Painted Stories. A Guide to the Rock Art of AiAiba (Anibib Farm), Erongo Mountains, Namibia

Title: Painted Stories
Subtitle: A Guide to the Rock Art of AiAiba (Anibib Farm), Erongo Mountains, Namibia
Authors: Peter Breunig; Gabriele Franke
Publisher: Namibia Scientific Society - Kuiseb Publishers
Windhoek, Namibia 2023
ISBN 9789994576845 / ISBN 978-99945-76-84-5
Softcover, 17 x 24 cm, 228 pages, throughout colour photographs, several in large format

About: Painted Stories. A Guide to the Rock Art of AiAiba (Anibib Farm), Erongo Mountains, Namibia:

People interested in rock art often ask the same three questions: How old is it? Who created it? What was its purpose? Archaeologist Peter Breunig investigated the rock art of AiAiba (Anibib farm) in the Erongo Mountains, one of the richest rock art areas of Namibia. In Painted Stories, to which archaeologist Dr. Gabriele Franke contributed to, he closely examines those rock paintings, using them as an example of the prehistoric treasure trove which can tell us about the world view of Namibia’s ancient hunter-gatherers. While renowned archaeologist Henri Breuil counted 344 paintings in the mid-20th century, Peter Breunig, using modern digital methods, makes the invisible visible and recorded 4,914 paintings in 208 sites, 14 times the number known in Breuil’s day. He addresses the above questions and gives valuable insight into the representational world of Namibia’s prehistoric peoples in a fascinating reader-friendly way. Painted Stories is extremely important and valuable because, as Peter Breunig writes, “there is a simple reason for urgency in rock art research. Rock art is exposed to natural and human influences which are inexorably leading to its disappearance. In many cases on AiAiba, the paintings are already so faded that they can barely be perceived with the naked eye. For now, they can still be recovered using digital technology. But here, too, we will eventually reach a point beyond which they are lost forever.” The many photographs, digital drawings and descriptions in this guide will preserve the rock paintings for generations to come.

Content: Painted Stories. A Guide to the Rock Art of AiAiba (Anibib Farm), Erongo Mountains, Namibia

Introduction
When, Who and Why-Questions in Namibian Rock Art Research
How old is the rock art?
Who made the rock art?
What was the rock art for?
Discovery and Documentation
A Journey Through AiAiba's World of Images
Western Conservancy Gate Region
Scene with woman and snake
Site 192-A
Big Elephant Region - Big elephant, double-headed arrow, springboks, and 'foreigners'
Red Elephant Shelter (Site 69-A)
Cave (Site 69-B)
Springbok Boulder (Site 67)
Reconciliation Boulder (Site 74)
Springbok Vlakte - Funeral and ritual murder, or dance and trance?
Mourning Boulder (Site 65)
Big Hill - Striped people, hurrying hunters, white giraffe and dead animal, kudu, and trees
Site 59
Hunters' Meeting (Site 61)
White Giraffe Shelter (Site 62)
Kudu Boulder (Site 64-A)
Tree Cave (Site 64-B)
Submarine Rock - Stooped people
Explorers' Cave (Site 84-A)
Elephant Hill - An eland hunt and the visibility of rock art
Site 89
Archers' Hill - The colors of paintings, men with weapons and women with sticks, crouching hunter
Site 122-A
Archers' Rock (Site 126)
Site 165
Deserted Palace - An elephant cow with calf, tracking the painter, the rareness of water, human-animal hybrids, and pregnant women
Site 51-B
Paradise Rock (Site 52)
Drinking Trough (Site 54)
Monkeys and Gryphons Rock (Site 56)
Site 90-A
Anibib Farmhouse Region - Skinny people and a place of superlatives
Site 97
Drotskie Rock (Site 81)
Big Foot Region - Big feet or mysterious blots, giraffe styles, people, positions, and bees
Big Foot Rock (Site 187)
Site 153
Site 207-B
Striped Faces Hill - Dancers and musicians with animal masks, flamingos, and giraffe fur
Site 135
Site 173
Site 178
Large Cave Region - 'Spider-Men', snakes, an aggressive elephant, hidden springboks, and a wall covered with pictures
Spider-Men Rocks (Sites 9 and 10)
Site 12
Site 13
Attacking Elephant Wall (Site 16)
Site 25
Giraffe Dance Wall (Site 28)
Eland Hill - AiAiba's largest and most captivating antelope depiction, kudu stripes, and an entranced shaman
Site 4
Turtle Rock Region - Headless long-haired figures, black paintings, and the meaning of color
Site 110
Bogenfels Region - Black shapes and patterns, music and dance, unusual people, and rhinoceros
Site 23
Site 30
Site 31
Site 36
Playboy Wall (Site 43)
Site 45-B
Hanging Man Hill - A hanging person, and a person as tall as a tree
Site 169
Site 170
Granite Saddle - Miniatures on the ceiling, old and young people, different heads, a dwelling, and monkeys
Site 113
Eland Wall (Sitell6-A)
Monkey Shelter (Site 117)
Moringa Valley - Dance and social organization
Site 108
Okarundu River East Region - Differences between sexes, athletic people, seals, and thoughts
on the number of paintings
Site 130
Site 180
Site 191
Lodge Region - Old people, an attacking elephant, two worlds separated by a line, and protective layers
Site 181-C
Elephant Wall (Site 188-B)
Giraffe Boulder (Site 200)
Color, Motif, and Style—A Synopsis
Red, white, and black pictures
50% people, 40% animals, and some inanimate objects
People
Quadrupeds
Antelopes
Lines
Non-figurative areas of paint
Geometric patterns
Equipment
Rain, rain clouds, water
From giraffes to hares: AiAiba's other animal depictions
Giraffes
Elephants
Zebras
Birds
Carnivores
Extremely rare motifs
Final Thoughts
Why here and not elsewhere? The distribution and location of the rock painting sites
What for? The purpose of the rock art
The almost unanswered question of age
Painted stories
What comes next?
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index