The White Lady

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This article is about the rock painting. For other meanings of the term "The White Lady", see White Lady (disambiguation)

White Lady, Brandberg, Namibia

The White Lady is a rock painting, located on a panel, also depicting other art work, on a small rock overhang, deep within Brandberg Mountain. The giant granite monolith located in Damaraland and called 'The Brandberg' is Namibia's highest mountain..

Archaeologists have long argued over the origins of the painting. It was discovered by Europeans in 1918. The man responsible was Reinhard Maack, a german explorer and scientist, working as surveyor at this time. Maack was at the time convinced that the panel shows a warrior. That interpretation was already forgotten when Henri Breuil (1877-1961) rediscoverd the White Lady and gave it a totally different intent. He saw analogies to greek paintings on Creta. The White Lady has been controversially dated at about 20,000 years old. The discovery in Southern Africa of an ancient rock painting, supposedly of European (or as was more specifically speculated, Mediterranean origin), and of this age meant that the whole theory of the "cradle of civilization" being in east or central Africa was thrown into chaos. The debate raged on for many years, however subsequent modern archaeologists have decided that the original theories were incorrect and have attributed the art to the indigenous peoples of Southern Africa, the Bushmen. These modern archaeologists have gone further to say that because of the absence of breasts and the presence of a bow and arrow, the figure is now thought to represent a young male priest or Witch Doctor who is wearing body paint which is thought to have been commonly used by such persons in ancient times.

To reach The White Lady it is necessary to hike for about 40 minutes over rough terrain, along the ancient watercourses contained within the mountain.