Another testimony of cross-cultural interaction? The wall grooves of Bushman Rock Shelter

Abstract

In the Limpopo Basin, many wall groove sites are found, sometimes in a very large number. Their function remains debated (rock art? ritual practice? tool sharpening?) and their chronocultural attribution varies between hunter-gatherers, herders and farmers, according to the sites and researchers concerned. New data from ongoing studies at Bushman Rock Shelter indicate an appearance of this graphic practice during the Later Stone Age. These marks could thus be another perceptible transcultural element within the material culture of hunter-gatherers and herders, further blurring their respective archaeological signatures. Is this a simple convergence? Or, is the sharing of beliefs, ritual practices and patterns of rock modification testimony to a new proof of cultural permeability between these two populations in this region?