Underwater

(Image credit: Copyright Antiquity Publications Ltd.)

Before a dam flooded a site replete with ancient rock art in Botswana, researchers nabbed fragments of the painted creations so that they could date them. The team then developed a new method that isolated the original carbon from the paint — in this case, charcoal, soot and carbon black (a blend of burnt fat) — so they could determine the age with radiocarbon dating.



The radiocarbon dating revealed that the paint fragments were about 5,000 years ago, making them the oldest rock art on record in southern Africa. [Read the Full Story on the Southern African Rock Art]

Rock art map

(Image credit: Copyright Antiquity Publications Ltd.)

Researchers sampled 14 sites within three regions of southern Africa: the Thune Dam area in Botswana (three sites); the Metolong Dam catchment of Lesotho (five sites); and the Maclear District of South Africa (six sites).

Tiny chip

(Image credit: David Pearce)

Lead study researcher Adelphine Bonneau collects a tiny sample from a rock art site in South Africa.

Full scope

(Image credit: David Pearce)

A view of a rock shelter covered with rock art in Lesotho.

The sheep

(Image credit: David Pearce)

Ancient rock art can be harmed by the elements, such as wind, rain and erosion. But animals can also damage it. Case in point: This sheep is hungry for rock art.

The bird

(Image credit: David Pearce)

A bird nested in a rock shelter that's also covered with rock art.



"This bird looked at us for the entire day when we came to sample the paintings," Bonneau said.

Ladder needed

(Image credit: David Pearce)

Bonneau uses a ladder to collect a sample of paint for radiocarbon dating in Lesotho.



[Read the Full Story on the Southern African Rock Art]

Eland

(Image credit: David Pearce)

A painting of an eland (also known as an eland antelope) in Lesotho.

Fish

(Image credit: David Pearce)

One of the fish from the site with 5,000-year-old rock art in the Thune Valley, Botswana. This painting dates to the later Stone Age.

Wider view

(Image credit: David Pearce)

A wider view of the rock art site in Botswana, which is now underwater because of Thune Dam, located in the Kalahari Desert.

African antelope

(Image credit: Adelphine Bonneau)

A painting of an eland from South Africa.