200-year-old rock painting possibly depicts tusked creature that lived before humans

In the Karoo Basin of South Africa, a striking tusked beast is painted on a rock wall. It has prompted archaeologists to speculate whether the artwork depicts a mythical being or a long-extinct species.

However, the latest research claims that this is an unusual depiction, most likely to be inspired by dicynodonts, ancient herbivores that roamed the Earth long before the emergence of humans.

This intriguing discovery raises questions about the knowledge of fossils among the San people, who have been long-time inhabitants of this region.

San rock art discovery suggests an extinct tusked creature

These paintings were reportedly made between the period of 1821 to 1835 by the San people. Furthermore, IFLScience reports that this illustration showcases an animal that’s long-bodied and has downward-turned tusks, which is unique.

The report also highlighted that these figures were inspired by physical reality. Researcher Julien Benoit stated that the fossil of dicynodont inspired this tusked figure.

Benoit’s study also reveals that these dicynodonts were abundant and conspicuous in the Karoo Basin. “This picture also seemingly relates to a local San myth about large animals that once roamed southern Africa and are now extinct. This suggests the existence of a San geomyth about dicynodonts.

About the San people, the researchers further note that they could identify prehistoric fossils and even transport them across various distances. Notably, the San people could also talk about their ancestors coming in contact with “great monstrous brutes, exceeding the elephant or hippopotamus in bulk”, according to Benoit.

San rock art links extinct dicynodonts to rain-making rituals as “rain animals

The San people were sharp and they were increasingly aware of extinct animals, including the dicynodonts. After studying the San people closely, Benoit noted that the tusked creature fits the idea of a “rain animal.”

“Of course at this point it is speculative, but the tusked animal on the Horned Serpent panel was likely painted as a rain-animal, which means it was probably involved [in] rain-making ceremonies,” IFLScience noted.

“During rain-making ceremonies, the San enter a state of trance and enter the realm of the dead to catch rain animals and bring the rain back to the world of the living. By picking a species such as a dicynodont, that they knew was extinct and thus dead, they likely hoped this rain-animal had some increased potency to bridge the two worlds,” he added.

The Plos One study notes further that the tusked animal is slightly longer and more slender than the others.

“The presence of tusk-like structures is verified. They are not an artifact of Stow and Bleek’s reproduction, and they do not appear to belong to another element of the painting. Stow and Bleek tusks are usually depicted in a different, lighter colour in most San rock art.”

This could have weakened the interpretation that they may indeed be tusks; however, the new observations made here show that the tusks were painted in a different, more greyish colour than the black head of the animal.  This conforms to the usual depiction of tusks in San art, it said.

Benoit concluded by saying that the San in South Africa also collected fossils , as shown by the Bolahla rock shelter , where they carried a dinosaur phalanx—possibly the first recorded discovery of a dinosaur bone.