Kurukop Echo Art

Why in News?

A recent study by the researchers in South Africa suggested a distinct echo attracted the ancient artists to one site, Kurukop.

Kurukop

It is an archaeological site.
Located in - Nama Karoo region of South Africa.
Geological formation – Began to accumulate from about 300 million years ago, before the breakup of super continent Gondwanaland.
Historical formation – It is an eroded sandstone hill, transformed by volcanic activity.
Signs of human evidence – It is marked by 112 petroglyphs and other signs of human presence, such as ostrich eggshell fragments and pottery, dating from c. 11 500 before present.
Petroglyphs – It depicts images of Eland, elephants, zebra, ostriches, wildebeest, rhinoceros and animal-human hybrids.
The depiction were made by hunter-gatherer San and Khoe herder people who visited Kurukop repeatedly.

Petroglyphs engraved on rocks, have an obvious visual attraction.

Kurukop echo – This place provides a distinctive echo that ensured the hunter gatherers to repeatedly visit this place.
Echo Art – Evidence shows that those people created rock art combined with performances like clapping, singing, dancing, which in this case was enhanced by echoes.

Echo refers to the repetition of sound caused by the reflection of sound.

It also provides a reference point for a mythological story from the region that speaks about the relationship between echo, wind, mountain and breath.
Cultural relevance – Petroglyph distribution data and Echo pattern, shows 60% of the petroglyphs created directly in the echo zone.
This suggests that Kurukop people were most likely to create images in the area that echoed strongly.