along with the remaining 

art, producing digital photography, measuring the panel scars and speaking with 



3 

 

the owners or custodians to gather information on the shelter’s preservation and 

history. Chapter 4 discusses the research results, including new information 

gained on the panel’s history and the previously unpublished rock shelter; as well 

as a detailed description of the paintings and shelter, including location, 

preservation, style, colour and size. Chapter 5 elaborates on the findings of the 

previous chapter and tries to interpret the imagery, how the images may link back 

to the Linton panel and other insights. Chapter 6 looks at a previously 

unresearched panel from the Linton shelter. 

 

  



4 

 

CHAPTER TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW  

2.1. Regional Background 

The area from which the Linton panel hails has been the home of hunter-gatherers 

from at least 29 000 years ago until the recent past (Fig. 2.1) (Opperman & 

Heydenrych 1990; Opperman 1996). These dates come from archaeological 

excavations, which yielded numerous radiocarbon dates (Opperman & 

Heydenrych 1990). Linton is in the Maclear District  of the Eastern Cape Province 

which is part of a larger region called ‘Nomansland’ by former colonial 

administrators and it contains at least 300 recorded rock art sites (Bonneau et al. 

2017). The northern regions of the Eastern Cape have incredibly well-preserved 

rock art, probably due to their inaccessibility deep in the high mountains and 

inland plateaus (George 2013). 

Figure 2.1 Map of Maclear District and location of Linton Shelter. 

Most of the region’s rock art lacks a firm chronology (Mazel 1993; Bonneau et al. 

2017: 4) however, it also has some of the most accurate dates in the entire African 

continent. To understand the amount of time humans have been living and 

interacting with one another in this particular area a few examples of sites with 

dates are given. Strathalan Cave B was excavated in 1987, which resulted in some 



5 

 

artefacts, floral remains, and faunal food remains being recovered. The 

radiocarbon dates suggest the site was occupied ca. 22 000 years ago (Opperman 

1996). Direct dating of rock paintings was subsequently undertaken a few years 

later by Bonneau et al. (2017), in which paintings from sites in Maclear were 

dated using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating. The 

resulting dates indicate that rock art was produced by hunter-gatherers in the 

region from ca. 2998–2381 cal BP. This information indicates that some of the art 

was likely San authored and probably produced pre-contact between San and 

Bantu-speakers, who were also known to have produced rock art, albeit not in the 

Drakensberg Mountains region (Bonneau et al. 2017). 

However, the information on the last 29 000 years of occupation in the area 

remains hazy (Bonneau et al. 2017). In contrast, the last 500 years are rich in 

historical information on the lives of the San hunter-gatherers. These interactions 

resulted in what is known as contact period art, usually identifiable by motifs such 

as cattle and wagons.  

Much research has been done to understand how these contact periods influenced 

and changed the rock art. This past research may aid in the interpretation of the 

Linton images. In southern Africa, the San have been in contact with other groups, 

such as the Khoekhoe pastoralists, for ca. 2000 years (Sadr 2015). Historical data 

and oral history suggest the San started interacting with Bantu-speakers in the area 

at least 500 years ago (Blundell 2004; George 2013). However, a more significant 

influx of Bantu-speakers, Khoekhoen, Griqua and Europeans into the area 

occurred during the colonial period (Blundell 2004; Mallen 2008). This long-term 

relationship between the Bantu-speakers and the San is evident in, for example, 

the presence of clicks, typical of San languages, in the Nguni languages (Dowson 

1994). Furthermore, cattle had been introduced and integrated into the Khoe-San-

speakers’ cosmological beliefs as early as AD 250–770 (Pinto 2014). In the last 

200 years, San shamans used their cultural experiences to negotiate political 

power by creating rain for the agropastoralists in exchange for crops and cattle 

(Dowson 1994: 334). In rock art, it has been argued that these interactions led to a 

shift in which shamans were painted with larger heads and increasing detail 

compared to the figures surrounding them due to foreign influences relying on 



6 

 

their shamanistic powers and paying them for their services (Dowson 1994). 

Dowson argues that a shaman’s supernatural potency thus increasingly came to 

define their political power. Art was the medium in which shamans could translate 

their powers into the physical realm which made their rituals possible while 

conveying political status messages (Dowson 1994).  

However, an alternative argument (Blundell 2004) proposed the intermixing of 

the San with other groups, such as escaped slaves from the Cape Colony and 

dislocated Khoekhoen groups, who moved into the area in the nineteenth century 

brought about a shift in San rock art. As the roles of ritual healers started to shift 

towards paid-rainmakers certain body parts were highlighted in favour of others in 

the art. Thus, the postcranial body, associated with healing, was slowly replaced 

with more focus on the head and face, representing essential identifying features 

(Blundell 2004).  

Mullen (2018) argues that these figures may in fact be much older than Blundell 

believes, and their size could refer to the amount of spiritual potency they require 

to achieve certain tasks, while their décor is a reference to markers and items used 

by specialists as a means of identification within the spiritual or physical realm. 

It is also possible that some rock art was not exclusively created by the San. 

Bantu-speakers and Khoekhoen groups also may have produced rock art in the 

region. Mallen (2008), Henry (2010) and Blundell (2004, 2021) discuss the 

various rock art traditions found within the area, including San fine-line art and 

possible non-San fine-line art, Type 2 and Type 3 art. Type 2 art is described as 

monochrome or bichrome non-fine line art, usually found adjacent to or in 

entirely separate shelters from San fine-line art. It lacks superpositioning, except 

in one instance, and features predominantly eland-figures with little diversity in 

their postures and perspectives. Type 3 art by contrast can be found superimposed 

over existing San fine-line art and includes depictions of felines, quadrupeds and 

human figures some of whom are dressed in colonial-attire. This art is 

characterised by its finger or rough-brush painted monochrome reddish-pink 

figures (Mallen 2008; Blundell 2021). Research into the art types conclude that 

they were likely painted by small multi-ethnic groups that lived amongst San 



7 

 

groups and may have included a range of ethnicities including Bantu-speakers, 

Cape Colony slave, Khoekhoen, San and people of mixed descent (Mallen 2008; 

Blundell 2021). This is backed-up by a testimony recorded in the 1930s of 

Mapote, a Puthi speaking man, who as a young man lived among a San group 

(How 1962; King et al. 2022). While he was allowed to engage in painting, he 

was prohibited from painting in the same shelter or the same side of a shelter as 

the San rock artists. This seems to coincide with Type 2 rock art which is usually 

separate from San rock art and may suggest that over time these boundaries and 

prohibitions became more blurred leading to what is often characterised as Type 3 

art (Mallen 2008; Blundell 2021).While the existence of Type 2 and Type 3 rock 

art suggests that not all rock art was San authored, the majority of  the region’s 

rock art is typical of the Later Stone Age (LSA) tradition and includes fine-line 

and non-fine-line art (Dowson 1994; Hoerlé et al. 2016).  

However, some early historians contested that the art was San authored. They 

believed that the art was unlikely to have been produced by the ‘savage’ San 

people. Such was the view of medical Dr S. P. Impey in the 1920s and Breuil in 

1948 (Breuil 1948: 11; Mullen 2018: 5). In the 1950s and 1960s, a renewed 

interest in the evolution of humanity and its cultures occurred, and the San were 

seen as the ideal historical model. The idea was that the San embodied ancient 

hunter-gatherers due to their ‘unchanging and static’ lifestyle, effectively freezing 

them and their culture in time (Blundell 2004). However, the 1970s saw a radical 

change in the approach to rock art research in South Africa, to one in which 

interpretation was primarily based on ethnography (e.g., Lewis-William 1981a; 

Lewis-Williams 1990; Blundell 2004). Since then, it has become the predominant 

hypothesis that rock art was likely embedded in the rituals and belief systems of 

the San people who created them. LSA rock art was likely closely intertwined 

with the socio-economic lives of the people who produced it. For example, 

depictions of eland are common and likely refer to trance dances, boys’ initiation 

rituals, girls’ coming of age ceremonies, or marriage celebrations (Lewis-

Williams & Biesele 1978; Lewis-Williams 1981a), which all form important parts 

of the socio-economic lives of the San. 



8 

 

2.2. History and Interpretation of the Linton Panel 

Many museums and institutions in South Africa and Europe are home to removed 

rock art from South Africa. These include the collections by Emil Holub (the 

1870s the 1880s), who was responsible for the most extensive collection of 

removed southern African rock art in Europe (Henry 2007). The Rock Art 

Research Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, the Iziko Museums, the 

McGregor Museum in Kimberly (Dowson & Lewis-Williams 1993), the National 

Museum, Bloemfontein, KwaZulu-Natal Museum and the Ditsong Museum all 

hold large collections of rock art in South Africa. Reasons for their removal vary 

from simply collecting them out of curiosity and conservation efforts to salvaging 

them from a threatened site (Henry 2007). From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, 

collecting rock art out of curiosity and out of concern for their future preservation 

were the principal reasons for its removal. By this time, San populations across 

southern Africa had been significantly reduced, creating a sense of nostalgia for 

the ‘lost’ culture and people (Vinnicombe 1966; Henry 2007). Since the 1970s, 

however, researchers have begun understanding the importance of context. 

Removal of rock art should be done only as a last resort to salvage the art instead 

of simply removing it out of curiosity or for the convenience of studying it at a 

museum or institute (Henry 2007).  

The Linton panel (Fig. 2.2) is one such removed panel that is now exhibited in the 

Iziko South African Museum, Cape Town (Lewis-Williams 1988; Loubser 1994: 

454; Henry 2007: 44; Davison 2012: 19). The Linton panel was obtained for the 

museum by Mandy of the Cape Provincial Roads Department. In 1916, he sent a 

letter to the museum director at the time, Dr Louis Péringuey, advising him on the 

possibility of removing some exquisite rock art from a site on the Linton farm, 

Eastern Cape. Transportation took place on an ox wagon which relayed the panel 

to the railway station at Maclear (Henry 2007: 45; Davison 2012: 25). The panel 

arrived at the museum in August of 1918 (Henry 2007: 45; Davison 2012: 25). 

About 3 m of the painted site was destroyed during removal of the first and now 

famous Linton panel (Henry 2007: 45). The main Linton panel has been on 

permanent display in Cape Town since its removal, however it was temporarily 



9 

 

removed so that it could be exhibited in other parts of the world as part of an 

African art exhibition.  

 

Figure 2.2 Tracing of the Linton panel by Dowson, Den Hoed  & Kingdon (1985). 



10 

 

The last major event concerning the Linton panel occurred on 27 April 2000, 

Freedom Day in South Africa. On this day, the Linton panel had one of its painted 

figures adopted into South Africa’s new Coat of Arms (Fig. 2.3). Staff members at 

the Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) of the University of the Witwatersrand 

chose the particular painted figure (Smith et al. 2000). One of the reasons for this 

choice was that the original painting resided in a museum where it could be 

protected. However, some changes were made to the redrawing of the original 

figure. These include the ‘un-gendering’ of the originally male figure and the 

removal of the nasal blood smeared across the figure’s face. Finally, some of his 

other body decorations and bow and arrow were removed. This modified image 

was then mirrored, giving the impression of two separate figures facing each other 

and clasping hands (Barnard 2004: 9).  

The image was chosen due to its link with the earliest people who inhabited South 

Africa, the San. Thus, its inclusion in the new Coat of Arms, along with the 

accompanying /Xam language motto, was symbolic of national unity and South 

Figure 2.3 South African Coat of Arms Figure (Lewis-Williams 2013a) 



11 

 

Africa’s rich history (Barnard 2004). The motto is !Ke e: /xarra //ke, which 

roughly translates to ‘Diverse People Unite’. The /Xam words came from 

Dorothea Bleek’s dictionary of /Xam words and the phrase was translated by 

Lewis-Williams (Barnard 2003).    



12 

 

CHAPTER THREE – METHOD AND TECHNIQUE 

    3.1. Method 

The research reconstructs an object biography for the Linton panel and the 

remaining imagery at the site. An object biography encompasses a history of what 

happened at the site, the particular landscape in which it was created, and the 

people that used to occupy it. The central idea of an object biography is that both 

people and objects are constantly being transformed in the course of time and its 

movements (Gosden & Marshall 1999). An object’s significance changes with 

each moment of ‘life’ in which it is used, or which happens around it. In these 

moments the object(s) become loaded with meaning for its users. For example, in 

the Trobriand Islands, the objects used in Kula exchange are often linked back to 

individuals who owned or handled them prior. In this way the objects gain value 

through their links with powerful or significant people and vice versa (Gosden & 

Marshall 1999). Another example would be a diary, important for its written 

content for its original author as well as the subsequent owners and readers who in 

turn may have used, altered or tried to interpret the written information (e.g., the 

diaries of Anne Frank, Marco Polo or Charles Darwin). The document the words 

are written on, the language and grammar used, the actual interpreted meaning, 

the time period they were made, and the damage they have subsequently 

sustained, all tell a story of their own, separate from the words noted within the 

diary. An object biography would look at information and details separate from 

just the person who wrote it, but also focus on the journey of the diary as a 

separate entity. With this approach, the research will seek to understand more 

about the site and panel. 

Justine Wintjes (2021: 209) maintains that “Frequently in the case of historical 

collections, the link between the removed pieces and the provenance has also been 

lost….” Thereby the use of object biography fills in the gaps in the recorded data 

and reconstructs their histories and narratives to a greater extent (Brenner et al. 

2015). Object biographies observe how objects and human histories interact with 

one another. As objects move through time and space, they change, imbuing 

different meanings through social interactions (Gosden & Marshall 1999). Object 

biography seeks to understand how objects are given specific meaning and unique 



13 

 

value through their use in ceremonies or constant exchanging between hands. 

Object biographies may also enquire into the breaks, or interruptions, seen in 

some biographies, such as those brought about through colonial intervention, 

which may – by placing it in a museum – remove an object from its cultural place 

of origin, thus isolating it (Gosden & Marshall 1999).  

The object biography approach will inquire why the paintings at Linton farm were 

produced in the first place, who viewed them, how they were ‘utilised’, and who 

was responsible for their removal. Additionally, what significance did these 

paintings hold for their creators and audience, compared to the interpretation 

assigned by those who removed them, conducted research on them, and what 

occurred with the remaining paintings at the location, as well as how did their 

temporal and spatial passage alter them on a physical level (Appadurai 1986; 

Brenner et al. 2015)? The object biography will attempt to understand how the 

paintings eventually came to encompass different narratives post-removal, in what 

ways they may have been similar and in what ways they were different and if their 

different narratives can be reconciled with each other. As Wintjes (2021: 229) put 

it, “The figures that were removed relate to those that remained behind in different 

ways”. It is in the interest of this dissertation to understand how the removed and 

remaining figures at Linton farm relate to each other in terms of the themes, 

scenes and compositions of each (cf. Wintjes 2021). By way of object biography, 

the gaps left in our understanding of the paintings may be filled, and the panel and 

site’s history may be partially reconstructed (Brenner et al. 2015). 

The research focuses on the removal process and its effects on both the removed 

panel and the site. The study then looks at two separate histories, the history of the 

removed panel and the history of the site after the removal process, precisely what 

happened to each after being separated, who was involved in their curation, 

interpretation, and exhibition, or if further removals, damage or other events may 

have affected the panel or site.  

An example of an object biography of rock art can be found in Wintjes (2022). 

Wintjes (2022) examined an isolated and forgotten rock slab with a lion painting 

on it within the RARI collection and reconstructed its history. It had originated in 



14 

 

the uMhwabane rock shelter in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg. In 1947 Clarence 

Van Riet Lowe, the Archaeological Survey director in Johannesburg, obtained 

permission to remove parts of the rock panel for conservation purposes. By the 

early 1960s, various rock art pieces were transported to the Natal Museum (now 

KwaZulu-Natal Museum). Conservation efforts took place twice on the removed 

pieces of rock paintings, first by Val Ward and later by Nkululeko Sibetha and 

Jeremy Hollmann. Through extensive research and contact with various institutes, 

Wintjes (2022) uncovered hand-painted copies of the site made in 1929 and 

published in 1931, which revealed the shelter before the paintings were removed. 

The research showed that the lion was crouched before a ‘herd’ of eland-and-cow, 

while the rest of the site had images of 6 or 7 feline creatures (Wintjes 2022). 

Wintjes (2022) partially reconstructed what the shelter may have looked like pre-

1947 by placing to-scale images of the removed rock art paintings into an image 

of the current shelter, thus creating a sort of  ‘collage’ of the former shelter.  

In addition to the object biography, this study examines ethnographic 

interpretations of the Linton panel. The study interprets the remaining images at 

the site and, in doing so, tries to find links between the Linton panel art and the 

remaining art at the site. The method encompasses an analogy argument approach 

by which all research is conducted while referencing ethnographic accounts of 

beliefs of the San and referencing relevant literature on the subject (e.g., Lewis-

Williams 1991). While the ethnographic approach clarifies meaning, it is less 

helpful in understanding motivation, which may vary among individuals, periods 

and places. The ethnographic reasons yielded insider information on the meaning 

and origins of rock art while the analogical reasoning fills in gaps left by missing 

or incomplete ethnographies. Analogical reasoning encompasses genealogical 

analogy, which tries to link two sites based on two peoples or groups (Whitley 

2005). 

    3.2. Techniques 

The Linton panel was traced and redrawn by RARI staff in the 1980s. The panel 

was also recorded as an ultra-high-resolution photo-mosaic by the photographer 

Andrew Lund in 2021 (Anon. 2021). Therefore, no additional recording work was 



15 

 

necessary on the stone itself, and recording work focused on what remained in the 

rock shelter. 

Besides some photographs, no proper record has ever been made of the site. 

Therefore, it was necessary to record the shelter itself and the remaining art. 

Baseline documentation of the site included, inter alia: 

 Mapping the location of the site with a GPS 

 Completing a standard site record form 

 Writing a detailed description of the site 

Additionally, detailed photographic records were made of the art remaining in the 

site. 

Standard digital photography was applied for the shelter itself, the art, the removal 

scars, and more. This sufficed to record the colour, context, and general ‘look’ of 

the art. Photographs of the site and the remaining rock art were taken with a scale 

for reference before any further work was undertaken. Photographing a site, 

especially one that has been visited before, enables researchers to visually identify 

any changes in the site since its last visit. In addition to traditional photography, 

ultra-high-resolution photo-mosaics were also made of the painted sections of the 

shelter. In this technique, overlapping grids of photographs are taken and then 

digitally combined to produce a single image with a resolution many factors 

higher than what can be achieved with a single photograph (Mark & Billo 2006). 

Notes were taken on the condition of the remaining imagery and significant 

threats to the site. One of the original justifications for removing the panel was 

that the site was threatened, a point that will be further discussed in subsequent 

chapters. Whilst no detailed record of the earlier condition of the site exists, an 

assessment of current conditions and threats may nevertheless allow some insight 

into whether that original justification was legitimate. 

Back at the University, the photographs were extensively studied to identify 

figures, shapes, or animals. The identified images’ possible meaning and purpose 

are discussed using the relevant literature. These identified images are then linked, 



16 

 

if possible, to the rock art on the Linton panel housed in the Iziko South African 

Museum, Cape Town. 

  



17 

 

CHAPTER FOUR – DESCRIPTION OF THE LINTON IMAGES 

4.1. Farm Linton Shelter and History 

A team of four, the author included, made its way to the Linton shelter on 

Monday, 4 April 2022. Farmer Donie Naude explained that the shelter was 

surrounded by nearby koppies (a rocky outcrop) which contained scattered 

remnants of San rock art. The shelter is located about 10 meters above a tributary 

to the River Luzie. The front of the shelter is screened by heavy shrubbery with 

the mouth of the shelter facing south (Fig. 4.1). Natural light filters through the 

shrubbery lighting up the inside of the shelter, however, very little direct sunlight 

manages to reach the shelter walls. The shelter is rather long, and rock art is 

scattered throughout, however, the downstream portion of the shelter contains the 

most rock art. Rock fall litters much of the shelter floor, especially where the two 

rock art panels were removed.  

The team was informed that the shelter itself receives very little interest from the 

outside world. Its only recently recalled visitors include friends, family, and an 

unnamed professor from an unknown university. This professor was likely either 

Sven Ouzman who took photos of the site in 2001 according to images uploaded 

onto the South African Digital Rock Art Archive (SARADA) or David Pearce 

from the University of the Witwatersrand who visited the site in 2012. Naude 

pointed out a small area of recent removal he thought to be about ten or fifteen 

years old, but it appears already in photographs taken by Ouzman in 2001. It is 

unknown who removed the painting or for what purpose. Four antelope legs 

protrude from the removed area. Graffiti exists within the shelter, including the 

apparently oldest by “G N 1915”, around the time Mandy had begun removing the 

Linton panel. More recent graffiti include “V. Henning 1975”, “S. Naude 1979”, 

“A Pretorius (and company) Dec 1979”, and “D. Jordaan 16/12/88”.  



18 

 

 

Figure 4.1 Image showing the front of the Linton shelter screened by heavy 

shrubbery 

4.2. Rock Art Remaining in the Linton Shelter 

Within the shelter, two large removal areas are evident, one near the downstream 

end of the shelter, the other more centrally located. The first set of images 

remaining in the site is grouped between the two removal areas. This painted 

section will be called ‘Panel 1’. To the west of ‘Panel 1’ and the second removal 

area is another set of painted images. It will be called ‘Panel 2’. This section will 

first discuss the finds and preservation of images in ‘‘Panel 1’’. 

‘Panel 1’ spans about 2 meters and includes various motifs, including a 

therianthrope, highly detailed human figures, rhebok (Pelea capreolus), eland, 

threads of light and less detailed human figures. Large flakes across ‘Panel 1’ 

have destroyed much of the remaining paintings, and some graffiti can be seen 

scratched into the rock face just above the painted images. The preservation of the 

images varies. Some images are so well-preserved that individual brush strokes 

can still be identified, and the colours are vibrant and easily identifiable. 

In contrast, others have their colours faded, primarily white, and some of the 

pigment has slowly started to smudge with time. ‘Panel 1’ is located under a large 



19 

 

rocky ledge behind thick shrubbery, preserving it from weathering. The shrubbery 

branches do not reach the rock art and thus serve more as a barrier between the 

rock face and natural elements. The nearby tributary poses no threat to the rock 

face as even in heavy rain it would not be able to flood enough to reach the 

shelter. The shelter is used by various animals, including dassies and sheep, and 

their presence is evident from the remains of sheep dung found in the shelter. 

While the paintings higher up on the rock face are not threatened by animal 

activity, paintings situated further down may be subject to scratching and lanolin 

caking. 

Images remaining in ‘Panel 1’ include the following. A therianthrope figure (Fig. 

4.2) with hooves for feet is depicted kneeling with his arms spread out behind 

him. His face is white, with evidence of a nose, chin and lips. The figure’s face 

has a black line painted across it. His limbs, including his arms and legs, are 

painted in red. His right-hand leg has two parallel lines just below the knee, 

possibly indicating decorative objects or body paint. His body, neck and hooves 

are painted in black, except for his chest and stomach, with a continuous white 

outline. The back of his outstretched arms have dots of interchanging white and 

black running across them. The nape of his neck has two protruding triangular 

shapes. His head has long strands of black hair falling past his shoulders. The tips 

of each strand of hair have red dots, possibly representing beads. One hair starting 

at the scalp and ending just past the neck is entirely red. Around his neck, the 

figure carries three bags decorated with white dots and black tassel-like 

appendages. His neck also shows evidence of a white necklace or possibly the 

string attached to the bags. He kneels on a thread of light in red with white, black 

and yellow dots parallel to it on either side of the line. The thread of light extends 

from below an eland’s head, under or through the therianthrope and beyond into 

the rock face where the red line fades out of existence, but the accompanying 

white dots continue until a flake destroyed them. 

In terms of preservation, the figure is well preserved. His body remains primarily 

intact and unfaded. The white paint on his face is still visibly thick with pigment. 

However, part of the thread of light and the figure’s legs and feet just below the 

eland’s head and neck have flaked off. Smaller flakes have destroyed parts of the 



20 

 

figure’s right-hand thigh.

Figure 4.2 Therianthrope in a kneeling position, closely followed by an eland.

Figure 4.3 Five human figures, two eland and a faded antelope. 

Five human figures are located above and to the left of the therianthrope figure, 

just above the ‘tethered’ eland (Fig. 4.2). They are polychrome, but their bodies 

tend to be of one predominant colour. From left to right, the predominant 



21 

 

colouring for each human figure is red, red, white, red and white respectively. The 

first red figure is bending forward, possibly sweating from his armpits. Long 

stripes emanating from the armpits is often a representation of sweat which occurs 

during intense trance dances (Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 701). He has a 

white face and long black hair. A bulge, possibly a bag, hangs from the figure’s 

neck. Just behind and below his leg, superimposed on top of an eland, the remains 

of two antelope are visible. An eland faces the opposite direction of the first red 

figure, and a black line runs across its back, the eland has been superimposed 

behind the first red human figure. Parts of an antelope, possibly a rhebok, are 

superimposed upon the human’s body, the legs are still well preserved, and 

hooves can still be easily identified. In front of the first red figure, two white legs 

are visible. They belong to the eland upon which the first red human figure was 

superimposed. Red dots are discernible near the shoulder and hair of the first red 

human figure.  

The second red figure is also slightly bent forward, and he sweats from his 

armpits, has a white face with a black eye and is holding a black stick. His 

remaining foot is particularly interesting as it possesses three long black claws. He 

wears his hair in long black strands and has a black waistband, a red line, and 

possibly a spear or bow emanating from his shoulder. Parts of his body are 

outlined in black, including much of his torso, stomach, buttocks and at least one 

calf. A white figure walks before him. He has a black eye and carries a black stick 

on his shoulders. His groin has black lines near or emanating from it. He and the 

other two red figures behind him are all facing one direction. From the opposite 

direction, the third red figure approaches. He reaches out towards the oncoming 

white figure and places a hand on his forehead. In the other hand, he holds a red 

stick. His face is white with black and red outlines on the back of his skull. Most 

of his body is red except for his neck, which is black; lips and a nose are visible. 

Behind him, a second white figure is present. The second white figure seems to be 

reaching for the third red figure. In front of him, he holds a black stick-like object. 

He, too, has a black and red outline of the skull. All five figures and the 

surrounding antelope are badly damaged by flaking. Much of their remaining 



22 

 

bodies are riddled with minute flakes, while other parts have had large chunks 

eroded. The predominantly white figures are more faded than the mostly red ones.  

Figure 4.4 shows a group of three human figures. Furthest to the left is “Figure 

A”. She is seated and clapping, an activity that is usually done by females (Katz 

1982: 135; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 697), and wears a kaross which is a 

type of skin cloak. She seems to be holding something faded in white or yellowish 

paint in her hands. Below her right knee, two parallel white lines are evident, 

possibly depicting body paint or bangles of some sort. Her buttocks and the ends 

of her kaross no longer remain due to a large flake that had fallen off the rock 

face. To her right, “Figure B”, the figure faces “Figure A” and is standing. He is 

slightly bent forward at the hip, and the remnants of a white neck tassel are 

evident beneath a rather large flake that destroyed much of the figure’s upper 

torso, neck, lower jaw and parts of his paraphernalia. His face shows evidence of 

a black eye and the upper ridge of a nose. He carries a bow and at least three 

arrows with red tips. On his ankles are rattles used in the trance dance to make a 

sound while stomping and dancing rhythmically. Around his waist is a faded 

white belt or waistband. The figure can be positively identified as male due to the 

penis evident below the ‘waistband’.  

“Figure C” is also standing with his back towards “Figure B”. He carries a 

flywhisk and the skin of an animal, upon his knees are decorative bands.  Similar 

to “Figure B”, much of “Form C’s” body and paraphernalia have been destroyed 

by a large flake. “Figure C” also has a black eye and facial features, including a 

nose, chin and lips. A white line runs across his shoulders and down the remaining 

length of his body. Two red finger-like appendages emerge from the flake to the 

figure’s right, possibly the remains of “Figure C’s” hand reaching or pointing at 

something or someone. 



23 

 

Figure 4.4 Three figures painted in red & white. From left to right Figure A, B & 

D 

“Figure D” can be seen in the top left corner of Figure 4.5. He faces the same 

direction as “Figure C” and is carrying either arrows or spears.  Most of his body 

has been destroyed by the same flake that destroyed much of the bodies of Figures 

B and C, however it is still evident that he is wearing a kaross. All four figures 

have a red and white line on their head, possibly reminiscent of hair.  

A red figure (Fig. 4.5) positioned just right of “Figure D” is depicted bending 

forward slightly at the hips. His face looks masked. His hair is shoulder length and 

black with red tips, possibly representing beads. One hair strand is depicted 

entirely in red. This might be sweat drips from his armpits. He carries a bag upon 

his back, and a bow is held up in front of him. An animal’s skin is seen hanging 

from his left-hand side. Upon his knees are bands, and around his waist is a 

tasselled belt. A large flake has destroyed part of the figure’s upper thighs and 

lower buttocks. Just above the flake, a penis is evident. Smaller flakes have 

destroyed the figure’s arms and part of the figure’s paraphernalia which he carries 

on his back and shoulders. 



24 

 

Figure 4.5  In the top right-hand corner, a red figure is walking away from “Figure 

D”. 

Below the group of painted figures just described, various herds of rhebok and 

some eland can be seen. They are polychrome with exquisite detail. All are 

standing upright with their tails down and ears erect and alert. The rhebok are 

likely females as they show no evidence of horns. Rhebok still exist in the area 

today and likely roamed the mountain plateau when the San painted these images. 

The eland have very small dewlaps, possibly indicating they too are female. One 

eland has its neck hair depicted on end, and individual tufts of fur are evident on 

its dewlap. One of the eland is linked to the therianthrope (Fig. 4.2) via a thread of 

light, as discussed previously. The eland is seemingly following or tethered to the 

therianthrope. 

In terms of preservation, the heads of the rhebok are faded, and many have lost 

most of their body to a large area which has flaked off. Various parts of human 

figures can be discerned standing among or around the animals, some of which 

are holding sticks (Fig. 4.6). These human figures are not painted in as much 

detail as the previously discussed human figures or animals. The human figures 

among the herds are predominantly monochrome red or orange and show no 



25 

 

discernible facial features or digits. At least one figure is depicted either falling or 

lying down at an angle, while another is seen crouching. 

 

Figure 4.6 Three human figures, one holds a stick, another is painted lying or 

falling, and the third is crouched. 

Figure 4.7 Human crouching forward over a zigzag figure. 



26 

 

Figure 4.7 shows someone crouching forward. They are wearing a kaross and 

have bands on their knees. Sweat pours from their armpits, and the angle of the 

arms suggests they are clapping. The crouching figure may be female due to an 

indication of breasts on the chest, or the bump may just be a visual representation 

of the kaross bending and distorting as the figure crouches. The crouching figure 

has lost parts of its lower legs, its hands, face, and parts of its buttocks. In front of 

the crouching figure is another figure or possibly an animal with a zigzag pattern 

going through the body. The zigzag is painted yellow, the body’s upper half is 

black, and the lower seems to have been painted red. A tail-like extension is 

attached to the zigzag figure’s remaining hindquarters. A knee and part of a leg 

are still identifiable. The image is extensively damaged, thus making it hard to 

identify with certainty. Large flakes have damaged most of the zigzag figure. 

Above and behind the crouching human figure are parallel lines. One is solid red 

while the other is yellow fringed with a thin red line. Three horizontal red lines 

are scattered below the zigzag figure. The colours are vivid and have not faded 

much. 

‘Panel 2’ is located west of ‘Panel 1’ and is the second large painted area still 

remaining in the shelter. It is smaller and has fewer painted figures than ‘Panel 1’. 

The ledge above it is not as broad, thus allowing for greater sun and weathering 

damage. Graffiti has been scratched onto the rock face, including on some faded 

white figures. ‘Panel 2’ is also where a recent removal scar is evident. Damage to 

the area includes large flakes that have fallen off, damaging various images, 

including the lower half of an eland and the tops of various human figures and an 

antelope. Some painted figures are badly faded, while others are still clearly 

visible. A large crack runs horizontally across the rock face passing through the 

front hoofs of the eland and causing flakes to fall off near the running figure’s 

head. 



27 

 

 

Figure 4.8 Female polychrome fine-line eland. 

Among the remaining paintings at ‘Panel 2’ is a polychrome eland (Fig. 4.8) 

depicted with a line just above the hump of its back, something that is common in 

the area, possibly representing tufts of hair. The eland’s head is superimposed 

over a faded white antelope. Faded white horns, a brown forelock and a black eye 

are still evident on the eland’s head. A large flake has destroyed the eland’s lower 

legs and most of its belly line. The eland’s front hoofs are still present below the 

flake but have a large horizontal crack running through them. The eland is likely 

female due to its small dewlap. 

Below the large crack, a polychrome man is depicted running (Fig. 4.9). He is 

running towards a faded white feline or other quadruped. He holds a white stick-

like object in his hand, and an indiscernible red object hangs from his neck or 

shoulder, possibly a bag. The back and top of his head have a red stripe that 

transitions into red dots towards the forehead. On his ankles, he wears faded white 

bands. Other details include evidence for fingers, toes, lips, nose and a chin. He is 

relatively well preserved, other than his left foot and part of his head, which have 

flaked off. A smattering of small flakes is evident around the figure’s hips and 

buttocks and his neck and upper shoulders are slightly faded. 



28 

 

 

Figure 4.9 A running figure with a shoulder bag and a white object in hand. 

A group of primarily monochrome dark red figures are present in the upper left-

hand corner of ‘Panel 2’ (Fig 4.10). A monochrome antelope with horns bent in 

the middle at about 90° angles (possibly a hartebeest [Alcelaphus buselaphus]) is 

among the red figures (Fig. 4.10). The antelope has a long tail and another long 

unidentified protrusion coming out of its hindquarters. The antelope is 

superimposed upon the feet of two figures seen above it. One of the figures is 

another antelope whose front hoof is either under or behind the hartebeest’s head. 

The other figure is a sprinting human whose foot is hidden behind or under the 

hartebeest’s hindquarters. The hartebeest body is well preserved. While its face 

and legs are slightly faded, flaking has not damaged it. Its body has either 

yellowish pigment smeared across it or natural mineral deposits from the rock 

face have leached onto the hartebeest’s body. The human figure is of similar 



29 

 

preservation, with the only notable difference being that a large flake has removed 

the human figure’s head. The same flake damaged the other antelope’s head, back 

and part of its hindquarters. A faded white calcite run drips across the body of the 

mostly destroyed antelope. 

 

Figure 4.10 A monochrome antelope and part of a human figure.  

 



30 

 

Figure 4.11 A monochrome antelope followed by two humans. 

In Figure 4.11 a monochrome antelope is depicted. It has a short stubby tail, two 

large ears and at least three visible legs. However, it lacks horns or any 

characteristics that would enable species identification. The lack of horns may 

indicate it is a female antelope. It has a round belly line, possibly indicating it is 

very fat or pregnant. Two human figures holding sticks and slightly bent at the 

knee and hip follow closely. The antelope and human figures are not faded, and 

clear paint outlines are visible. However, the top of the head and shoulders of the 

human figures have been destroyed by a large flake. One of the human figures is 

more damaged than the other, for its torso and parts of its arms have also been 

lost. Below the two human figures is a straight red line. A red streak is visible to 

that right and just below the antelope. It eventually disappears into a missing 

flake. 

 

Figure 4.12 Two male figures. 



31 

 

Two thin monochrome red male figures with penises stand facing each other (Fig. 

4.12). One of the men, on the left, has his arms spread behind him while the other, 

to the right, stands with his hands in the air and two ear-like bulbs protruding from 

his temples. Both men’s genitals have a vertical line going through them. The man 

to the left has had his shoulders and upper chest area destroyed by a flake. 

The rest of the shelter, west of ‘Panel 1’, has scatterings of individual paintings, 

including a lone eland. The head and legs have faded, leaving behind only the red 

mid-section of the animal. Someone or something scratched the rock surface 

leaving behind white marks, one of which arches over the eland’s body. Another 

image (Fig. 4.13), drawn possibly with the fingers, depicts a human-like figure 

with a large head and body proportions reminiscent of a baby or toddler. Another 

human with splayed arms, outward bent knees, and a rounded belly (Fig. 4.14) is 

painted hidden away in a shelter corner.  

Figure 4.13 A toddler-like human figure.



32 

 

Figure 4.14 A human-like figure with splayed arms, outward bent knees and a 

rounded belly. 

Other images include an eland far removed from any other paintings on the 

shelter’s roof, it is very faded, and parts of its body have flaked away. 

A group of human figures walk along a ledge carrying digging sticks (Fig. 4.15). 

One of them is much larger than the others. The stone weights of the digging 

sticks are visible just behind the figures’ heads. They appear to be monochrome 

and do not possess facial features. However, finger digits are evident, and their 

calf muscles are well defined. They have been subject to heavy damage from 

flaking. Their upper thighs, parts of their arms, and torsos are missing. A few 

more, smaller or highly faded paintings are scattered about the shelter, however, 

they are not discussed here because they could not be positively identified. The 

positive identification of these paintings should be addressed in future research. 

 



33 

 

 

Figure 4.15 Three human figures carrying digging sticks. 

  



34 

 

CHAPTER FIVE – INTERPRETATION OF THE PAINTINGS 

This chapter discusses thematic similarities and differences between the Linton 

panel and the Linton shelter. While the shelter still contains many images, and 

many similar painted themes are present in both the Linton panel and the shelter, 

it should be noted that many possible links between the two have been lost due to 

the removal process, which cut away more than one meter of space between 

where the panel was once situated and the remaining imagery. This, in turn, 

makes it almost impossible to directly link images to one another and determine 

how they may have interacted. For example, the shelter and the panel have a 

thread of light. However, due to the damage caused by the panel removal, it is 

impossible to tell if these threads of light were once the same, intersected, ran 

parallel to each other, or never connected. We can only speculate on their 

relationships with the images still surrounding them. The same can be said about 

the various animals and human groups and individuals now separated by 

significant gaps where the panel and the shelter wall once met. Perhaps what seem 

to be two separate figures were once looking at each other or someone else. 

However, this something in between is lost, and thus their interaction with each 

other is lost too. Broadly, one must assume these paintings and motifs had some 

relationship. This is supported by the fact that the paintings belong in the same 

shelter and were once part of one painted area. The main problem is that those 

specific relationships are almost impossible to determine due to the significant 

destruction and loss of the painted area. This chapter will attempt to reconstruct 

the similarities and links in themes as far as possible, given the present data. 

5.1. The Trance Dance and Trance Symbolism  

Before examining further the artists’ intended meanings and interpretations of the 

rock art that remains at the shelter, it should be made clear that much of San rock 

art can be explained in terms of shamanistic ritual, experience, hallucinations, and 

belief (Lewis-Williams & Biesele 1978; Lewis-Williams 1981a). However, it 

would be false to assume the entire corpus of San rock can be explained as 

depicting the experiences of a select few shamans who may have entered the 

trance state. Furthermore, a panel of images has no beginning or end in the same 

sense as a book, where the image and story might be “read” from left to right or 



35 

 

up to down. Rather panels represent a conglomerate of images all relating to one 

another and are added to as time and individuals pass by the paintings (Lewis-

Williams 2010: 4). Knowing this may help interpret and understand the Linton 

shelter images. 

 

The trance dance plays a large part in the lives, beliefs and rock art motifs of the 

San. In this section, the trance dance and its role will be discussed to identify and 

interpret trance symbolism in rock art. First, the trance dance is an event in which 

both men and women partake, often held at night and lasting a few hours or until 

dawn (Marshall 1969; Lewis-Williams 1988; Low 2004). Usually, women will sit 

around a central fire and clap to a rhythm while the shamans, usually male, dance 

around the circle, thus harnessing n/om (‘supernatural power’ or potency) 

(Marshall 1969; Lewis-Williams 1981a, 1987, 1988: 3, 2013), which travels 

through their spines and explodes from their heads thus enabling them to enter a 

trance. Shamans would yell during the dance, throw sticks, and point into the dark 

beyond the fire at the spirits-of-the-dead. The spirits-of-the-dead were believed to 

be malevolent beings who could pull a person’s spirit through the top of their 

head, thus making the living into spirits-of-the-dead (Johnson 2016: 20). The 

dance induced trance without utilising hallucinogens but rather by rhythmic 

dancing that would result in the dancer hyperventilating and possibly collapsing 

(Lewis-Williams 1987: 166, Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 697). The dance was 

not one into which a young dancer could be ‘initiated’ in any formal sense, but 

rather novice dancers would dance behind older, more expert dancers, thus 

learning how to perform the dance and enter trance, enabling them to enter the 

spirit world (Lewis-Williams 2010). While in a trance, shamans perform various 

tasks, including healing the sick, controlling rain or controlling the movements of 

wild animals (Lewis-Williams 1988: 3; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 700; 

Davison 2012: 28).  

 

Much of what researchers know about San rock art comes from ethnographies. 

Including, but not limited to, a San descendant named ‘M’ (Manqindi or 

Maquoqua Dyantyi) in the 1980s (Jolly 1986; Lewis-Williams 1986), San 



36 

 

speakers Lindiso and Poponi Mbekane in 1932, Mamxabele in 1913 (Jolly 1999), 

the accounts by Qing recorded by Orpen in 1873 (Orpen 1874), the Bleek-Lloyd 

collection in the late 1800s (Bleek 1864) and various Kalahari ethnographies (e.g., 

Marshall 1962, 1969; Biesele 1980; Katz 1982; Guenther 2017). As a result of 

detailed comparisons between these ethnographies and the rock art, San rock art 

came to be understood as frequently featuring the trance dance and spirit world. 

 

However, the practice of the trance dance in southern San groups, as the Kalahari 

San know it, has been debated. The Bleek and Lloyd collection does not give 

definitive evidence that the /Xam participated in trance dances. However, 

references to a dance of sorts have been found and likely relate to the trance dance 

or a variant performed by the southern San (Lewis-Williams 1992; Lewis-

Williams & Pearce 2012, 2015). In 1875, Lloyd asked Diä!kwain (a San 

informant) about copies of rock paintings made in the 1860s and the 1870s by 

George William Stow. In response, Diä!kwain answered,  

 

They seem to be dancing, for they stand stamping (?) with their legs. This man 

who stands in front (1st figure to the right of the beholder) seems to be 

showing the people how to dance. That is why he holds a stick. . . The people 

know that he is one who dances first because he is a great sorcerer. That is why 

he dances first, because he wants people who are learning sorcery to dance 

after him… For when a sorcerer is teaching us, he first dances the ‘ken 

(synonym for !gi) dance, and those who are learning dance after him as he 

dances (Stow & Bleek 1930: caption to pl. 2a; in Lewis-William & Pearce 

2012: 699).   

 

The sorcerer or !gi:xa  (!gi meaning potency and xa meaning full of, thus equating 

to a person full of potency) is the /Xam equivalent of the Ju/’hoan n/omkxao, 

medicine person, shaman or healer.  

 

A further example of the trance dance in southern San groups can be found in an 

eyewitness account written by Stow in 1905. Stow describes how “the centre of 

every village or kraal, or near every rock-shelter, and in every great cave, there 

was a large circular ring where either the ground or grass was beaten flat and 

bare” from the reoccurrence of circular dances (likely trance dances) by the 



37 

 

inhabitants (Stow 1905: 111; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 702). Another 

eyewitness account was recorded by two missionaries, François Daumas and 

Thomas Arbousset, in Lesotho in 1846. They record how dances would be carried 

out at night, in the middle of the village. The dancers would move irregularly, and 

eventually, they may sink to the ground in exhaustion, with blood pouring from 

their nostrils (Arbousset & Daumas 1846: 247; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 

703). Nasal bleeding is often described among shamans who fall into a trance and 

may smear it across their faces or the faces of those they are trying to heal (Lewis-

Williams 1988; Dowson 1994; Lewis-Williams 2013a). Diä!kwain explains that a 

“sorcerer” teaching the dance may start to bleed from the nose and sneeze into his 

hands (Lewis-William & Pearce 2012: 701). 

 

It is possible that since Bleek and Lloyd did not fully understand the /Xam 

cosmological belief system, they failed to recognise the importance of dance as a 

ritualistic and not recreational activity. In recent times, researchers have 

recognised that various aspects of southern rock art closely match features 

observed in the Kalahari trance dances (Lewis-William & Pearce 2012).   

 

Various features of the trance dance can be observed in both the Linton panel and 

the shelter rock art. Trance dancers are often observed in a distinctive posture, 

their knees bent and leaning forward, or they may perform specific actions such as 

clapping. This posture resulted from the hot pain trance dancers experience in 

their gebesi (stomach) during the trance dance. Trance dancers may also support 

their weight on two dancing sticks, place their hand(s) on their heads or hold their 

arms up behind them (Lewis-Williams 1988: 4; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 

701). Various figures in the Linton panel are depicted in similar positions (Lewis-

Williams 1988: 4).  

 

It is also important to note that death, or a metaphor for death, is often a feature of 

the trance dance; trance dancers liken the experience of going into a trance to 

death (Katz 1982: 357). This metaphor of death can be seen in many ways, 

including similarities between the human figures and how animals die (Lewis-



38 

 

Williams 1981a, 1988: 5; Dowson 1988: 118). When an antelope dies from a 

poisoned arrow, it will often lower its head, foam at the mouth, bleed from the 

nose, have its hair on end, stumble and eventually fall. A ‘dying’ shaman may be 

depicted similarly with head lowered, bleeding from the nose, hair on end, 

stumbling and eventually falling (Lewis-Williams 1981a: 8, 1987, 1988: 5; 

Dowson 1988: 118). This behaviour has been observed among the Kalahari San 

and southern San shamans. The metaphor of death may be relayed in rock art by 

juxtaposing a dying antelope with a ‘dying’ shaman or transforming into an 

incomplete or complete therianthrope. The otherwise realistic antelope may be 

identified due to the red nasal blood streaks across its face (Lewis-Williams 1987; 

Dowson 1988: 118). The Linton panel depicts three dying antelope (Lewis-

Williams 1988: 7). One antelope, possibly a rhebok, has blood falling from its 

nose and red lines smeared across its face. 

Similarly, the large supine human figure it is associated with also has red lines 

smeared across its face (Lewis-Williams 1988). The remaining two dying 

antelope respectively have their belly, and one hind leg’s hair standing on end. 

One is portrayed with its front legs bent, as if it has recently stumbled and fallen. 

These antelope may be transformed shamans entering trance, or they may be a 

broader metaphor that links the other panel images to trance ‘death’. Within the 

shelter, no dying antelope are present. Perhaps these images once existed but were 

destroyed, or only the area from which the Linton panel was extracted depicted 

dying eland. The relevance of this could have been that this part of the shelter may 

have been linked most closely with the experience of ‘dying’, the release of 

potency upon an antelope’s, especially an eland’s, death or some other yet 

unknown significance. 

Moving on to other kinds of painted figures in the shelter and on the Linton panel, 

Figure 4.3 depicts five human figures surrounded by an eland and antelope 

divided into two groups. One group contains three members while the other, 

approaching from the opposite direction, includes two individuals. Each group has 

one predominantly white figure, while the remaining figures are primarily red. A 

connection is established between the two groups as the red figure from one group 

stretches out his hand and touches the forehead of the other group’s white figure. 



39 

 

Trance dances are often filled with acts of touching others, and while this may be 

a depiction of a common occurrence in the trance dance, it may also depict a more 

symbolic and meaningful gesture between two people. As shamans dance, they 

eventually collapse due to an influx of healing energy called tsso by the Nharo 

and n/om by the Ju/’hoansi. After they collapse, they are helped back onto their 

feet. They now begin to apply their hands to the heads of those they wish to heal, 

or they may apply their sweat, usually from their armpits to those around them 

(Low 2004: 54). The painted image may depict such a process as the red figure 

reaches out to touch the head of and thus possibly heal the white figure opposite 

him. Behind him, the second white figure reaches out to the healer almost in a 

gesture of support, as if ready to assist him should he collapse. Another possibility 

is that the one human figure is ‘syphoning’ his potency into or towards the healer 

by trying to establish a physical connection with the latter, forming something like 

a chain of potency.  

 

Figure 4.3 is also fascinating because novice shamans often dance behind 

experienced shamans, thus learning how to dance themselves into a trance (Lewis-

Williams 2010: 2). In 1875, Lloyd asked Diä!kwain about some paintings that 

Stow had copied in the 1860s and 1870s. Diä!kwain explains how the figures 

seem to be dancing, and the man in the front of the dancing procession is showing 

the people how to dance (Stow & Bleek 1930: caption to pl. 2a). It is possible the 

white figure, who is possibly being healed, is also a shaman currently teaching 

novices how to dance, for he too carries a stick upon his shoulders and is the 

“leader” in the dancing procession. On the other hand, the two groups may also be 

opposing shamanistic groups, and the red figure is not healing but instead 

conferring sickness upon the other group’s ‘leader’ in the hopes that he will 

become ill. 

 

Figure 4.3 shows human “Figures A - D”. They are painted in a similar rough 

style, size and shades of white or red. The figures seem to be participating in a 

trance dance, as indicated by the sitting and clapping figure facing the other three 

figures taking on trance dance postures by bending forward at the hips and 



40 

 

carrying trance dance paraphernalia. Such paraphernalia includes the dance rattles 

worn by “Figure B” and the fly whisk carried by “Figure C” (Lewis-Williams & 

Pearce 2012: 701). The idea of rattles rather than bands or tassels is supported by 

Low (2004: 54), who mentions that dancers may wear moth cocoon rattles on 

their ankles. Art may be a visual representation by which shamans show their 

spiritual encounters to those who do not have the same range of spiritual 

encounters. The objects may serve a purpose in both the physical realm and the 

spiritual realm, aiding in the identification of individuals or actions for those who 

lack comparable levels of experience or direct encounters with the shamans 

involved (Mullen 2018: 135). Karosses were often worn by /Xam shamans while 

healing (Lewis-Williams 2013b: 81). It is possible the karosses indicate shamans 

participating in a trance dance with the objective of healing. 

 

All four human figures have a red line on the back of their heads. This line may 

represent hair or a cap of some sort. However, it may also be a visual 

representation of spirits leaving or just peeking out of the top of the head, which 

only shamans can see during trance. San shamans recount a sensation experienced 

on the crown of the head during trance—it is said that from this spot, the spirit 

leaves the body (Lewis-Williams 1987). This artistic inclusion is visible in the 

shelter paintings and some individuals on the Linton panel. However, none of the 

Linton panel figures carry animal skins, or wear karosses or decorative neck 

tassels. The figures carry hunting gear such as spears, arrows, bows and animal 

skins.  

 

Paraphernalia typical to the shelter’s rock art and the panel are white sticks, 

dancing sticks, bows and arrows, and shoulder bags. One figure in the site and 

another on the panel can be seen holding one such white stick, likely a knobkerrie. 

They appear to be wooden sticks topped with a root or branch knob. 

Certain other paraphernalia or decorations can be linked to the trance dance. Both 

the site and the panel depict knee bands, ankle bands and waistbands. Waistbands 

may have been a visual representation of the burst of pain felt by shamans in their 

stomach or gebesi while trance dancing (Lewis-Williams 1988: 4; Dowson 1989: 



41 

 

87). Another feature associated with trance dances is the flywhisk, usually 

fashioned from the tails of eland, giraffe, or wildebeest; three human figures in the 

panel hold one. In Figure 4.5, the human figure is bending forward at the hip and 

sweating profusely (Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012: 701). The figure is highly 

decorated with a tasselled waistband and knee bands, holding an animal skin and a 

bow. During trance dances, shamans often describe experiencing a burst of pain 

and muscle contractions in the gebesi. This pain leads them to bend forward at the 

hips or waist (Lewis-Williams 1988: 4; Dowson 1989: 87). Figure 4.5 is depicted 

with a waistband. This waistband is unlikely to represent a loincloth, for it does 

not cover the genitals. Comparably, the knee and ankle decorations may have held 

twofold meaning, on the one hand representing the actual decorations and 

ceremonial items worn during the trance dance, such as moth cocoon ankle rattles.  

Dancing sticks are also a commonality shared between the two painted areas. 

Used in the trance dance, the sticks would help support the weight of a dancer 

bending forward at an acute angle (Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012). These sticks 

were not a typical depiction, as only one figure is seen holding such a dancing 

stick in the panel art, while two are seen holding these sticks in the art at the site. 

Furthermore, bows and arrows are strewn across the art in the panel and site. 

Arrows are a common feature in the Maloti-Drakensberg and are not just simple 

weapons of the hunt. Instead, they were also used for hxaro gift exchange or were 

swapped between San groups (Snow 2021: 36). During the hunt, a successful kill 

belongs to the arrow maker, not the hunter. Thus, once the kill is returned to the 

rest of the community, the arrow maker receives a large portion of the meat or is 

responsible for the meat’s distribution (Wiessner 1983: 261; Snow 2021). Arrows 

were often painted or engraved uniquely to individualise them (Wiessner 1983: 

261; Snow 2021: 34). Arrows also played a role in boys’ initiation rituals. Upon 

having killed his first eland a boy will have scarifications made upon his body 

using the same arrow he had used to kill the eland (Snow 2021: 36).  

The figures holding weapons may have been depictions of a plethora of things 

ranging from hunters in the spirit world stalking prey or perhaps hoping to butcher 

a rain-animal to malevolent shamans shooting arrows of sickness at others within 

the panel (Low 2007a, 2007b) to indicators of gift exchange. //Gamab is a deity 



42 

 

believed in by the Dama and Hai//om thought to be responsible for shooting 

arrows of sickness at people. G//amama also shoots arrows of disease in the 

cosmology of the /Gwi. Spirits of the dead and malevolent shamans may also 

shoot arrows of sickness at the living (Keeney 2003; Low 2007a). Depending on 

the context and ritual, arrows may be shot with good or bad intent. Some San 

believe that ‘healing energy’ can be fired at others in the figure of arrows. The 

/Xam believe that some arrows can cause sickness (Low 2007b). A Hai//om 

medicine man recalled how he would sneeze the harmful //Gamab’s arrows out of 

the body of those he was healing (Low 2007b). 

Paraphernalia such as bags have interesting connotations. In San mythology, it is 

believed that bags, three of which hang from the therianthrope’s neck (Fig. 4.2), 

are related to trance, transformation, therianthropes and /Kaggen (Lewis-Williams 

& Pearce 2008). In San mythology, /Kaggen, who was the first shaman, would 

hide within a bag while transforming himself into a flying creature (Lewis-

Williams & Pearce 2008: 429). The idea of trance is enhanced not just by the bags 

and threads of light, both of which may be associated with trance, but by the way 

the therianthrope is holding his arms. Common trance dance postures include 

bending forward at acute angles with arms spread out behind them (Lewis-

Williams & Pearce 2012: 701). The therianthropic figure (Fig. 4.2) is also near an 

eland, the favourite animal of /Kaggen who was also its creator. Mayhap the 

therianthrope is not hunting the eland, but as /Kaggen would, trying to lead the 

eland away from harm (Parkington 2003: 138). Note that the therianthrope lacks 

any hunting gear, and the thread of light, unlike in the Linton panel, is not 

connected to any hunters or figures with hunting paraphernalia. 

5.2 Therianthropes and Flying Buck  

Therianthropes are shamans that transform partly or wholly into animals or obtain 

animal-like characteristics (Lewis-Williams 1981a: 12). Therianthropes are 

sometimes confused with shamans holding props such as eland horns or wearing 

antelope-eared caps (Challis 2005: 12; Guenther 2017: 6). These caps are made of 

scalps of small antelope, such as springbok or rhebok (Challis 2005: 12; Lewis-

Williams 2006: 108). Therianthropes may depict transformed shamans, people 



43 

 

disguised as animals, or spirits-of-the-dead. However, it is most likely that 

therianthropes depict transformed shamans due to the tendency of rock art to 

depict various aspects of the trance dance (including dance postures and dance 

paraphernalia) and not mythology or hunting rituals. Therianthropes are also 

sometimes depicted alongside or with zigzag patterns linked to rain animals 

(Dowson 1988: 117). Within the shelter and the panel there are numerous 

examples of therianthropes, some of which I will discuss below. 

First, the role of therianthropes is varied. One explanation for depicting 

therianthropes in the shelter and on the Linton panel is that therianthropes may 

allude to the hunter-prey relationship experienced in the physical world. The 

hunter becomes hyper-aware of the prey’s “humanness and sociality” (Guenther 

2017: 4). While tracking, hunting, and eventually butchering the animal, the 

hunter engages with it every step until their identities blur. The G/wi of the central 

Kalahari call this “invisible agency” n!àre, and the Ju/’hoan (also known as the 

!Kung) refer to it as n!ow (Guenther 2017: 4). It is believed to confer a spiritual 

connection between people and animals, but it also gives shamans and hunters a 

degree of control over the hunted animal. The bigger, potency-laden game animals 

possess n!àre or n!ow. The hunter and prey’s n!ow may interact during the hunt, 

causing the hunt to succeed or fail. On the other hand, during a girl’s initiation 

ritual, there are moments in which it is believed that she will experience a phase in 

the menstruation hut in which she transforms into an eland. This transformation is 

not physical but is felt on a spiritual level (Guenther 2017: 6). This connection 

may be depicted in rock art either in the form of therianthropic figures, which 

would show the blending of the two species’ beings, or via threads of light. The 

latter will be discussed in the following section. However, it is more likely that the 

therianthropes allude to aspects of trance dance rather than hunting or a girl’s 

initiation ritual. This is because most of the human figures in both the shelter and 

the panel do not seem to be female or depict obvious female characteristics such 

as breasts. Similarly, there is no clear ethnographic evidence that would suggest 

that rock art was created for or in relation to hunting. However, the large number 

of trance postures and paraphernalia lend credence to the idea that these 

therianthropic figures allude to the trance dance. 



44 

 

Both the site and panel have depictions of otherwise very human-looking figures, 

identified as a therianthropes by the presence of hooves. The Linton panel 

therianthrope is depicted lying down while a thread of light passes through or 

beneath him. The second large lying down figure seen in the upper right-hand 

corner of the panel may also be a therianthrope, as indicated by his hooves. This 

figure’s right leg is bent at the knee, and a portion of his foot is painted like a 

hoof. This is similar to the shelter therianthrope (Fig. 5.1), who is also identified 

by his hooves and is seen kneeling or crawling along a thread of light.  

Other therianthrope characteristics can be found in many figures in the panel. One 

example includes two figures with fetlocks and cloven hoofs, a canine figure 

standing by a human, both depicted with their hairs on end (Lewis-Williams 1988: 

10), a figure with fetlocks, and a final figure with fetlocks and feline-like ears, 

head and tail (Lewis-Williams 1988: 10). Perhaps these therianthropes are 

shamans that have transformed into animals during the trance dance and are now 

traversing the spirit world in this other world form. Within the shelter, Figure 4.2 

and Figure 4.3, are identifiable as therianthropes. Figure 4.3 is a predominantly 

red human figure, one of his feet has been destroyed by a flake but the other is 

still relatively well preserved. This remaining foot has three long black claws in 

place of nails or toes. Claws are a zoogenic feature and thus give rise to the 

possibility that this individual is a therianthrope. The other figures that surround 

him have all sadly had their feet damaged to such a degree that it is impossible to 

tell if they too once possessed claws upon their feet.  

Explaining the therianthrope’s purpose within the group of human figures depends 

on if this figure was the sole therianthrope or if he was one of many. If he was the 

sole therianthrope he may have been a transformed shaman walking among the 

other participants of the trance dance that have yet to transform or are onlookers 

of the dance. As previously explained the therianthrope and human figures exhibit 

various details that are indicative of trance dances. These include the waistbands 

that may signify pain in their gebesi, slightly forward bending positions, and 

sweat dripping from one of the figure’s armpits. On the other hand, if all the 

figures were therianthropes perhaps this is a group of shamans traversing the spirit 



45 

 

world in their therianthropic forms, possibly meeting other shamanic groups 

coming from another direction, hence why two groups of people are seen walking 

or dancing towards one other. 

 

Figure 5.1 A therianthrope crawling on a thread of light. 

The therianthrope has red dots in his hair, which may indicate beads. They may be 

ostrich egg shell (OES) beads painted red or perhaps glass beads that the San 

traded for. However, including these details in rock art may be more significant 

than simply reflecting what people wore during daily life or trance dance. The 

Kalahari San consider beads and beadwork to be of great social importance. 

Beadwork is often used in girls’ puberty rituals or as a hxaro gift (Dowson 1989: 

85). In San mythology, it is believed that the gemsbok people were the first to 

create OES beads. A Ju/’hoan man who visited a shelter with Megan Biesele 

refused to believe humans made the paintings until they found an OES bead. The 

Ju/’hoan man explained that making OES beads was a human thing, thus implying 

“humanness” (Dowson 1989: 85). During trance dances, dancers adorn 

themselves with OES beads to appear attractive and robust to the spirits. By 

wearing the beads, they also reminded spirits and others of their humanness. 

Therefore, a therianthrope with OES beads may remind others that they are 



46 

 

simply humans transformed (Dowson 1989). Since beads hold more significance 

than simple adornment, the therianthrope figure may be depicted wearing them 

due to his higher social status, importance in the community or some other reason 

that justifies his hair being adorned with precious beads. 

 

Upon his neck hang three bags. It was previously mentioned that such bags 

connect with therianthropes, transformation, /Kaggen and trance as the trickster 

god used such bags to transform himself into a flying creature (Lewis-Williams & 

Pearce 2008). Perhaps, these bags are a symbolic means of identifying a person 

who has been or is in the midst of transforming himself into some animal. It 

should also be noted that some dancing shamans would wear necklaces, usually 

reserved for women (Barnard 1979: 77). Perhaps this is one such necklace or a 

necklace-like thing with a bag or pouch attached. Another feature of the 

therianthrope are the odd protrusions on its shoulders. These may be potency 

escaping or entering through the n/ao spot (Lewis-Williams 1981b: 93). This spot 

is located on the nape of the neck and is believed to be the area where the spirit or 

soul of an individual can enter and exit the body. During trance, a shaman leaves 

behind his physical body and ‘dies’. Perhaps these odd protrusions on the back of 

this therianthrope’s neck symbolise the shaman’s spirit leaving or entering his 

body as he enters or returns from a trance journey. This would make sense since 

therianthropes are associated with trance, which in turn is associated with ‘death’. 

Thus, these protrusions enhance the metaphor of death and the subsequent 

transformation the shaman experiences as a result upon entering trance.  

 

A very similar therianthrope and eland pair (Figure 5.2) are depicted in the 

Bosworth site, which is in relatively close proximity to the Linton shelter. Both 

images depict a red thread of light fringed with white dots that either leads to or 

wraps around the neck of an eland. The therianthropes are strikingly similar. They 

are depicted crouching down on the thread of light with their arms thrown back 

behind them. This posture is often exhibited by shamans performing the trance 

dance and links the therianthrope to the trance dance.  

 



47 

 

 

 

Figure 5.2 A therianthrope and an eland at Bosworth.  

Along the arms of each therianthrope are white dots as well as white fingers. The 

finger ‘dots’ are slightly more elongated than the dots fringing the arms. The 

white dots may be depicting the arm hairs of the shamans standing on end or 

perhaps n/om which is coursing through their bodies as they throw their arms 

behind their back to receive the incoming n/om (Lewis-Williams 1981a, 1987, 

1988; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2012). The therianthrope within the Linton 

shelter has hoofs for feet, while the Bosworth therianthrope has unidentifiable 

white block-like appendages instead of feet. Perhaps these are stylised hoofs. 

Even his posture on the thread of light is similar. Both crouch down with the 

thread of light passing through the front of their knees and re-emerging at their 

feet. Perhaps this area of the Drakensberg employed very similar styles when it 

came to depicting certain therianthropic figures, or both shelters (Linton and 

Bosworth) were painted by the same group of San. It is also possible that the 

tradition of painting therianthropes in such similar means was passed down 

through the generations or perhaps one group of San saw the depiction and based 

their own depiction in another shelter upon it. While the specific reasoning for 

their similarities may never be known, it is certain that the similarities imply a 



48 

 

certain degree of commonality among the San groups that lived in the area of the 

Linton and Bosworth shelters. Even if they were not the same San group, they 

seem to have interacted with one another or occupied shared spaces often enough 

that their art was influenced by each other and resulted in the eventual similar 

depictions. 

 

The next section of this chapter deals with flying buck, also known as trance buck, 

alites, or winged antelopes. These creatures have been a long-debated feature in 

San rock art research (Pager 1975; Mazel 1982; Blundell 2004). Flying buck and 

therianthropes are not separate entities. Instead, flying buck are a specific type of 

therianthrope with certain features and associations. Common characteristics of 

flying buck include both human and animal features, usually those of an antelope 

with legs tucked underneath them, arms stretched behind their backs, bending 

forward, and lastly, wing-like limbs or appendages stretched out behind them (Lee 

& Woodhouse 1968; Mazel 1982: 75; Blundell 2004: 89). The long-debate about 

these figures was centred around whether they depicted flying buck or spirits-of-

the-dead. Since spirits-of-the-dead were often associated with wind and thus 

flight, it was thought the wing-like appendages may have represented this 

association. However, in the 1970s and 1980s, ethnographic evidence suggested 

that these images were more likely representations of shamans in out-of-body 

travel rather than spirits-of-the-dead. However, distinguishing between the two is 

difficult, for they share many characteristics, including the ability to transform 

into animals (Blundell 2004: 89).  

Within the shelter, Figure 5.1 has been identified as a therianthrope with many 

characteristics of a flying buck, including antelope features (hoofs), arms 

stretched out behind its back, legs tucked beneath its body, bending forward, and 

most strikingly, two odd wing-like appendages upon its shoulders and back of its 

neck. A similar image of a flying buck can be found in another shelter called 

Snake Shelter (Fig. 5.3). Here a person in a similar posture with a stick-like wing 

protruding from the back of his neck is seen crouching on a thread of light which 

leads to two subsequent figures, each progressively less human and more 

antelope-like with more evident wing-like appendages (Lee & Woodhouse 1968). 



49 

 

It is possible that the figure in Figure 5.1 is undergoing a similar metamorphosis, 

the eland indicating the buck-like figure the person is trying to take on. It should 

also be noted that much of the shelter has been heavily damaged, including the 

areas where the thread of light once led, and thus it is impossible to tell if 

subsequent images along the thread of light have similar stages of transformation 

to a flying buck. However, the remaining imagery does give enough indication to 

argue that Figure 5.1 may depict the first stage of such a transformation.  

 

Figure 5.3 An image of a flying buck from Snake Shelter, Giants Castle, taken 

from Lee & Woodhouse (1968). 

The possible flying buck in Figure 5.1 has many striking similarities to another 

rock panel, namely the Klipfontein panel. Figure 5.4 is a drawing of the 

Klipfontein panel. The exact shelter from which it came is unknown. On the 

Klipfontein panel, one can identify six flying buck, each unique in their own way 

and depicted in different degrees of transformation. The flying buck in the lower 

right-hand corner is depicted with its arms outstretched, an antelope head, hair on 

end along its arms, a waistband, flywhisks and three bags dangling from its neck. 

Like the therianthrope in Figure 5.1 (and Fig. 4.2), both are crouched on their 

knees, their arms are spread out behind them, and both have hair upon their arms. 

Most strikingly, both figures have three bags dangling from their necks and are on 

top of or depicted closely above a thread of light.  

The two other Klipfontein figures above the same thread of light to the left lack 

bags or flywhisks but otherwise share many of the same characteristics. The 

similarity between these obvious and easily identified Klipfontein flying buck and 



50 

 

the therianthropic figure in Figure 5.1 supports the idea that Figure 5.1 may depict 

a flying buck. The pair of flying buck in the upper right-hand corner of Figure 5.4 

and the lone flying buck in the left-hand corner have odd wing-like or triangular 

protrusions coming out of the backs of their necks, similar to the wing-like 

triangles protruding from the neck of the therianthrope in Figure 5.1. As 

mentioned before, these may be wings, as in the case of the Klipfontein figures, or 

they may be something else. Note that the left-hand Klipfontein figure already has 

wing-like protrusions spread out behind him, so the triangular spike-like 

structures coming out of its neck may not be wings but rather may be something 

coming out of or, alternatively, something entering the n/ao spot which is located 

at the base of the neck (Lewis-Williams 1981b: 93). Ju/’hoan informants have 

described this as an area where n/om enters the body (Lewis-Williams 1981b: 93). 

Another ethnographic account that may dispute these protrusions or streamer-like 

things being wings is that when a medicine man or shaman wishes to attain 

potency, he will position his arms in a backward position. This position allows for 

an influx of potency. However, this position is not maintained and ends abruptly 

when the shaman has achieved a climactic moment filled with potency, after 

which he may collapse onto his knees (Lewis-Williams 1981b; Lewis-Williams et 

al. 2000: 134). Figure 5.1 may thus not indicate flight but rather a shaman drawn 

in a stylised dancing position to indicate the climactic moment in which potency 

has entered his body.  

The Linton panel does not seem to have any depictions of flying buck or people 

with these distinct features, thus making Figure 5.1 unique to the shelter. 

However, the thread of light upon which the flying buck in Figure 5.1 crouches 

may once have linked up with images in the Linton panel before it was removed 

and much of the other images within the shelter destroyed.  



51 

 

 

Figure 5.4 Tracing of the Klipfontein panel. 

5.3. Threads of Light 

At first glance, the panel may seem disconnected and chaotic. However, further 

study reveals a red line fringed with white dots running through the entire panel, 

entering and leaving cracks and figures, thus creating a sense of ‘‘unity’’ within 

the supposed chaos. The red line is not a ‘‘real’’ physical thing; rather, it is 

likened to a path or rope that trancers see and follow in a trance. It may pass 

through the bodies of surrounding figures, seemingly entering or leaving the rock 

face, or floating above or below figures (Lewis-Williams 1981a; Lewis-

Williams et al. 2000; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2009). It is a physical 

representation of potency. While in trance, the San believe they permeate and pass 

through the rock face into the spirit world and return to the physical while in 

trance (Lewis-Williams & Dowson 1990).  

The threads of light in the Linton panel permeate the rock face and figures. The 

threads of light may also have served as a link between shamans in other rock 

shelters, thus forming an intricate web of spiritual connections (Lewis-Williams & 

Dowson 1990; Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2009; Lewis-Williams 2013). Similar 

lines, such as the one found on the Linton panel and in the Linton shelter, are 



52 

 

depicted in many other sites, particularly in the Eastern Cape Drakensberg. The 

line does not have one uniform depiction. Instead, variations of the line can be 

found in San rock art. These variations include a red line fringed on one or both 

sides with white dots, parallel red lines, dots above, below or between red lines 

and a single line fringed by smaller white dashes (Lewis-Williams & Pearce 2009: 

50).  

Dots are a frequent characteristic found in threads of light, often fringing a thin 

red line. Both the shelter and the Linton panel have a thread of light fringed by 

dots. These dots may represent the neuropsychological sparks shamans see when 

they enter trance (Dowson 1989). The shelter and the panel’s thread of light are 

predominantly fringed with white dots. Some areas within the Linton panel depict 

a thread of light without these dots. This could have been done on purpose, 

representing that dots and sparks in trance are not always present or may appear 

and disappear randomly. Alternatively, this may simply be a case in which the 

white paint has faded, leaving behind only the thin red line it once fringed. These 

dots that fringe the thin red lines form an ongoing chain of sparks, similar to what 

is described by people in altered states of consciousness (Dowson 1989). In some 

instances, both in the shelter and in the Linton panel, the dots are seen running in 

parallel chains to each other without a thin red line between them. Perhaps the 

thin red line was something seen or followed in trance that would occasionally 

disappear and reappear while the dots remained, perhaps to guide the way or 

signify that while the ‘path’ was still there, it was now in the rock face and thus in 

the spirit world. It may also have simply been how threads of light appeared in the 

artist’s mind. 

 

The role of the line is plentiful. Shamans may crawl along or climb it while in the 

spirit world to get to their Great god //Gauwa’s home (Biesele 1980). An old 

Ju/’hoan man known as Old K”xau relayed his travelling experiences to the spirit 

world. To reach the Great god’s home, he first had to enter a waterhole that 

opened into the spirit world and then climb ‘‘the thread of the sky’’ (Biesele 

1980). This thread of the sky is likely akin to a thread of light. Another 

ethnographic account of the thread of light was given by a Ju/’hoan teacher and 



53 

 

translator, Kxao /O/oo, and a shaman, ≠Oma Djo, who relayed experiences of 

climbing threads up to god’s home to rescue the souls of the sick and heal them. 

While climbing the threads, ≠Oma Djo relayed how he and another shaman 

named ≠Oma !’ ‘ home!gausi, would support each other along the way, as well as 

tell other shamans still climbing if they had been successful in their attempts at 

saving the souls of the sick and that they could all climb back down now (Lewis-

Willia