Sciences unveil mysteries of San rock paintings in the Drakensberg and in Botswana

Dr Adelphine Bonneau will deliver this public lecture

The Later Stone Age rock art of southern Africa is one of the best understood traditions of rock art in the world. In contrast, little is understood of how the paint itself was made or what it was made from, while the age of these paintings also remained mostly unknown, until now. As part of an international project, scientists used chemistry, geology and materials sciences to unveil some of San rock painting mysteries. In more than 40 sites in the Drakensberg and in Botswana, the secrets of the creation of paintings were revealed as well as their age. This talk will present those discoveries and introduce the science background behind them.

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