#TRAVEL My Weekly Powerup | #club5050 | What can we learn from rock art in Namibia | #steemexclusive / 9 photos

In Namibia there are thounsand of rock art throughout the country. The San people who once carved these images were one of the original indigenous peoples who lived in the country. They were hunters and gathers. What they have left for us is one of the greatest testaments to their history. It’s not only in Namibia this kind of rock art made by the San people can be found. There are places in South – Africa and Botswana as well. Twylelfontein has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007. This place is located in the north western part of Namibia in a landscape characterized by desert and wildernes. But the area was the home to the San people who made these ancient petroglyps. On our way to Swakopmund we made a stop here.

As we arrived at Twylfelfontein and parked the car we started to wander around among the carvings. We recognize girafes, elephants, lions, antilopes and several other animals. Often the rock art depicts what kind of animals lived here. The rock art in Namiba is one of the most extensive in Africa. Namibia might be the country on the African continent with the oldest carvings created by indigenous people. They are assumend to be more than 30.000 years old. Here at Twylelfontain we find the largest group of rock art in country. I was here with a guide, who could tell us about the art, the age and the people, which was usefull.

When we study the carvings, we can learn something about the past. When we look at the carved animals, it tells us a lot about which species that once lived in this area. The San people were gathers and hunters. The carvings also tells us about which animals they would hunt. What the landscape once looked like, where there used to be rivers etc. The guide told us that many of the animals on the carvings are no longer to be found here.

These carvings that you see on the photos are about 2500 years old. Since 1952 the place has been a national monument. But it was not until 1986 that the area got a formal protection. That’s why many of the carvings have been damaged. But restoration work did start and I was impressed to see so many carvings. The San rock paintings are found all over southern Africa, but this is the first time I actually visited a rock art site on the African continent.