Archaeologists think that people (Homo sapiens as opposed to Homo erectus) have occupied the area for at least about 60,000 years. Estimating the age of rock paintings is very difficult, and usually done by linking a style of painting with nearby artefacts which can be scientifically dated with precision (eg: by carbon 14 dating techniques).

However, the Tsodilo Hills have had more archaeological research than most of southern Africa's sites – so we do have an idea about the people who lived here. So far, most of the evidence unearthed here dates from the Middle Stone Age period. There have been several major excavations including ones at the Depression Shelter, the Rhino Cave and White Paintings.

Excavations at White Paintings, a site at the base of the Male Hill, indicate habitation going back to at least 40–50,000 years ago. For this the archaeological team excavated as deep as 7m below ground level, finding a variety of stone blades and scrapers. Of these, it's estimated that over 55% of the raw materials don't occur in the hills, and must have been brought in from outside. This indicates at least a movement of people, and perhaps early bartering or trading networks.

Excavations at the Depression Shelter certainly indicate that people were using coloured pigments here, probably for painting, more than 19,000 years ago. However, despite what you'll often read, nobody really knows exactly how the painters used to make their paints. Many things have been suggested, but animal fats and derivatives of plants seem the likely binding agents, probably mixed with pigments obtained largely from ash, various minerals and plant dyes. Iron oxide, in the form of ochre, seems a particularly likely mineral to have been used.

Meanwhile much more recently, about AD800–1,000, specularite was being mined here intensively. This mineral was historically used for cosmetic purposes by groups within South Africa, further emphasising the likelihood of a long-standing trade network that included the people of the Tsodilo.

The paintings

The paintings at the Tsodilo Hills chart thousands of years of human habitation, and include some of the world's most important and impressive rock art. It is 'a Louvre of the desert filled with treasure.'

Its special nature is augmented by the realisation that these hills are 250km from the nearest other known rock art. They are totally removed from all of southern Africa's other rock paintings. Even within the hills, some of the paintings are located on high, inaccessible cliffs, with commanding views over the landscape. This was surely a deliberate part of the painting for the people who created them.

Campbell and Coulson, in their excellent book African Rock Art assert that the Tsodilo Hills 'contain some 4,000 red finger paintings composed of about 50% animals, 37% geometrics, and 13% highly stylised human figures.'

The paintings here belong to several different styles and if you take the time to look closely at them will often amaze you with their detail. Although most of the animals painted are wild, Campbell and Coulson noted that there is a much higher incidence of paintings of domestic stock than any other similar sites in southern Africa.

The human figures painted include many with schematic men painted with erect penises. It's thought that these could be associated with the trance dance – a traditional dance of the San in which rhythmic breathing often produces an altered state of consciousness.