Stenciled Rock Art Found in South Africa

Archaeology Magazine ^ | October 28, 2026 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

Phys.org reports that stenciled rock art has been identified in South Africa, which is known for rock art painted with brushes and fingers. "I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at for a while," said David Pearce of the University of the Witwatersrand. "Then they popped into focus, a bit like optical illusions do," he explained. The two human-like figures were discovered in the La Rochelle rock shelter in eastern South Africa, where few paintings have been found on the region's steep cliffs. Pearce said that brush-painted images of hartebeest, eland, and humanoid beings had previously been identified in the large rock shelter. He now suggests that two of the figures had been made by blowing or spattering paint across a template, perhaps made of beeswax, clay, or wood. But why are stenciled images unusual in southern Africa? "Maybe people stenciled art on bodies, on clothing, or on stone-built structures," Pearce said. "It might be something that was widely used, but just not on rock faces," he surmised. "Southern Africa's already got one of the most detailed and elaborate bodies of rock art anywhere in the world, and this is just adding to that diversity and complexity of the local traditions," he concluded. To read about stenciled rock art from Indonesia that dates to nearly 70,000 years ago, go to "Mark of the Human."

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: africa; caveart; godsgravesglyphs; ironoxide; kilpdriftcomplex; ocher; ochre; rockart; southafrica

[SunkenCiv]

Photograph of stenciled figures at the La Rochelle rock shelter (left) and an enhancement of the same photo using DStretch software (right)

David Pearce

[SunkenCiv]

According to a statement released by Kyushu University, an international team of scientists found a rare mix of animal collagen and ocher in samples taken from 60,000-year-old ocher-rich sediments at the Kilpdrift Complex archaeological site in South Africa's De Hoop Nature Reserve. Using paleoproteomics, the researchers determined that the collagen protein comes from a species of antelope called the common eland (Taurotragus oryx). The study suggests that people mixed materials derived from these large antelopes with ocher powder, or perhaps that they used ocher-treated hides at the cliffside site. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. To read about an ocher pigment production workshop unearthed in South Africa's Blombos Cave, go to "Stone Age Art Supplies."

Kilpdrift Complex in the De Hoop Nature Reserve, South Africa

Ole F. Unhammer/University of Bergen

[SunkenCiv]

[Magnum44]

"You know, I used to like this hobby... But shoot! Seems like everybody's got a rock collection."