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Biographical history
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John Hone found a special interest in photography while still at school. Work in the commercial photography field was hard to find and he became a lithographer, mastering many aspects of the print industry. Photography remained an important part of his life, and in 1974 he was invited to join Art Publishers, a well-known national publishing company. Here the skills gained earlier in life served him well and for over twenty-five years he has been the company's MD, all the while retaining a close personal interest in the quality of the products produced. John's great interest in the Drakensberg started when, as a boy, he spent holidays there with his parents, who enjoyed this splendid region. He readily acknowledges that the Drakensberg, with magnificent landscapes, is responsible for first igniting his interest in photography. John is married to Barbara. They have two children, Gareth and Carryn
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The most distinctive item of women’s equipment is the digging stick. Sometimes these were weighted with bored stones. A hole was laboriously bored through a stone, and they were fixed onto the stick with wooden wedges. They made digging in hard ground easier.Bored stones are not used in the Kalahari, where suitable stones are rare and the sand is comparatively soft.
Examples vary greatly in size and have been found all over Southern Africa. Bushman beliefs suggest that digging sticks had a special significance beyond everyday use. It is believed that when a /Xam woman wished to communicate with the shamans of the game, and possibly dead shamans, she would beat upon the ground with a bored stone from her digging stick. Therefore, digging sticks were used to contact the supernatural world, which is the main purpose of the trance dance.
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- English
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Original size: 6 x 6cm