Session 2 – Dube – Documenting the Late Stone Age art of Zimbabwe

Описание: The COSMO-ART Conference on Rock Art
Rock Art Site Management in Southern Africa: Towards a Cosmopolitan Approach
30 Nov. – 5 Dec. 2025, Sol Plaatje University, Kimberley, South Africa

Session 2 – 4 December 2025
Yvonne Dube & Yolanda Nhende (University of Zimbabwe) – Documenting the Late Stone Age art of Zimbabwe: a prototype digital archival database of Nswatugi rock art cave, Matobo cultural landscape

This research focuses on preserving Late Stone Age rock art at Nswatugi Cave in the Matobo cultural landscape of Zimbabwe, which faces serious threats from environmental degradation, human activity, and a lack of advanced documentation technologies. The study aimed to develop a prototype digital archival database system to support the preservation and conservation of this valuable heritage. Using a quantitative methodology, the researchers conducted site visits, photographic documentation, and image processing, and developed the digital system using Ruby on Rails and PostgreSQL. This system stores images, descriptions, metadata, and geolocation data, providing a sustainable method of safeguarding the rock art. The research addressed key questions about effective documentation methods, essential components of a digital database, and the relationship between digital preservation and physical conservation. Findings showed that digital preservation improves access for researchers, educators, and the public, while minimizing site disturbance.
Challenges encountered by the researcher include observing that the site was already experiencing signs of deterioration, that is the fading of the rock art depictions on the other side of the rock making the rock art nearly invisible due to leaching, hence it was difficult to capture that part of the rock art. Also, travel and logistical constrains were faced by the researcher as the site was far out of town and had high costs. Another challenge, encountered was of limited resources such as limited access to software licenses such as Heroku, an online hosting server, can be charged when one wants to launch the database system online. The study concludes that digital archiving is an effective tool for protecting rock art and should be expanded to other sites as rock art continues to deteriorate from both natural and human-induced factors.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this talk are those of the speakers and are based on their scientific research. They do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the conference organisers.