Sevilla Trail
A significant part of my philosophy toward rock art is that as much of it as possible should be made accessible to the public whenever possible. I mean this in two senses. The first is the most obvious; that rock art sites should be opened to the public when possible. Secondly, that rock art should be put onto the internet. I have been collecting a digital archive of Southern African rock art over the last four years, of which I have only put the tip of the iceberg on the internet. However, this tip of the iceberg puts me far ahead of most of my colleagues.
This internet site is significant on both counts mentioned above. Both sites, the Sevilla trail, and Solomonslagte have recently been opened to the public on an experimental basis (and the results have been remarkably encouraging). Both sites receive a large amount of traffic, are completely unprotected from vandalism, and yet have more or less NO vandalism. Secondly, they fit my next point, because they are remarkable enough for me to go through the effort to make websites for them. I promise that more sites are on the way, but these images have the fortune of making it onto the web now, and I have the fortune of putting them there. Also online are some earlier collections of rock art from the sites of Maack's shelter in the Brandberg (with the famous "White Lady"), Twyfelfontein, and Piet Alberts Kopies, and my Namibian Rock Art webpage.
I will give some brief background to the sites. Both sites are in the South Western Cape of South Africa, about twelve kilometers apart. The shelters are both in the foothills of the Cedarberg, in adjacent river valleys. The Sevilla trail is actually a collection of a dozen or so sites in about a four kilometer line. Solomonslagte is a set of three shelters about four hundred meters apart. Most of the painting in these pictures are figured to be between about 2,000 and 4,000 years old, done by San, or Bushmen hunter-gatherers. I avoid the troublesome subject of interpretation entire here, but I would be glad to offer my thoughts on request.
I have enhanced most of the images for ease of viewing. I will allow use of the pictures to any individual or organization provided it is for the purpose of research (AND NOT PROFIT!). I do, however, ask that you notify me before using them.
Copyright 1999, Grant S. McCall. All rights reserved.
Solomonslagte