Journal of the Namibia Scientific Society
The Namibia Scientific Society Journal (ISSN: 1018-7677) is a cross-disciplinary journal and publishes research in all fields related to Namibia. Published since 1925, it is the longest-standing academic journal in Namibia and is distributed to libraries in various countries, e.g. Germany, South Africa, Kenya, Australia, Switzerland and USA. In currently 69 volumes, articles have been published in research fields like Architecture Climate/Weather Conservation (Desert) Fauna/Wildlife Geography Heritage management History (colonial time/independence struggle) (Eco) Tourism Vegetation.
Shaping the Cartography of Southwestern Africa
A dangerous barren coast, a harsh interior environment, and at times violent conflicts among its inhabitants were all obstacles to the exploration and mapping of southwestern Africa. Looking back on more than five hundred years of mapped history, Namibia nevertheless boasts one of the richest cartographic heritages of the African countries south of the equator. For a concise orientation on significant milestones of that extensive cultural heritage, this paper selects for discussion sixteen outstanding coastal charts and orientation maps of the interior1 from the four centuries between the years 1502 and 1902. For the continuity of contextual circumstances that drove the cartographic unveiling of southwestern Africa, this paper presents the selected charts and maps in a chronological order from the time of the Portuguese discovery until the eve of the major cartographical changes brought about by the Herero and Nama uprisings.
Cartography, Southwestern Africa, Portuguese Discovery, Enlightenment, Nineteenth Century
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of the Namibia Scientific Society
A Sense of Time and Place: the rock art of Klein Ghausib and Tantus in the Windhoek District of the Khomas Region
Literature on the rock art of Namibia in general, and the Khomas Region in particular, shows that most paintings fall within the Later Stone Age (LSA), as indeed do these paintings discussed in this article. In the case of Namibia, the LSA covers the period of 20,000 to roughly 300 years BP (before present). The oldest dated rock art in Namibia is from the Apollo 11 rock shelter in southern Namibia. In Khomas, rock art is found in caves, under rock overhangs, on boulders, on an exposed wall or on an isolated rocky outcrop. Of these, the most common occurrence of paintings is under a rock overhang. Some paintings are found on suitable surfaces of granite, composed mainly of quartz and feldspars. Rock art also occurs on surfaces comprising mica schist and gneiss that occurs in central Namibia in an approximate 250km radius of Windhoek and is present in the towering Hakos Mountains (1998m) that form part of the Great Escarpment. Both Klein Ghausib (408) and Tantus (30) fall within what geologists call the ‘Damara Mountain Belt’. The sites discussed in this contribution have paintings that show social activities and ritual and symbolic engagements between humans and totem animals. They form part of a much wider distribution of such art in southern Africa and beyond. As the rock-face conveys meaning, so too does each image within a panel of paintings. The documentation and preservation of rock art, irrespective of whether it occurs in primary or secondary sites, pose special challenges to researchers and farmers alike, particularly since many of the sites in the Khomas Region are subjected to environmental stress and vandalism. It is recommended that the documentation of rock art of the Khomas Region be fully integrated into the Namibian Rock Art Atlas and with the National Heritage Council. Moreover, public awareness campaigns are mounted to educate farmers, farm workers, and visitors on the cultural and heritage importance of rock art in the country.
Copyright (c) 2025 Namibia Scientific Society; André du Pisani
A Decade of Solar and Terrestrial Radiation Monitoring at Gobabebfor BSRN
The Gobabeb Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) location was established a decade ago as part of a global network to provide standardised, high quality surface observations of radiation fluxes under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation. The Gobabeb BSRN measures the incoming and outgoing shortwave and longwave radiationat two locations in the Central Namib Desert. With a suite of instruments, radiative fluxes of shortwave downward radiation (SWD), direct solar radiation (DIR), diffuse radiation (DIF), longwave downward radiation (LWD), shortwave upward radiation (SWU) and longwave upward radiation (LWU) are recorded at 1-min intervals, together with relevant meteorological variables directly at the locations. As logistical issues prevent frequent calibration of instruments against World Radiometric standards, the measurements 142 Journal / Namibia Scientific Society / Volume 69 - 2022 R. Vogt, E. Marais, G. Maggs-Kölling, F.-M. Göttsche, J. Cermak, M.K. Seely of DIR, SWD and LWD are duplicated to replicate radiation measurements as primary and redundant datasets. The two datasets are compared to each other to identify and exclude questionable data before being deposited in an open-access repository. The Gobabeb BSRN dataset is of very high quality, with less than 1% data missing for downward radiation. The upward radiation dataset has more missing data due to its becoming operational at a later date. As expected, climatic variables have the greatest influences on radiation fluxes at Gobabeb. Due to its location in a hyperarid desert, radiation is generally high throughout the year. Reflected radiation from rare cloud walls during the austral summer may, however, result in very high downward fluxes. The frequent incidence of fog due to onshore advection of stratus cloud banks over the nearby South Atlantic Ocean from August to February is distinctly visible in the dataset. Variation in the radiative fluxes of the different elements provides more detailed information on seasonal and daily incidence of fog, as well as seasonal changes in atmospheric aerosols. We briefly illustrate how high-quality BSRN data are used globally for validating solar energy resource assessments and evaluating differences between modelled predictions and actual surface performance.
Solar radiation, net radiation, Baseline Surface Radiation Network, long-term measurements
Copyright (c) 2023 Namibia Scientific Society; Roland Vogt; Eugene Marais; Gillian Maggs-Kölling; Frank-M. Göttsche; Jan Cermak; Mary K. Seely
!Nara Harvesters of the Northern Namib: a Cultural History through Three Photographed Encounters
We report on Indigenous cultural heritage and histories associated with the northern Namib desert, designated since 1971 as the Skeleton Coast National Park. Review of historical documents and oral histories from elderly people with direct and familial memories of accessing and living in the northern Namib show how places and resources were used here by Khoekhoegowab-speaking peoples in the past. A focus of this use was the availability of valued foods, especially melons of the !nara (Acanthosicyos horridus). Three photographed encounters provide focus for a narrative connecting memories about the northern Namib that stretch back to the first European colonial journeys into this remote area of north-west Namibia. In ‘repeopling’ the northern Namib, we aim to also ‘rehumanise’ documented colonial encounters that objectified and diminished the peoples who knew, accessed and dwelled in this now protected area.
northern Namib, on-site oral history, cultural landscapes, Indigenous histories, Khoekhoegowab, !nara (Acanthosicyos horridus), Skeleton Coast National Park, Namibia.
Copyright (c) 2023 Namibia Scientific Society; Sian Sullivan; Welhemina Suro Ganuses
Preliminary results on the quantification and taphonomic analysis of the Zoo Park (Windhoek, Namibia) Proboscidean remains
Landscaping work at Zoo Park (Windhoek, Namibia) in 1961/1962 revealed a Holocene open-air site containing proboscidean remains (Loxodonta spp.) associated with quartz stone artefacts. Zoo Park has been cited in various publications as a butchery site with various authors differing on the number of the elephants found at the site. To verify these claims, a taphonomic analysis and quantification of the elephant remains was carried out. The study is ongoing. The preliminary results have documented two elephants and taphonomic analysis suggests possible human exploitation of the remains. The study shows that the exploitation of elephants for subsistence at Zoo Park was likely the result of butchering related to scavenging activities.
proboscideans, Loxodont, Holocene, taphonomic analysis, Windhoek, Zoo Park, butchering site
Copyright (c) 2023 Namibia Scientific Society; Emma Haitengi
Determining risk of a regime shift in a coupled arid Social-Ecological System
Southern Africa has been identified as a climate change hot-spot, warming at about twice the global rate. The projected warming and drying of this arid and semi-arid region will limit the options for adaptation to climate change, especially in marginalized communities. A particular risk is that climate change may cause an abrupt, irreversible ‘regime shift’ in ecological processes and functions with cascade effects on coupled social ecological systems and profound consequences for the capacity of those systems to support livelihoods. Together with southern African and German partners, the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute and Namibia University of Science and Technology recently launched a SASSCAL-funded project called TIPping Points Explained by Climate Change (abbreviated TIPPECC) to 1) to assess the risk of climate change induced regime shifts or tipping points in southern Africa, 2) to provide a range of climate services, and 3) to co-produce with affected communities, policymakers, and natural resource managers adaptation options to safeguard against the effects of such tipping points should they occur. The Namibian contribution to TIPPECC (TIPPECC-Kunene) focuses on the ari zone pastoralist rangeland system of the Ovahimba of northern Kunene. Ovahimba have inhabited the region for over 200 years, surviving several intense droughts. The pastoralist lifestyle is finely attuned to its environment, adapting to seasonal and longer-term fluctuations in their resources. However, several factors, including population growth and increased sedentarisation have put pressure on the whole social-ecological system (SES), making it vulnerable to climate change and subsequent regime shifts in their resource base. TIPPECC-Kunene aims to use both traditional ecological knowledge and scientific data to determine 1) the probability of climate tipping points leading to regime shifts in the SES, and 2) those factors that will cause changes and/or shifts, with an emphasis on the role that climate tipping points will play in this. We further aim 3) to co-develop, with affected communities, feasible adaptation strategies to ongoing global change, ensuring alignment with inherent coping strategies. TIPPECC-Kunene is organised around eight thematic groups, including studies on vegetation change and degradation, livestock foraging ecology, changes in resource access rules, adaptation, and livelihoods, and the role of boreholes in driving social and environmental change.
Social-Ecological System, regime shifts, Southern Africa, Gobabeb
Copyright (c) 2023 Namibia Scientific Society; Theo Wassenaar; Cornelis van der Waal; Wilka Ndapulamo; Kakunamuua Tjiningire; Dylan Dentlinger; Venomukua Tjiseua; Francois Engelbrecht
The rock art of the Khomas Region is not as well-known as that of the Erongo Region with its celebrated apex sites at the Dȃures, Erongo Mountains, the Spitzkoppe, and !Ui-ǁaes (Twyfelfontein). Historically and intellectually, there has been less of a sustained research interest in the rock art of the Khomas Region, notwithstanding the ground-breaking work of Ernst Scherz in the 1970s and late 1980s and a sprinkling of more recent articles devoted to some of the rock art sites of the Region. This, in and of itself, is enough reason to write about the rock art of a region yet to be comprehensively documented, surveyed and researched. Over the past eighteen years the author has visited more than 320 rock art sites located on 62 farms within the boundaries of the region. Undoubtedly, there are more sites to be documented and discovered, and through this, more insights to be gained into southern African rock art. Most of the art dates from the Later Stone Age (LSA), with some a few hundred years BP (Before Present), and typical material artefacts of that period are to be found at or in close proximity to the sites. The vast majority of the paintings are rendered in ochre and show the interaction between animals and people, and scenes from daily life, with some abstract renderings as well. The rock art of the Khomas Region needs to be considered within a wider frame of southern African rock art research. Moreover, the researcher must be aware of and sensitive to diverse theoretical and methodological approaches to rock art, while respecting an ethnographic foundation, in an attempt to derive meaning from the paintings.
Rock art, Khomas Region, ethnography, storylines in rock art, imagistic mosaic of San (Bushman) myth, animals as symbols, art and landscape, rock art panels, artefacts, quarts-microliths.
Copyright (c) 2023 Namibia Scientific Society; André du Pisani
Antimicrobial activity of three Namibian ethnomedicinal plants: !Guxa (Aptosimum albomarginatum Marloth and Engl.), Aru (Albizia anthelmintica A.Rich Brongn.) and Gu-!aru (Dicoma schinzii O. Hoffm.)
With antibiotic resistance being an enduring problem worldwide, alternative treatment options, such as ‘natural antibiotics’, should be considered. This work aimed to perform antimicrobial assays, with the purpose of scientifically evaluating the effectiveness of three Namibian ethno-medicinal plants, namely:!Guxa (Aptosimum albomarginatum Marloth and Engl.), Aru (Albizia anthelmintica A. Rich Brongn.) and Gu-!aru (Dicoma schinzii O. Hoffm.). It was found that !Guxa root extract exerted antimicrobial activity against five out of the eight strains tested, with strong activity against Streptococcus sanguinis at an extract concentration of 20mg/ml. Moderate activity was observed for the other cultures tested. Candida albicans, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were resistant to !Guxa. These results give some scientific proof regarding the usefulness of !Guxa rootextract as traditional medicine in some
Aptosimum albomarginatum, Albizia anthelmintica, Dicoma schinzii, traditional ethno-medicinal plants, antimicrobial activity, Namibia.
Copyright (c) 2023 Namibia Scientific Society; Sunette Walter
Validation of Satellite-Retrieved Land Surface Temperature (LST) Products at Gobabeb, Namibia
Global land surface temperature (LST) data derived from satellite-based infrared radiance measurements are highly valuable for various applications in climate research. LST is a fundamental state variable for land surface processes and has long been available from satellite observations in the thermal infrared (TIR). LST is also increasingly important for studies assessing land surface conditions, e.g., studies of urban climate, evapotranspiration, and vegetation stress. LST is usually retrieved from satellite-based radiance measurements in the infrared (IR) or microwave (MW) range and it is well suited to provide global coverage. Due to the spatial scale mismatch between ground and satellite-based measurements and the heterogeneity of natural land surfaces, the validation of satellite LST data sets is a challenging task. However, in situ validation is essential for obtaining quantitative information on the accuracy of LST satellite products. Permanent, continuous in situ measurements of up- and downwelling TIR radiance allow the analysis of long timeseries of satellite LST observations, which can reveal seasonal cycles and potential deviations; these can originate from surface anisotropy, topography, heterogeneous land cover, or spatial variations in soil moisture. Many of the validation results obtained over the Namib gravel plains demonstrate the maturity of the LST products investigated over the past 15 years. They also highlight the need to carefully consider their temporal and spatial properties when using them for scientific purposes. Total uncertainty of in situ LST obtained from the TIR radiance measurements at the Gobabeb wind tower is estimated as 0.8 ± 0.12°C, which is highly accurate for a bare soil site with diurnal LST amplitudes of up to 40°C. Analyses of spatial representativeness performed on the meter to kilometer scale near Gobabeb Namib Research Institute yielded an absolute bias of 0.5°C compared to in situ LST, a value mainly achieved thanks to the Namib’s hyper-arid desert climate and the spatial homogeneity and temporal stability of the gravel plains. The Namib gravel plains were found to be suitable for validating LST with pixel sizes of up to 100 km2 and the continued availability of the in situ measurements from Gobabeb is of high importance for accurately validating and monitoring current and future satellite LST products.
land surface temperature, in situ measurements, satellite retrievals, long-term validation, spatial representativeness.
Copyright (c) 2022 Namibia Scientific Society; Frank-M. Göttsche; Jan Cermak; Eugene Marais; Gillian Maggs-Kölling
Tenebrionid Beetle Diversity Increases with Aridity Across the Namib Desert
Darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae: Coleoptera) are commonly associated with hot arid lands worldwide. In southern Africa, the number of species is reported to increase along the east-to-west gradient in aridity. The highest diversity is found in the Namib Desert, which occupies a 100 km by 2,000 km hyperarid strip along the west coast, from South Africa to the south into southern Angola. We sought to confirm this regional diversity pattern by collecting tenebrionids with pitfall traps at five SASSCAL observatories along a transect stretching from the hyperarid desert interior (MAP 25 mm, CV 130%) to semiarid conditions 260 km inland (MAP 343 mm, CV 36%). We collected tenebrionids during 11–20 month-long trapping sessions and identified species from seven tenebrionid tribes and subtribes which were previously recorded in half-degree squares across the arid western half of the southern Africa region. Even though there was a six-fold decrease in tenebrionid abundance, all diversity indices increased with increasing aridity (e.g. α-diversity inland: 1.40, desert interior 3.71). Community structure was very different in the interior highland plateau compared to the desert (ß-diversity 0.52–0.69), while adjacent sites in the desert differed less (ß-diversity 0.26–0.29). In the desert, tenebrionids were recorded most frequently at sheltered sites where windblown detritus is trapped, while in the interior, more were recorded away from sheltered locations where they might encounter sit-and-wait predators. Geomorphological processes and heterogeneous moisture conditions over space and time could explain how so many Namib Desert endemic tenebrionids evolved and coexist.
biodiversity, abundance, detritivores, rainfall variability, darkling beetles, time niches
Copyright (c) 2022 Namibia Scientific Society; Joh R. Henschel; Theo D. Wassenaar
Mirabib Rockshelter, located near the Kuiseb River in the Namib-Naukluft National Park, is one of the best known archaeological sites in the Namib Desert. Previous excavations in the 1970s revealed a complex history of occupation stretching from the early Holocene until the proto-historical period. New research at Mirabib has pushed its chronology back to ca. 18–21 ka BP and revealed new insights into human adaptations in the region. While the site has yielded exceptionally well-preserved evidence going back to the terminal Pleistocene, there is still a great deal of untapped potential for learning more about human life in the Namib in the distant past.
Archaeology, Namib Desert, Late Stone Age, Middle Stone Age
Copyright (c) 2022 Namibia Scientific Society; Theodore P. Marks
Using Signature Whistles to Investigate Population Dynamics of Locally Threatened Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Namibia
Namibia is known for its rolling dunes and desert landscapes. These dunes often roll right into the sea, and into a coastline that hosts an incredibly diverse assemblage of species. Some of the more easily observed wildlife can be seen at the Walvis Bay lagoon, an internationally recognized conservation site for wading birds, or at Cape Cross and Pelican Point, which host immense colonies of Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillis pusillis). The Namibian Dolphin Project (NDP) studies a more cryptic order of animals, cetaceans (whales and dolphins), which are resident to, or migrate through, the coastal waters of Namibia. Founded in 2008, NDP’s research investigates a range of questions including the sound production and behaviour of common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Heaviside’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii), and humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The focus of one of our more recent projects is to develop a method to estimate abundance, density, and movement patterns of dolphin populations, using a specific type of whistle produced by some delphinids, the signature whistle (Janik et al., 2013; Kriesell et al., 2014). We have termed this method, SWORD: Signature Whistles for Occurrence, Recapture and Density (Gridley et al., in prep).
Mark-recapture, spatial capture-recapture, social networks, conservation, passive acoustic monitoring, PAMGuard, marine mammal, individual identification
Copyright (c) 2021 Namibia Scientific Society; Jack Fearey; Simon Elwen; Sasha Dines; Bridget James; Tess Gridley
The Importance of Being Earnest – the Relation between Hendrik Witbooi and the Gamsberg
Hendrik Witbooi (c. 1830–1905) was captain of the Witbooi people living in southern Namibia. For a long time, Witbooi defied the German occupation by fighting against the German colonial troops, until he died of wounds sustained in battle. His leadership in resisting the colonist armies make many consider him as a national hero in Namibia today. The African Millimeter Telescope (AMT) project aims to bring the first sub-mm radio telescope (an essential link to the network of telescopes known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)) to the African continent, specifically the Gamsberg mountain in Namibia. This recommendation will explore Hendrik Witbooi’s life and his geographical locations in relation to the Gamsberg mountain.
Hendrik Witbooi, Gamsberg, colonialism, African Millimeter Telescope (AMT).
Copyright (c) 2021 Namibia Scientific Society; Sanne de Jong
On the Body in Rock Art of the Khomas Region
In many cultures, the body is regarded as a representation and reflection of their society or community. The body appears in the visual archive of rock art and takes on highly symbolic meanings. Individual organs are associated with certain emotions: the heart, the head, the nose, the womb, the penis, the stomach, hands, blood, bodily emissions and so forth. Aspects of culture were imagined to reside in the body. This type of symbolism also holds true for San culture and spirituality, where the heart, the liver, the hands, the nose, the womb, the penis, the blood, the stomach and other body fluids are important metaphors of emotional and material conditions of shared social experiences and beliefs of culturally related people – whether these refer to witchcraft, or to special capacities and agency, charismatic or healing qualities, contagious infections, love, rain-making, anger or symbolic communion or specific rituals such as initiation ceremonies. Of all body parts, the genital organs are invested with the greatest symbolic meaning. Representations of the vulva and the phallus are to be found in many variations all over the world and have been submitted to various interpretations. The widely-held idea that the rock art ‘illustrates’ the folklore and myths is not viable. Research over the past four decades, shows that the practice of making images was essentially concerned with different types of engagement with the supernatural realm and its beings. San image-making, as Lewis-Williams (2017:150) reminds us, “… was a ritual practice in its own right, not a secondary, merely illustrative appendage to San mythology or anything else”. While it is undoubtedly meaningful to view rock art within a landscape framework to identify primary and secondary resource nodes as Lenssen-Erz (2004), Breunig (2019) and Kinahan (2020), among other archaeologists suggest, rock art could also be seen as a modification of the landscape and a construction of living social and cultural spaces, through altered states of consciousness, dreaming, folklore, rituals and visions. The field of cognitive archaeology is widely associated with altered states and entoptic phenomena – altered states of consciousness induced by hallucinogenic substances – (Lewis-Williams, 1991 & 2002) and Whitley (1994), but other aspects of the mind are also important. One of these concerns the body and bodily experience. In initiation practices, girls and boys are prepared for their gender-specific roles in society. Particular attention is paid to sexual education. Because of the perceived relationship between the body and the social order, the coherence of its parts and the harmonious communication of its members is the basis of the well-being of the community. There are numerous rock art sites in the Khomas Region and elsewhere in the country, that have images of bodies in the trance or medicine and rain dance; the most important ritual for all San groups (Lewis-Williams & Pearce, 2012). The dance promotes psychological well-being and social cohesion and is about the use of nǀum to achieve, !ia (also spelled !khia). Nǀum has variously been translated as ‘medicine’, ‘energy’, ‘potency’ or ‘power’. The term has many meanings and refers to herbal medicines, healing, menstrual blood, pregnancy and ejaculation, among others (Lee, 1984:109).
Rock art, body, entoptic phenomena, genitals, symbolism, rituals, psychological well-being, trance/medicine dance, shaman
Copyright (c) 2025 Namibia Scientific Society Journal
This article deals with the Nama Wars from 1904 in the then South-West Africa. What role did the Ethiopian movement play? Was war inevitable or would there have been possibilities for an arrangement between the Nama tribes and the colonial power? What role played personal relations, for example, between Hendrik Witbooi and Theodor Leutwein? “We learn from history that we learn nothing from history.” – George Bernard Shaw
Nama, Hendrik Witbooi, Aufstand, 1904, Orlaam, Simon Kopper
Copyright (c) 2001 Namibia Scientific Society; Michael Vaupel
The Way We Were: Rock Art in the Khomas Region of Namibia
The smouldering embers of an older civilization, an integral part of the “evolutionary epic”, to paraphrase Edward O. Wilson1], is very much alive in the rock art of the Khomas Region and beyond, even if the original artists are no more. Research into rock art shows that the region has more than 320 known rock art sites – clearly there are many others still to be discovered. My active research into the rock art of the region started more than a decade ago. Since then, I have visited and recorded rock art in 55 sites at various farms. Most of these sites have hitherto been un-documented and un-researched. The purpose of this article is to highlight four rock art sites visited and recorded by the author at two farms in the region. To my knowledge, three of the four sites have not previously been recorded or researched. These have also not been included in the comprehensive survey of the late Dr Ernst Rudolf Scherz, published in 1986, or in the more recent admirable guide book by Prof. Peter Breunig (2014) on the archaeology of Namibia. The sites have been selected for the quality of the art and the wider significance of the paintings in cosmological and ethnographic terms. The article concludes by locating the paintings within a wider body of southern African rock art literature.
Copyright (c) 2000 Namibia Scientific Society; André du Pisani
An Eye for the Cycle of Life: Exploring Rock Art in the Khomas Region
Rock art sites in the Khomas Region can best be understood if located within a landscape- based approach as Kinahan (2020) compellingly argues. Such an approach has the advantage of connecting primary resource sites with evidence of scattered occupation of secondary resource sites, mediated by social relations that determine access to these resources. Many rock art sites are in mountainous terrain, for the Region is named after the Nama ǀomas (mountain) (Grünert, 2000:30) which, with an average height of almost 2,000m, acted as natural retreats for hunter-gatherers competing with herders and farmers for resources. Most rock art sites are located in relative proximity to water. Even so, some sites are far from river courses and water – several kilometres in fact. Despite an overall similarity of paintings across the region, no two sites have quite the same set of images. For this reason, it is important to explore the relationships between the art, social life, landscape and its resources, hence the title of this article. The legibility1 of the paintings is a matter of disagreement among researchers. For some analysts, much of the imagery is literal: humans and animals have recognizable represented morphologies: bags, bows, breasts, buttocks, penises and young. Their assumption is that the image-maker wanted the viewer to recognize his or her subject matter. This is what the Zimbabwean archaeologist Peter Garlake (1995) calls ‘the principle of legibility’. This legibility may, however, not be enough in itself. A second level has to be to attempt an understanding of how the image-makers think. Rock art affords insights into hunter- gatherer spiritual life. While not every archaeologist agrees, there is a sizeable body of historical ethnography that argues that some of the art is shamanic (Dawson, 1988; Lewis-Williams, 1981, 2002, 2019). Kinahan (2020:14), however, usefully warns against the ‘ahistorical reliance on the authority of ethnographic sources’. A further problem is that ethnography tends to present hunter-gatherers in a rather essentialist way as if they are static and unchanging.
Rock art; Khomas Region; Harmonie; panels/panoramas; shamans/shamanistic; Holocene; Nauzerus; Naukluft; Noab
Copyright (c) 2001 Namibia Scientific Society; André du Pisani
Anibtanab: An Earlier and Middle Stone Age Site in the Namib Sand Sea
The archaeological site of Anibtanab is an interdunal pan locale on the northern margin of the Namib Sand Sea, situated roughly 1.5 km south of the !Khuiseb River and about 40 km east of Gobabeb. The site was first investigated by Shackley (1985) who reported earlier and middle stone age tools scattered across the approximately 1,500 m x 1,000 m pan. Shackley’s brief mention provides typologies and total number of tools but no additional descriptions of the technology. In 2021, the site was revisited and a new sample of lithics was analyzed. This paper presents the preliminary results of this analysis, which provides a more detailed understanding of the Anibtanab site to inform future studies of the numerous archaeological pan sites in the Namib Sand Sea.
Earlier Stone Age, Middle Stone Age, Namib Desert, archaeology, Sand Sea, Anibtanab, arid landscapes, lithic technology
Copyright (c) 2022 Namibia Scientific Society; George M. Leader; Ted Marks; Kaarina Efraim; Eugene Marais
The 60th anniversary of the Gobabeb–Namib Research Institute is an opportune time to look back on Gobabeb’s institutional development and accomplishments and to look forward to future directions. Here we present a synopsis of the finding and founding of Gobabeb; the building of its research and training platforms; the reframing and transformation of the institution following Namibian independence, establishing the diverse funding to secure its future as a thriving research institution; and the development of relevant linkages and science networks, including the relationship to the Namibia Scientific Society.
Namib Desert, institutional history, partner organisations, research developments
Copyright (c) 2022 Namibia Scientific Society; Joh R. Henschel; Gillian Maggs-Kölling
Cultural Villages as Drivers of Rural Poverty Alleviation in Namibia
The past decade has witnessed a proliferation of cultural villages and living museums in Namibia. The concept of a cultural village, living museum or open air museum is being promoted as the magic formula for the answer to rural development. The Joint Programme Document of the UN/Spain project on “Sustainable cultural tourism in Namibia” identifies the creation of cultural villages as a way of alleviating poverty among the rural population in Namibia (UNESCO 2008). The late former Minister of National Service, Youth, Sport and Culture, Kazenambo Kazenambo advocated cultural villages to “take a central place in Namibia’s tourism package” (Museum Matters 2010:3). This paper is located in cultural tourism studies. It interrogates the concept of a cultural village as applied in the Namibian context. The paper investigates the viability of cultural villages using the Uukwaludhi royal homestead as a case study. Using visitors’ statistics (from Uukwaludhi royal homestead), we argue that cultural villages on their own are not viable income generation projects and therefore cannot be catalysts for rural poverty alleviation. Instead, cultural villages are useful for preserving local knowledge systems in the same way museums do. We posit further that cultural villages can stimulate other affiliate projects that can assist in alleviating poverty in rural settings if the unique socio-cultural and environmental characteristics of a given cultural village are harnessed.
Cultural villages, sustainable cultural tourism, cultural entrepreneurship
Copyright (c) 2021 Namibia Scientific Society Journal; Goodman Gwasira; Martha Akawa; Ndapewa Fenny Nakanyete
Assessment of Drought Coping Strategies Practiced by the Households in the Oshipya District of Etayi Constituency in Northern Namibia
The study objective was to estimate the level of vulnerability and resilience to drought for households in Oshipya District in the Etayi Constrituency in nothern Namibia. Levels of household resilience and vulnerability to drought shocks were estimated from ex-ante and ex-post coping strategies respectively, using the Rasch item response theory model. The study showed that risk reduction coping strategies are poorly implemented, thus, making the communal households vulnerable to drought consequences. Instead, households resorted to impact management strategies like disposal of assets. It is encouraged that households prepare for drought by stocking crop residues, planting early maturing drought resistant crops, irrigation and diversification of livelihood activities and sending livestock to cattle posts. After the development of several policies and programmes on disaster risk management, thorough assessments of utilization and impact should be done regularly to reduce the expenditure on drought relief programmes as households will be more drought resilient.
drought vulnerability and adaptation, coping mechanisms, smallholder farmers, item response theory
Copyright (c) 2001 Namibia Scientific Society Journal; Vonai Charamba; Haruna Mohammed Bello; Dorthea Shiimi
Seeing and Remembering: Rock Art Sites at the Farm Krumneck in the Khomas Region of Namibia
Namibia is world-renowned for its many archaeological sites and treasures. This rock art, both paintings and engravings or petroglyphs, hase been extensively documented and researched for over a millennium. The epicentre of research has concentrated on the apex sites such as the great massif of the Daurês/Brandberg with many thousands of paintings and fewer engravings. Other localities that have been well researched include, among others, the impressive Erongo Mountains, the World Heritage Site at ⁠ǀ⁠Ui-ǁaes or Twyfelfontein, the granite Spitzkoppe that towers over the desert floor, the engravings and paintings of northern Damaraland and Kaokoland in the Kunene Region, the paintings and engravings of southern Namibia right down to the Orange River and the engravings at the farm Margaretental near Witvlei, east of Windhoek. More recently extensive documentation and research of several thousands of paintings and engravings are ongoing at Mikberg and its environs in the Kunene region. More recently approaches to the study of rock art have evolved from considering single paintings or engravings towards seeing these as belonging to panels or panoramas. Landscape archaeology has been another more recent innovation, while dating has benefited from new technologies. What is also relatively recent, are attempts by researchers to engage local communities and trackers in their efforts to conserve and interpret the meaning and socio-cultural relevance of particular paintings. Compared to other regions of the country, the Khomas region has been relatively under-researched. This is despite its size of 36,861 sq.km or 4.47 per cent of the total land area of 824,116 sq.km, its demographics with an estimated population size of about 430,000(2018) and its economic, political and cultural importance to the country. Moreover, the region has more than 330 known rock art sites, all on privately-owned farms. The last region-wide published survey of rock art was done by Peter Breunig in 2014 and by the late Dr Ernst Rudolf Scherz in 1986, respectively. Other important and innovative archaeological research has been and is being undertaken by private archaeologists, notably by Dr John Kinahan, Mr Goodwin Gwasire of the University of Namibia (UNAM) and by Dr Alma Nankela of the National Heritage Council, while German researchers such as Professors Peter Breunig (Frankfurt am Main) and Tilman Lennsen-Erz (Cologne) also collaborating with Namibian-based researchers, continue to research rock art in the country at more than one site. While my personal interest in Namibian rock art dates back to 1967, I started documenting rock art in the Khomas region intermittently a decade ago, and have visited 55 of the more important rock art sites. The work continues on a modest scale and is entirely self-funded. This brief article is an attempt to highlight some of the lesser-known sites on the private farm Krumneck, and to emphasize their importance for the heritage of humankind. Some generalisations that may hold for other rock art sites in the region will also be advanced in the conclusion. An in-depth exploration of their diverse meanings falls outside the purpose and scope of this cursory contribution.
Rock art; rock engravings/petroglyphs; Khomas Region; Krumneck; landscape archaeology; panels/panoramas; shamans/shamanistic; dating of rock art.
Copyright (c) 2000 Namibia Scientific Society Journal; André du Pisani
Hermann Nieß – DieKarriere eines sächsischenBergbeamten vonder Kaiserzeit bis indie NS-Diktatur
Hermann Nieß (1878-1949) – The Career of a Saxon Mining Official from the Imperial Era to the Nazi Dictatorship Nieß studied mining engineering at the Clausthal and Freiberg mining academies from 1898 to 1903. He then began his professional career as a mining official in Saxony. In 1910, probably at his own request, he took up a position at the Windhoek Mining Office. In 1913 Nieß took over the management of the Windhoek Mining Office and the North Water Development Column. The area of responsibility of the Windhoek Mining Office comprised the northern half of the colony and thus the fields of activity of the South West Africa Company and the Otavi Mining and Railway Company, among others. The tasks of the Mining Authority included the control of the mining concessions granted and thecollection of duties. As a result of the German mobilisation on 8 August 1914, Nieß was called up to reinforce the Schutztruppe, of which he was a member, most recently as a first lieutenant, until its surrender in 1915. From then on he had the status of a prisoner of war. In December 1919 Nieß returned to Germany. From July 1920 he worked again for the Saxon mining administration. In 1927 he wrote a booklet with three adventure stories about his time in German South West Africa. In 1921 Nieß was promoted to head of the Freiberg Mining Office, and in 1929 he was finally promoted to head of the Saxon mining office. After the Nazis seized power, Hermann Nieß joined the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei) in May 1933. Under the Nazi regime, he headed the mining authority until 1940, putting his knowledge and experience at the service of the regime. Under his aegis, the Saxon mining estate was integrated into the targeted war preparation. After the annexation of the so-called Sudentenland belonging to the Czech Republic on 1 October 1938, the Saxon mining administration immediately incorporated the northern part of the Sudentenland into the German war economy. In 1940 Hermann Nieß retired from professional life. Even though he personally committed no crimes, he served the regime of crime from his desk, thus incurring considerable moral guilt. Hermann Nieß erblickte am 1. Oktober 1878 als Sohn von Hermann Nieß (sen.) das Licht der Welt. Er wurde evangelisch-lutherisch getauft. Nieß hatte nachweislich eine Schwester namens Hedwig. Weitere Geschwister konnten nicht ermittelt werden. In Könnern bei Halle verbrachte Nieß seine Kindheit und Jugend.1 Nach dem Abitur nahm er 1898 ein Studium an der Bergakademie Clausthal auf. 1899 wechselte er an die Bergakademie Freiberg, wo er vom 3. Mai 1899 bis zum 23. Dezember 1903 sein weiteres Studium absolvierte. Während seiner Studienzeit sammelte er praktische Bergbauerfahrungen bei Praktika auf Steinkohlengruben in Westfalen und in Oelsnitz/Erzgebirge sowie auf Kaligruben und Braunkohlenwerken. In Freiberg trat Nieß dem Corpsverband Franconia bei. Für seine berufliche Laufbahn dürfte dieser Schritt von Vorteil gewesen sein. Außerdem wurde er in
Bergakademie Freiberg, Montanwesen, Kolonialismus, NS-Diktatur, Sachsen
Copyright (c) 2000 Namibia Scientific Society Journal; Ulrich Thiel
Hunter, Game, and Lords of Animals in Southern Africa
This essay is devoted to the study of the so-called lords of animals or guardians of nature, the supernatural beings who, according to ancient Khoisan belief, own certain species of the wild animals. Since the early 19th century more or less fragmentary statements have been collected. These statements seem to be incoherent and even contradictory. In recent years additional information has been collected. This essay analyses these new documentations and shows how the ideas of these lords, kings and mothers of animals have been fundamental for the Khoisan worldview and Khoisan life. A short comparison with traditions of other African peoples and also of other continents reveals a perplexing similarity even of details. Therefore it is accepted that the concept must be very old; perhaps a French Stone Age rock painting might already show a lord of animals. The basic idea is alive up to the present day in Africa as well as among German hunters.
Hunting, Ethics of Hunting, Lords of Animals, Mothers of Animals, Revenging Animals, Khoisan Religion, Belief Legends
Copyright (c) 2000 Namibia Scientific Society; Sigrid Schmidt