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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