An historical account of a rite depicted in a painting from the cave at Melikane, Lesotho

Abstract

Attention is drawn here to an account provided by Henry Lichtenstein of a dance/rite performed by a Korana group at the beginning of the 19th century. This dance/rite involved the use of two sticks to support a dancer who was surrounded by clapping women. This account is very similar to descriptions of a dance/rite performed in southern Africa by some San and Bantu-speaker groups that is depicted in some San rock paintings, including the well-known painting of 'stickdancers' from Melikane Cave in Lesotho. Lichtenstein's account of a Khoekhoe dance/rite that may have involved trance, as well as another account by Johan Schreyer in 1668, raises the possibility that some Khoekhoe groups may have shared a trance dance/rite with the San. While a similar basic form of the dance/rite may have been practised by San and Khoekhoe groups, the fact that these two groups differed significantly in a number of cultural respects is likely to have resulted in the development of differences in the religious meanings attributed by San and Khoekhoe groups to this dance/rite.

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