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Date: n.d. Type: Prehistoric Status: Extant

See more photographs 'Boesman Klavier', ['Bushman piano' (as the rocks are locally called)] 'Gong rocks' are naturally-occurring dolerite (also known as ‘ironstone’) boulders that either rest on top of other such boulders or have a natural crack through them that acts as a natural resonator. Some of these boulders show signs of having been hammered by people with stones to produce a metallic-sounding noise. These gong rocks are often associated with Bushman rock engravings and current research indicates that sound was a very important part of rock ‘art’ sites. In the same way music and architecture were vital to Christian cathedrals, so the eerie, elemental sound of the gong rocks would have travelled over the landscape, imbuing the rock engraving site with a particular level of extra-ordinariness. [an extract from Beaufort West website] Download movie of gong rock being played (40.9 MB). All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon.