Southern Africa's first known stenciled rock art found hiding in plain sight

October 25, 2026 feature Southern Africa's first known stenciled rock art found hiding in plain sight Sandee Oster Author Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Robert Egan Senior Editor Southern Africa has one of the most detailed and elaborate bodies of rock art anywhere in the world, from herds of running antelope to dancing men and humanoid beings with wings, hooves and horns. All are painted with fine brushstrokes or fingers. One thing this art lacks is stencils. Now, a new study has identified the first-ever stenciled rock art in all of southern Africa. What makes it doubly unusual is that it was made from a template rather than an existing object, which is rare even on a global scale. "I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at for a while," said David Pearce, a rock art researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand. "Then they popped into focus, a bit like optical illusions do." The study, by Pearce and Cambridge archaeologist Kiah Johnson, is published in the South African Archaeological Bulletin. Hidden in plain sight Pearce and Johnson discovered the stencils in the La Rochelle rock shelter in South Africa's Mpumalanga province, the study reported. The surrounding highlands are dotted with steep cliffs and shallow shelters, scarcely any of which have paintings. Those that do are often faded, centuries of sun, wind and rain washing away any paint that may once have clung to the rocky surfaces. La Rochelle is different. "The shelter itself is fairly large, particularly for the region. It's very unusual in that the floor is concreted in," said Pearce. "It has a set of wooden pews and a makeshift pulpit and is occasionally used for church services. So [it is] fairly unusual as rock shelters go." According to the study, paintings of hartebeest, eland and humanoid beings are scattered throughout the shelter, many in the typical fine-line brush-painted style associated with hunter-gatherers. Anna Steyn first recorded the shelter in 1995, and Mdudusi Maseko re-recorded it in 2020. But even after decades of research, an unusual splatter of paint had been overlooked, the study authors wrote. "There is a misconception in the global world that we have discovered everything [that] needs discovering on most landmasses," Johnson said, stating that Africa is starkly different, with even the most well-researched places containing things we do not understand and possibly never will. Two stenciled figures splattered in red Stenciled art is well known the world over, from hands in China and Paleolithic Europe to everyday objects like boomerangs, axes and cassowary claws across Austronesia. Standing at just 9 cm (3.5 inches) tall, these humanlike figures were not made from everyday objects. To create them, someone had to sit down, make a template, perhaps from beeswax, clay or wood, hold it up to the rock face, and blow or splatter paint across its surface. According to Pearce, specifically made stencils are rare. That makes this stencil unusual not just in southern Africa but globally. There isn't any precedent, local history or recorded ethnography, which makes explaining the art so difficult. "I don't know who made it, when they made it, why they made it," Pearce said. "But it is clearly there. It exists." "If it's a single group revisiting, they're changing a LOT between visits," Johnson said. "… it is a curious snapshot about innovation but also shared space and philosophy." Given how faded much of the area's rock art is, more stencils may have existed once, washing away with every passing rain until they were all gone. Pearce continued, saying they've been looking for more rock art in the region but haven't found much yet. That said, it's entirely possible there's more; they simply haven't found it. Alternatively, stencils may not have been an art meant for shelter walls, Pearce suggested. "Maybe people stenciled art on bodies, on clothing, or on stone-built structures. It might be something that was widely used but just not on rock faces." Whatever their meaning or origin, they add to an already rich and long history of rock art. "Southern Africa's already got one of the most detailed and elaborate bodies of rock art anywhere in the world," Pearce said, "and this is just adding to that diversity and complexity of the local traditions." Written for you by our author Sandee Oster, edited by Gaby Clark, and fact-checked and reviewed by Robert Egan—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive. If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you. More information D. G. Pearce & K. Johnson, First report of stencilled rock art in Mpumalanga, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin (2026). © 2026 Science X Network