The region is home to some of the oldest art in Africa, although it largely lacks the strong artistic traditions found elsewhere in Africa. In Namibia, a few images of animals painted on rock slabs were found within caves and have been reliably dated to 25,500 BC. These are by far the oldest surviving record of artistic activity on the African continent. Another important southern site is Great Zimbabwe, a city-state that flourished from the 12th to 15th centuries. Among its remarkable artifacts are large soapstone bird sculptures that most likely date from the early 15th century. Seven terracotta heads, known as the Lydenburg heads, date from much earlier-about 520. The Lydenburg heads were uncovered from the site of an early mixed farming village in the Lydenburg valley of the eastern Transvaal region. Pits at the site also contained animal bones, broken pottery, beads, and metal ornaments. No similar heads have been found elsewhere, but large numbers of smaller modeled figures from other sites in the region indicate a tradition of pottery sculpture. The heads, which once were painted, are hollow and have modeled facial features and bands of incised decoration around wide necks. Archaeologists at present can only speculate on the purpose of these small heads. However, initiation rites in southern Africa commonly make use of small pottery figurines. Only two of the heads are large enough to have served as helmet-masks; the others have small holes on either side of the neck that may have served to attach the heads to some structure. Small animal figures appear on the crown of the two large heads. Beadwork created by Shona, Zulu, Xhosa, and Ndebele women ranks as the strongest of more recent artistic traditions in southern Africa. Beads are used to make necklaces, headbands, bracelets, and leg ornaments, and to decorate aprons, loin covers, belts, and blankets. Beadwork patterns serve not only as decoration, but also as a means of communication, signaling the wearer's rank, wealth, stage in life, or profession. Among the Thembu, a subgroup of the Xhosa, a girl who likes a boy will give him a headband. If he accepts, a relationship is established and other beaded gifts follow. In earlier times, these groups made beads from materials found in nature, ranging from ordinary clay to more coveted shells of ostrich eggs. Arab slave traders brought the first glass beads to southern Africa. Portuguese traders in the 16th century brought beads from skilled artisans in Venice, Italy. Glass beads became more freely available after English colonists settled in Capetown in the 1780s.
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