The MATOBART Rock Art & Stone Age Project (2017-2024)

Rock Art of hunter-gatherers in the Southern African Later Stone Age: emergence, filiations and shifts in the Matobo Hills (Zimbabwe)

In short

The MATOBART research project investigates rock art production by hunter-gatherers during the Later Stone Age (10.000-2.000 years) in the Matobo Hills, in Zimbabwe, a region listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The project results from an international collaboration between France and Zimbabwe, coordinated by Camille Bourdier (University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès – UMR 5608 TRACES), Ancila Nhamo (University of Zimbabwe), Guillaume Porraz (CNRS – UMR 7269 LAMPEA), and Kelvin Machiwenyika (National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe) and supported by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Institut universitaire de France, the French Ministry of Culture, the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), TRACES laboratory, the Afric’Arch Erasmus + program, the French Embassy in Zimbabwe, and IFAS-Recherche.

The idea of conducting further research in the Matobo Hills originated during an April-May 2016 mission in Zimbabwe, initiated and largely funded by IFAS-Research. After 8 years of fieldworks including rock art documentation and archaeological excavations at Pomongwe cave and Bambata cave, the programme is now focused on analysis and publications.

Where?

Located in southwestern Zimbabwe, the Matobo Hills are a granitic massif covering more than 2000 km². In this area, over 3000 rock art sites are known to date. Most of these sites were painted by hunter-gatherer populations during the Later Stone Age, between 10.000 and 2.000 years ago. This exceptional density of archaeological remains is one the reasons why the Matobo Hills were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2003.

More precisely, the research project focuses on two key sites: Pomongwe Cave and Bambata Cave. Excavated during the 20th century by N. Jones, L. Armstrong, C. Cooke and N. Walker, the deposits in these shelters contained numerous and diverse archaeological remains: stone and bone tools, personal ornaments, faunal remains, seeds, and charcoal. Additionally, both sites yielded painted spalls from the walls, tools used in pigment processing (grindstones and pestles) and pigments that can be compared with the paintings preserved on the rock walls. These exceptional deposits are particularly valuable for establishing a chronological framework for the rock art and for attempting correlations with the other cultural spheres, including technical equipment and diet, as well as the climatic and environmental context.

What?

The paintings of the Matobo Hills open a window on the life, the imagination and the spirituality of these hunter-gatherers populations of the distant past. In order to understand and protect this priceless heritage, the multidisciplinary Franco-Zimbabwean programme MATOBART was set up in 2017. The project tackles two major scientific issues regarding rock art in southern Africa:

When did rock art emerge in the Matobo Hills?

The dating of rock art is a particularly important issue in southern Africa, widely considered as the global cradle of graphic representation. The oldest decorated objects (100 000 years old) have been discovered in this region, yet the antiquity of rock art traditions still remains to be demonstrated, as the oldest directly dated rock painting currently known is approximately 5500 years old. In the Matobo Hills, evidence suggests to the existence of rock art dating back to the Pleistocene (10.000 years ago) — a phenomenon that remains unprecedented in Southern Africa. Establishing a chronological framework for the region’s rock art is therefore a major challenge for understanding the timeline and conditions surrounding the emergence of the hunter-gatherer societies. The potential correlation with climatic and environmental changes is of particular interest: was the beginning of rock art related to the repeopling of the region after the Last Glacial Maximum? Did this new practice sign the arrival of a new population in a unknown area?

How did the Matobo Hills rock art evolve over time, and what does it reveal about the long-term socio-cultural dynamics of Later Stone Age populations of Zimbabwe-Limpopo? 

The Matobo Hills rock art shows a diversity of subjects, techniques, styles, colors, compositions etc., reflecting the socio-cultural differences among the hunter-gatherer populations who produced it. Studying changes and possible filiations in rock art iconography can provide valuable insights into the cultural dynamics of past populations. Filiation is a clear evidence of intergenerational transmission and underlines enduring features of cultural traditions over millennial timescales. Changes, on the contrary, lie at the heart of archaeological investigation: are these changes the results of climatic changes, that may, for example, have impacted economic resources and territorial organisations? Do they, rather, represent social upheavals, such as the arrival of new populations in a region?

Taking the Matobo Hills’ rock art to the future: a strong focus on training, conservation, and dissemination.

Capacity building has also been at the heart of the project. With only one academic in Stone Age research in the country, and no field school, MATOBART’s top priority was to revitalise research in Stone Age archaeology in Zimbabwe, with two complementary components: practical training through fieldwork designed as field schools for rock documentation and excavations, and the supervision of Master’s and PhD research in key areas of Stone Age archaeology (rock art, lithics, bone tools, zooarchaeology, geoarchaeology). Seven Master’s students and five PhD candidates received training and conducted their research within the framework of the project. This training was notably supported by the three-year Afric’Arch Erasmus+ program (n°2022-1-FR01-KA171-HED-000073186) which allowed the mobility of students and researchers between the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès and the University of Zimbabwe.

An important part of the MATOBART project has also involved the preservation and dissemination of this exceptional archaeological heritage, which unfortunately remains little known nationally and internationally levels. Rock art sites in Zimbabwe are often damaged or vandalised, and raising awareness and developing sustainable management plans represent key challenges facing the country. Professional training was provided to officers of the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe. Pomongwe cave and Bambata cave preservation assessments were carried out, and conservation recommendations proposed. One achievement was the coverage of Pomongwe cave floor with loose stones to stop dusting of the painted walls.

Last, considerable efforts were devoted to dissemination to the international, national, and local audiences, thanks to the inputs from the partner institutions – University of Zimbabwe, and National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, rock art is a living cultural archive intimately related to the social and spiritual life of the people. To meet such a social relevance, a special attention was given to multilingual dissemination, including local languages. The MATOBART project created the first website with interpretation of Zimbabwean rock art in 4 languages: Shona, Ndebele, English and French (https://matobart.huma-num.fr/home/home/). The material on the website was part of exhibitions in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and France. Booklets in all the languages were distributed to the visitors at Pomongwe cave. IFAS-Research has actively participated in these dissemination initiatives.

How?

The MATOBART project fosters a strongly interdisciplinary approach of the rock art and occupations of Pomongwe Cave and Bambata Cave, which includes different tasks in the field, in museums, and in the laboratory:

1) Documentation of rock art

• Photographic and three-dimensional documentation of painted rock walls;
• Tracing of the motifs and recording of their overlappings, allowing rock art specialists to conduct stylistic studies, analysing the shapes, techniques (tools used to apply the pain) and structure of the assemblage (subjects, actions, etc.), and to understand continuity and change in iconography;
• Sampling of paintings with different colours and texture to characterise their recipes and the damaging processes at stake;
• Assessment of the rock wall conservation, to propose solutions for their protection.

2) Archaeological excavations of the deposits

Two pits were reopened at Pomongwe cave in 2018 and 2021, and two at Bambata cave in 2024, to check the results from the previous excavations during the 20^th century. They allowed to define the number of archaeological layers, and to collect samples for direct dating and for the reconstitution of passed climates and environments in the region. Dating is on-going.

3) Study of archaeological materials at the Zimbabwe Museum of Human Sciences (Harare)

• General inventory and reorganisation of archaeological collections;
• Sampling of painted spalls, grindstones with paint remains, and pigments, to identify the paint recipes and make connections with the ones identified on the rock paintings;
• Analysis of lithic and bone technical equipment, thanks to the technology approach, which focuses on the analysis of the technical know-how employed during the manufacture of tools, as well as the organisation and economy of raw material acquisition;
• Analysis of faunal remains or zooarchaeology, which focuses on determining the animals which were preyed, as well as hunting and butchery techniques.

4) Laboratory observations and complementary analysis of sampled archaeological materials

• Characterisation of the physical and chemical composition of the paints found on the rock paintings and on painted spalls using multiple combined methods (SEM-EDS, FTIR, XRF).
• Direct dating of archaeological remains (C14) and sediments (OSL), used to determine the absolute chronology and the different phases of occupation in each site.
• Characterization of floors and sedimentation dynamics to retrace the climatic conditions during the formation of the deposits.

Who?

The MATOBART project is led by Camille Bourdier (University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès) and co-coordinated by Ancila Nahmo (University of Zimbabwe), Guillaume Porraz (CNRS – UMR 7269 LAMPEA, former researcher affiliated to IFAS-Research) and Kelvin Machiwenyika (National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe).

The MATOBART team is multidisciplinary and international, from France, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Germany, and Norway, including students, senior researchers, postdoctoral students, heritage curators, research engineers and technicians.

The project is supported by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the University Institute of France (IUF), the French Embassy in Zimbabwe, IFAS-Research, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS: SMI grant; ANR program n° 21-CE27-0030 MileStone Age), the University of Toulouse Jean Jaurès, the UMR 5608 – TRACES laboratory, the UMR 7269 – LAMPEA, the French Ministry of Culture Research Laboratory for Historical Monuments, the Afric’Arch Erasmus+ program (n°2022-1-FR01-KA171-HED-000073186), the UMR 5060 – Archéosciences Bordeaux (formerly IRAMAT-CRP2A), the University of Tübingen, the University of Bergen, the University of Pretoria, the University of Zimbabwe and the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe.

Results

> Chiwara-Maenzanise P., Nhamo A., Porraz G., (2025). “Morphological and functional variability of the geometric microlithic backed tools from the late Holocene at Pomongwe Cave (Matobo, western Zimbabwe)“. Southern African Field Archaeology, 20: 1-23.

> Porraz G., Nhamo A., Bourdier C. (2023). “Pomongwe Cave, Zimbabwe“. In: Beyin A., Wright D.K., Wilkins J., Olszewski D.I. (eds) Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa. Springer, Cham. 

> The 2020 Lesedi. Field Notes #23 was a special issue dedicated to “The Rock Art of the Hunter-Gatherers of Southern Africa”, including several articles related to the MATOBART project.

> Dudognon C., Frouin M., Touron S., Nhamo A., Machiwenyika K., Porraz G., Runganga T., Bourdier C. (2020). “Recherche, conservation et valorisation d’un patrimoine mondial : des défis multiples dans les Matobo, Zimbabwe”. In: Favel B., Gaultier-Kurhan C., Heimlich G. (eds.), Art rupestre et patrimoine mondial en Afrique subsaharienne, Paris, Hémisphères | Nouvelles éditions Maisonneuve & Larose : 67-90.

More on the Matobart project:

> Short film: Pigments on a Cave Wall | Des pigments sur la paroi, by IFAS-Research

> In French: Documentaire de CNRS Images — “Sur les traces des premiers peintres d’Afrique” (documentary in French)

> In English: CNRS Images documentary — “Searching for Africa’s earliest Painters”:

> Interview of Dr Ancila Nhamo on « Collaboration between France and Zimbabwe in Archaeology », during the Archaeology, Innovation and Development Symposium, 13 May 2019, University of Zimbabwe

> Interview of Dr Camille Bourdier on « Collaboration between France and Zimbabwe in Archaeology », during the Archaeology, Innovation and Development Symposium, 13 May 2019, University of Zimbabwe