Tsodilo Hills
Botswana's artistic culture has
flourished from time immemorial. The Kalahari is rich in the remains
of tools and artefacts made thousands of years ago, as early as the
Stone Age. The Tsodilo hills are covered with San paintings. The artistic
tradition lives on in basketwork, pottery, weaving and art that flourishes
today in many parts of the country.
The word Tsodilo is derived from teh
Hambukushu word sorile, meanting 'sheer'. Rising out of the flat
Kalahari terrain like a volcanic island in a calm sea, Tsodilo Hills
dominate their surroundings completely. The hills are rocky outcrops
of mecaceous quartzite schist know as Inselbergs, formed a relatively
recent 450 million years ago.
The hills are the subject of many myths
and legends. To the !Kung San they are the bith place of man, the
tomb of the gods and the home of the serpent monster. The Tsodilo
group comprises four indivudual hills, the largest of which is known
by the San as the Male hill. Approximately one kilometre beyond
this is a conglomeration of smaller outcrops which are collectively
known as the Female hill (approx. 250 metres high) and further away
is the Child. The fourth and smallest hill is not named.
San paintings:
There are over 3500 individual rock paintings in more than 350 sites
at Tsodilo Hills. The exact age of the paintings is not known for
sure. The most recent may be only 100 years old, although when a
geologist visited the hills in 1898, none of the inhabitants knew
the origin of the paintings. Most of the rock paintings are to be
found on the Female hill and many can be seen without too much climbing.
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