For all forms of ancient ways of ancient stories, rock art remains the most enduring of them all, on some continents such as Europe and Africa, some rock art has been discovered that is tens of thousands years old. That’s much longer than our recorded history goes. In the caves of the mountains on some open rocks paintings of animals and humans have been found that tells many stories of the people long gone, people recorded their exploits of hunting wild animals, fishing in the rivers and lakes, gathering wild grain and some aspects of domestic life such as housekeeping. The ancient peoples used a mixture of plants residues to produce a variety of colors such as red and black which they smear onto the walls of the caves. But there is little humidity and little erosion due to exposure to the outside then the artwork can be preserved for many countless generations. In Australia Aboriginal art has been found on the rocks of the Australian outback depicting peoples and wild animals some of which are now extinct. They tell the stories of the average aboriginal way of life, how he went about his daily routine over ten thousand years ago. Aborigine peoples of Australia have lived on that continent for tens of thousands of years, and finding those pieces of that that are millennia old is an archeological treasure. Because of the unfortunate history of the past few centuries, the aborigine people of Australia have gone through a lot of hardship, the mass migration of European settlers into the continent a few centuries ago almost completely destroyed this ancient community. They brought with them deadly diseases that almost wiped out the natives because the indigenous peoples had not developed immunity to those diseases, there were also cruel white rulers that ordered extermination campaigns against the aborigines, they didn’t like their dark skin and therefore tried to wipe them out from the continent so that more land could be open for white farmers and settlers. So, rock art and some carvings are invaluable treasures to the aborigine peoples. Because through them, they get to tell the story of Australia in their own words.

Another community that has left behind a lot of valuable rock art are the San Peoples of Southern Africa. This includes the modern-day Peoples of Khoisan and the Khoikhoi. These are their actual names, though they are popular around the world as the ”Bushmen.” there is no African tribe called Bushmen, they have their own languages, cultures, customs and traditions. The term ”Bushman” was a derogative word used by the European settlers to refer to the San Peoples of southern Africa. Since they are hunters and gatherers and spend most of their time foraging in the bush for wild animals to kill and fruits to collect, the European explorers thought that the word bushman was the best term that should be referred to them since they didn’t know how to call them at the time. Yet that name has stuck to them to this very day, whenever the San People’s go even within Africa itself, they often find themselves being referred to as the Bushmen.

Their ancient lifestyles as well as their current ones still living in the bush has been made popular by Hollywood films. Movies like ”Animals are beautiful People” and ”The Gods must be crazy” have given the Bushman Global Fame. Shot in the Deserts of Kalahari and Namib where the San Peoples currently call home, the films show the pristine nature of African Wilderness as well as a cohesive relationship between the San Peoples and their surroundings, they have developed complex languages which consist of a click Sound and some little whistling. Despite their subhuman portrayal in Hollywood films, the San people are among the most hospitable in the world, they share everything with one another even with strangers, they share their food and water. They are a kind gentle people that deserve to be treated with respect.

Incredible rock art has been found in the Kalahari and Namib deserts, these are areas that have been inhabited by the San People for millennia, according to the art engraved on the rocks and caves of the area, the Namib and the Kalahari used to be vast grassland savannahs thousands of years ago, there are depictions of the Big Game like the Giraffes, Elephants, buffaloes, antelope and some water animals like the hippos and crocodiles, Rock art found in the Sahara desert proves that the Sahara wasn’t a desert thousands of years ago but a vast green landscape full of wetlands, rivers and lakes, savannahs and some woodland. The presence of millennia old drawings of water animals like hippos and crocodiles proves that the landscape was once covered with rivers and lakes, full of all kinds of birds and land animals.

Same in Europe, some rock art paintings have recently been discovered that are many millennia old. There are drawings of long-lost prehistoric ice age creatures that no longer exist today. They shine there on the walls like creatures frozen in time. They tell very old stories that are full of fun and adventure.

Rock art has served as a notebook to the changing times of the Planet. Creatures and cultures that are long extinct get to have a voice through the art that is now engraved onto the walls of the caves of the mountains and hills of the world. Their remote locations keeps them preserved for such a long time that they always remain hidden until when discovered at the right time, and put into their right places in the history museums.

Pottery is the other thing that had been used as a preservative of stories, legendary tales are written or drawn onto the walls of Cups, plates, Pots, Spoons and almost every other kitchen item in the home. Whenever there is a natural calamity that destroys the family home, these items often survive and get to live longer than their owners, they get to tell their stories to many different generations. A good example is the Greek pottery art that has filled the museums of many modern-day colleges.