Fig 1.
Area covered by the research conducted by a team from Goethe University (Frankfurt); many of the sites are new discoveries. The arrow points to the two sites discussed in this article. Red = rock engravings; green = rock paintings; purple circles = permanent open water; black symbol = /Ui//aes-Twyfelfontein World Heritage Site (map by J. Behringer and P. Breunig).
Fig 2.
Layout of rock art sites RAS 6, RAS 7 and RAS 8.
Aerial view of the layout of rock art sites RAS 6, RAS 7 and RAS 8 (photographs by O. Breunig; photogrammetry and map by P. Breunig).
Fig 3.
Main panel of the RAS 8 rock art site.
RAS 8-O is the panel with the highest concentration of animal track engravings, amounting to almost 300 in number (images of engravings are digitally enhanced; photographs and artwork by P. Breunig).
Fig 4.
Hidden panel of the RAS 8 rock art site.
The narrow corridor RAS 8-N, with engravings on both sides which extend as far inside as the lower exfoliated rock face; from the position of the photographer at the entrance, this is situated roughly three metres into the corridor (photograph: T. Lenssen-Erz).
Fig 5.
Large human figures at rock art site RAS 8.
Panel RAS 8-A, showing, alongside the usual canon of animals, several human figures of up to 1 m in height, some men and at least one woman, all in the same position with their arm(s) extended to the right (photograph by T. Lenssen-Erz).
Fig 6.
Large engraving of an elephant at rock art site RAS 8.
Particularly large (height: 1.6 m) naturalistic elephant engraving on panel RAS 8 (photograph by T. Lenssen-Erz).
Fig 7.
Section of panel RAS 8-O, showing the individual sequential numbers for all engravings (digitally enhanced; height of section: c. 1.8 m; photograph and artwork by P. Breunig).
Fig 8.
Exceptional panel from the RAS 6 rock art site.
RAS 6-C is the most visible panel of RAS 6, featuring depictions of extraordinarily detailed giraffes and ostriches (above: engravings in their original condition; below: digitally enhanced images of the engravings; photographs and artwork by P. Breunig).
Fig 9.
Absolute proportions of identified species.
Graphical representation of the species identified by their tracks in the art found at selected Doro! nawas rock art sites. We omit tracks of animals with <10 occurrences from the analysis, due to the small sample size in these cases.
Table 1.
Numbers of motifs emerging from the analysis.
Table 2.
Results of the age and sex determination process.
Fig 10.
Examples of ‘frequently’ depicted animal tracks.
The sequence in columns represents the order of number of occurrences. The scale of reproduction differs from picture to picture; all tracks are shown in upward direction (irrespective of their actual direction on the rock face); all tracks are digitally enhanced (excerpts from Fig 3, photographs and artwork by P. Breunig).
Fig 11.
Examples of the ‘less frequently’ depicted animal tracks.
The sequence in columns represents the order of number of occurrences. The scale of reproduction differs from picture to picture; all tracks are shown in upward direction (irrespective of their actual direction on the rock face); all tracks are digitally enhanced (excerpts from Fig 3, photographs and artwork by P. Breunig).
Fig 12.
Examples of the ‘rarely’ depicted animal tracks.
The sequence in columns represents the order of number of occurrences. The scale of reproduction differs from picture to picture; all tracks are shown in upward direction (irrespective of their actual direction on the rock face); all tracks are digitally enhanced (excerpts from Fig 3, photographs and artwork by P. Breunig).
Table 3.
Limb involved and laterality of engraved quadruped tracks: Analysis by age of animal depicted.
Table 4.
Limb involved and laterality of engraved quadruped tracks: Analysis by sex of animal depicted.
Table 5.
Leg involved and laterality of engraved bird tracks: Analysis by age of bird depicted.
Table 6.
Leg involved and laterality of engraved bird tracks: Analysis by sex of bird depicted.
Fig 13.
Directions of engraved tracks.
The direction on the rock walls in which engravers depicted animal species’ tracks ‘walking’; this analysis is limited to those species of which ten or more engraved tracks were in evidence. We illustrate directions in the form of a wind rose diagram aligned in such a way that each direction shown corresponds to the viewer’s perspective.
Table 7.
Direction of engraved tracks by species.
Fig 14.
Correspondence analysis of directions of engraved tracks.
Correspondence analysis of the directions of tracks engraved on the rock walls, including all animal species whose tracks occurred ten times or more (covering, on the first two axes, 89.9% of all cases).
Table 8.
Results of the age and sex determination process for human footprints.
Table 9.
Laterality of engraved human footprints: Analysis by age.
Table 10.
Laterality of engraved human footprints: Analysis by sex.
Fig 15.
Direction of engraved human footprints.
A quantitative illustration of the directions in which engraved human footprints are pointing on the rock panels. We illustrate directions in the form of a wind rose diagram aligned in such a way that each direction shown corresponds to the viewer’s perspective.
Table 11.
Direction of engraved human footprints.
Table 12.
Comparative summary of animal track engravings.
Fig 16.
Painted animal tracks in rock art in Namibia.
In the rock paintings of Namibia, animal tracks appear less frequently than in engravings, but where they do occur–as in this example from Daûreb/Brandberg (site I 109, [98])–they form trackways. This reproduction of the panel shows all depictions at this site; it appears, then, as if the animal which left the tracks had never been painted. The pictorial elements from which the tracks issue could be bushes. The two human figures, although they are carrying hunting equipment under their arms, seem to be occupied more with themselves than with the animal tracks.