AFRICA · MALOTI-DRAKENSBERG

Eland Cave

The eland in San paintings

This large antelope held importance in the diet and beliefs of San communities.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Detail of painted elands by San artists in Eland Cave — **DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPH OF THE ORIGINAL · PROVENANCE VERIFIED IN RECORD**
Documentary original · Exact correspondence
Documentary photograph of the original or the site indicated in the record.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Source and provenance ↗Terms of use ↗

History and context

In the Drakensberg shelters, elands appear with delicate bodies and human figures of the finest line. Ethnographic observation and San traditions have allowed some scenes to be linked with healing, trance and transformation, without reducing each image to a single translation.

The park preserves some 690 sites and over 35,000 images. Here the astonishing effect lies not only in the quantity: a pictorial tradition of millennia maintained a visual grammar capable of speaking of animals, social relationships and a spiritual world inseparable from the landscape.

Evidence and interpretation

The regional tradition developed over some 4,000 years and reached the historical period. The Eland Cave panel has no direct dating; ritual readings rely on historical and ethnographic research, but do not turn every figure into a trance scene.

Catalogue facts

Date: Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period
Location: Eland Cave · Maloti-Drakensberg, South Africa
Material: Pigments on rock shelters
Tradition: San fine-line painting
Subject: Elands and human figures
Scale: ≈690 sites · over 35,000 images
Caution: The specific panel is not directly dated

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

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Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period

Eland Cave

Prehistory

The specific panel has no direct dating; the regional tradition does not date it.

Current record

Pigments14 dated objects

1 / 14In the centre: Engraved ochre from Blombos

Also connected, without a comparable date (8)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

BhimbetkaPrehistory · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period
Blue that does not yieldMaya worlds · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE
Game Pass ShelterSan histories · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation
KakaduPrehistory · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era
Leang KarampuangPrehistory · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024
Quinkan CountryPrehistory · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity
Sierra de San FranciscoPrehistory · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP
Tassili n’AjjerPrehistory · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE

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Rock art

Current object, without a comparable date: Eland Cave.

Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Engraved stone · Before ≈39,000 cal BP · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Quinkan Country · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory

Painting

Current object, without a comparable date: Eland Cave.

Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Before Sumer · mid-6th–5th millennium BCE · Sumer
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Vasiliki · ca. 2500–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before the Greeks · c. 2400–2200 BCE · Greek worlds
Before Vedic India · c. 1900–1300 BCE · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Grey bowl from Hastinapura · c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura · Vedic and later Indian worlds
Orpheus among the Thracians · circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497. · Thracians
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Karwa textile · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
The walls of San Bartolo · c. 100 BCE · Maya worlds
Ceramics that continued · Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

A vase travels; the rite changes · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Blue that does not yield · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE · Maya worlds
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Quinkan Country · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory

Animal imagery

Current object, without a comparable date: Eland Cave.

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil · ≈18,000–16,000 years · Prehistory
Lamp from La Mouthe · ≈20,500–13,000 years · Magdalenian framework · Prehistory
Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional · Prehistory
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Queen's Lyre · ca. 2600–2500 BCE · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Indus seals · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Fawn spear-thrower · Middle Magdalenian · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians

Human imagery

Current object, without a comparable date: Eland Cave.

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Hohle Fels · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Willendorf · ≈29,500 years · Prehistory
Brno II Articulated Figure · ≈28,000 years cal BP · by funerary association · Prehistory
Dolní Věstonice I · ≈29,000–27,000 years · Prehistory
Lespugue · ≈28,000 years · Prehistory
Kostenki I · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Shigir Idol · C. 10,000 BCE · approximation; debated dating · Prehistory
Nahal Hemar mask · Eighth millennium BCE · context dating, not direct dating of the stone · Prehistory
El Miradero spatula-idols · ≈4000–3800 cal BCE · Prehistory
Warka Mask · End of the 4th millennium BCE · Sumer
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Worshiper of Tell Asmar · Towards 2900–2600 BCE · Sumer
Standard of Ur · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Statue of Ebih-Il · Towards 2400 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Wooden faces · c. 1600–1000 BCE, in several phases · Maya worlds
Head 2 · c. 1200–900 BCE · Maya worlds
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Lanzón · c. 900–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Offering 4 · c. 800–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Kushite king · c. 721–664 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Shabti of Psamtek · 570–526 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Two voices in an urn · 530–520 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The statue was the urn · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
A battle on a comb · Early 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Kul-Oba vase · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
The Solokha gold comb · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Faces of the Steppe · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
Lady of Ibiza · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Punic head pendant · Mid 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Lady of Ibiza · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
The walls of San Bartolo · c. 100 BCE · Maya worlds
Gladiators Cup of Chavagnes · 25–75 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Thracian Gladiator from Cádiz · 67–100 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Articulated doll from Tarragona · Late 3rd–4th century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Seven heads · c. 500–700 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Seated figure · 13th century, date attributed by the museum · Mande Worlds
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Four offerers · Iberian period · individual dating according to catalogue · Iberians
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Quinkan Country · Regional art up to ≈27,000 BP · modern continuity · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

The eland does not always appear in profile

The Rock Art Research Institute archive highlights the variety of eland positions: running, raising the head, seen from the front, from behind, or from above. The repertoire reveals an observation that an isolated silhouette cannot convey. Its documentation also links this antelope to San community healing, initiation and marriage practices. That information provides comparative context, not a universal translation of every painting: the animal's position, nearby figures and the panel's location must be studied together before proposing a specific scene.

Research · Rock Art Research Institute · record RARI RSA ELD1 435, Eland Cave IAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

REGIONAL AREA

Maloti-Drakensberg · Southern AfricaThe marker locates the regional landscape of San rock shelters, not a border or a single panel.

Sources and references

Explore the Maloti-Drakensberg cultural landscape

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Eland Cave

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Eland Cave

Engraved ochre from Blombos

Willendorf

Before the San

Before the name San

Altamira

Lascaux

Kostenki I

Cueva de las Manos

Queen of the Night

Ceramic stand 1010

Banquet under leopards

The Karwa textile

The walls of San Bartolo

Venus in the codex

A closer look

The eland does not always appear in profile

Location and territory

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?