Maria Wilman: Rock art pioneer and museum curator
A South African woman, who was to become famous in botanical circles, was born in Beaufort West on April 29, 1867. Her name was Maria Wilman and oddly enough this arid section of the Great Karoo was to prove fundamental in shaping her future as rock-art collector as well as a researcher of San and…
Read MoreDorothy Tongue: Exploring The World Of The San
At the turn of the last century, a Cradock school teacher made a breakthrough in techniques used to record San rock art. She was Helen Tongue and she taught at Rockland Girls’ High School in Cradock, from the late 1890s to early 1900s. It was there that she met Dorothea Bleek, daughter of famous San…
Read MoreGeorge Stow and Joseph Orpen, collectors of rock art treasures
George Stow was 21 years old when he arrived in Port Elizabeth in 1843. A geologist by profession, he was “a Victorian gentleman of many talents,” said his friends. He was a historian, ethnographer, artist, cartographer, writer and poet. The South African veld beckoned him and rock art fascinated him. It took him into caves…
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