Rock Art Research Institute (RARI)
University of the Witwatersrand

In January 2000 David Lewis-Williams retired from the directorship of the former Witwatersrand University Rock Art Research Institute. In the same month the Unit was raised to the highest research status conferred by the University, that of Institute. This status was awarded to recognise the high level of achievement in research publications and the breadth of research talent built up during Professor Lewis-William's twenty-one year directorship. The new Institute status represents a long-term commitment by the University of the Witwatersrand to fund rock art as a field of study beyond reliance on the research standing of any particular individual. With a permanent staff of seven, together with some fifteen part-time assistants, the new director, Benjamin Smith, heads up what is perhaps the largest specialist rock art institution in the world.

As well as its renowned research and publication record (for a full listing of publications see the Institute website http://www.rockart.wits.ac.za the Institute has become a leading centre for rock art training. Specialist courses in rock art recording, interpretation and management are offered at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The Institute has also become active in rock art conservation and in the development of rock art tourism in South Africa. The RARI field team funded by AngloGold offer a unique rock art '911' service. The team is on-call 24 hours a day, ready to rush to rock art wherever it is threatened in southern Africa. The pictures on the following pages are drawn from the collections of the Rock Art Research Institute.

Historic homeland of the Southern Bushmen, in the southern tip of Africa is a spectacular landscape of soaring mountains and lush river valleys

	First brought to the world's attention in 1915 in Scientific American, this site in KwaZula-Natal, is one of the best preserved in southern Africa. The central frieze pictured here contains a multitude of eland - Africa's largest antelope and the most powerful evocative of all San symbols.

RARI Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]