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Bushmen artists in different parts of southern Africa
all showed a clear preference for certain subjects:
human beings and animals. 
The human figures appear
in all postures: sitting, standing, walking, running,
falling, 'flying' or in a trance state. Male figures
appear to be the most popular.
The larger antelopes are
by far the most frequently painted animals while birds,
reptiles and insects are rarely portrayed.
Artefacts such as bows,
arrows, quivers or digging sticks are sometimes displayed.
Geometric or abstract designs are far more common in
the engravings.
Images of European settlers,
wagons, horses, soldiers and, in one example from the
Cape, a ship, are seen in the more recent sites.
Paintings representing black farmers with knobkerries,
shields, assegais with cattle and sheep can be dated
to within the last 2000 years.
The Eland
Of all the animals, the
eland is the most painted. It's the largest of the southern
African antelope and is much desired for its meat and
fat.
The Bushmen's beliefs go beyond that. The eland appears
in four rituals: boys' first kill, girls' puberty, marriage
and trance dance. See
Bushmen religion.
Humans with animal features
(Therianthropes)
Controversy has raged over
pictures of humans with animal features known as therianthropes.
Some researchers making a case for them as representing
'real' people disguised with animal masks for hunting,
or in animal costumes donned for ritual occasions.
Recent beliefs are that
they represent the artists hallucinatory sensations
of themselves fused with various potent animals. Humans
are depicted with a range of animals. The most common
being men combined with antelope, elephant, baboon and
bird heads.
Another belief is that they
depict the spirits of the dead.
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