Abstract

Makumbe Cave, located in the Chinamhora Communal Lands in Eastern Mashonaland, Zimbabwe, was designated a national monument in 1949. The shelter housed a rich display of intricate paintings, with one panel reportedly stretching across ten metres of the granite wall. Visitors to the site observed that this particular frieze consisted of a palimpsest of paintings rendered in different styles and painted using different colours. The superimposition of the various layers was interpreted to have chronological significance, which generated local and international interest in the paintings. In 1929, when the paintings were still visible, a research expedition led by Leo Frobenius visited Makumbe to copy the paintings. Today, a build-up of carbon from fires lit within the cave has formed to create the most recent layer in the history of the site, in effect completely hiding the paintings from view. In this article I rely on archival documents and historical copies generated from the early engagements with Makumbe to unveil the paintings and tell their story.

摘要

Makumbe 洞穴位于津巴布韦东马绍纳兰的 Chinamhora 公共土地上，于 1949 年被指定为国家纪念碑。该避难所内陈列着丰富复杂的画作，据报道，其中一块画板横跨十米长的花岗岩墙。该网站的访问者观察到，这个特殊的带状饰带由以不同风格呈现并使用不同颜色绘制的重写画组成。不同层次的叠加被解释为具有时间顺序的意义，这引起了当地和国际对这些画作的兴趣。1929 年，当这些画作仍然清晰可见时，由利奥·弗罗贝尼乌斯 (Leo Frobenius) 率领的一支研究考察队前往马昆贝 (Makumbe) 复制这些画作。今天，洞穴内燃烧的碳已经形成，形成了该遗址历史上最近的一层，实际上完全隐藏了这些画作。在这篇文章中，我依靠与 Makumbe 早期接触产生的档案文件和历史副本来揭开这些画作的面纱并讲述它们的故事。