A study published in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa by archaeologists Dr Joshua Kumbani and Prof Margarita Díaz-Andreu explores the intriguing relationship between Zimbabwean rock art and musical instruments A study published in Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa by archaeologists Dr
Joshua Kumbani and Prof Margarita Díaz-Andreu explores the intriguing relationship between Zimbabwean rock art and musical instruments Southern Africa has a long history of rock art research However, research examining the relationship between rock art and music is scarce, especially in Zimbabwe
“The subject of musical instruments in the rock art or archaeological excavations has not been prioritized Rock art is one of the most reliable sources of music archaeology if we want to reconstruct the music and sound production of people in the past, and hence, this research focused on rock art Most previous rock art research in Zimbabwe has focused on other aspects like themes in the rock art and regional variations across Zimbabwe,” says Dr Kumbani
However, in the past few years, Prof Sarah Wurz of the University of the Witwatersrand’s research team has started addressing this research gap and identifying and documenting musical instruments in South Africa Dr Kumbani and Prof
Díaz-Andreu’s research is an extension of this research into Zimbabwe Rock art is one of the most prevalent archaeological sites in Zimbabwe, found chiefly in the country’s eastern half Many sites have been located and identified, and more are being discovered today The rock art at these sites is composed of two main types: finely painted hunter-gatherer art made by the San and finger-painted farmer rock art made by incoming farmers
For this study, the researchers analyzed only the former Once identified, instruments were categorized into four types according to the Hornbostel-Sachs system: ideophones, membranophones, chordophones, and aerophones According to Dr Kumbani, to ensure the objects they were identifying were indeed musical instruments, the postures of the instrument players were taken into account
“We were focusing on the postures of the figures to determine whether they were just holding objects or were playing instruments For example, flute playing can be identified by someone holding a pipe with both hands, and the pipe is near the mouth, which is the source of the air that is blown into the aerophone “Rattle playing is usually characterized by someone holding the gourds or pear-shaped implements, and the hands are normally flexed at an angle, which may indicate the movement of hands as one shakes the idiophones.”
Two females at Manemba holding rattles Credit: Kumbani and Díaz-Andreu 2024
Two females at Manemba holding rattles
Credit: Kumbani and Díaz-Andreu 2024
The researchers successfully identified rattles, a drum, trumpets, flutes, and a bullroarer Most of these were concentrated in the Harare Province, Mashonaland East Province, and the Matobo World Heritage Cultural Landscape in Matabeleland South Province The researchers noted interesting differences and commonalities in the rock art instruments depicted For one, there wereregional differences
Rattles, which could be hand-held gourds or attached to shoulders and upper arms, were found in Zimbabwe However, leg rattles commonly depicted in South African rock art and used in “traditional” Zimbabwean dances today were absent from Zimbabwean rock art Source: The Zimbabwean
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Source: Thezimbabwean
