Game Pass Shelter

Game Pass in Kamberg holds a panel that changed how researchers understand San painting. It shows an eland with its head lowered and legs crossed in the posture of a dying animal, and beside it a human figure holding the eland's tail, legs crossed in the same way, with hoof-like feet - a visual link between the dying eland and a person in trance. That reading, developed by David Lewis-Williams from San ethnography, established that the paintings are about the trance experience of healers rather than simple records of hunting, and the panel is often called the Rosetta Stone of San rock art for that reason. Access is by guided walk only from the Kamberg office, about two hours return with a climb, and the guides are usually local and well trained. The site is inside the Drakensberg UNESCO area.

Highlights

• The dying eland - the animal painted with lowered head and crossed legs.
• The trance figure - a human beside it in the same posture, holding its tail.
• The interpretive breakthrough - the panel that established the trance reading of San art.
• The guided walk - about two hours return with a climb, no independent access.

When to go

March to May and September to November. Half a day. Walks run at set times from the office.

Things to know

Guided access only, at scheduled times, and groups are capped. The walk involves a steady climb. Touching or wetting the paintings is prohibited and destroys them. Weather closes the walk. Kamberg is well off the main routes.

Nearby

Giant's Castle is south in the same reserve complex; the Midlands are east.