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South African police said on Monday they arrested a suspect for trying to sell rock art that could have been torn from a cave wall.
An elite police unit known as the Hawks made an arrest last week over reports of the sale of a primitive painting by the San people, the original inhabitants of southern Africa .
The search led to the discovery of the artifact and the arrest of its purported trader in Port Shepstone in southern KwaZulu-Natal, police said.
A 48-year-old suspect appeared before magistrates on Monday and was later released on bail of R 1,000 ($ 67 / € 56) pending further investigations.
“The San art rock may have been chiseled into a sandstone cave,” Hawks spokesman Philani Nkwalase told AFP.
Formerly known as the Bushmen, the San people have a presence in South Africa that dates back over 25,000 years.
They bequeathed a breathtaking collection of paintings in caves and on the mountainside, some of which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage.
The seized artifact represents two antelopes and a man holding a staff or a spear. The sale price was not disclosed.
The police called in archaeologists and medical examiners.
“The experts should be able to tell us how old he is and who the buyers would be,” Nkwalase said.
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