Anthropology and History. The Lower Congo Rock Art in Perspective

French Institute Seminars in Humanities (FISH)
13 November 2014

14:00 – IFAS Conference Room, 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein

Geoffroy Heimlich
University of Paris I

Unlike rock art in the Sahara and southern Africa, rock art in central Africa is still widely unknown. Presently inhabited by the Ndibu, one of the Kongo sub-groups, the Lovo Massif is situated north of the ancient Kongo kingdom. With 102 sites (including 16 decorated caves), this massif is the largest concentration of rock art in the entire region. Just like historical records and oral traditions, rock art can provide historians with first-class documentation that offers a glimpse of the past of Africa.

Geoffroy Heimlich is a postdoctoral researcher at the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS) and at the Institut des Mondes Africains (IMAF) of the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. He received his Ph.D. in Archaeology at the Free University of Brussels, and in History at the University of Paris I. He is currently working on a book exploring the rock art of Lower Congo and its relationships with the Kongo kingdom and with its rituals.