Lovo, rock images, and mythology in the Land of the Kongo

Abstract

In Kongo Central, rock art sites stretch from Kinshasa to the Atlantic coast and from northern Angola to southern Congo-Brazzaville. Preliminary research revealed one coherent entity situated north of the Kongo kingdom: the Lovo Massif, presently inhabited by the Ndibu, one of the Kongo subgroups. Comparison of the ethnological, historical, archaeological, and mythological points of view confirms that certain Kongo ritual and symbolic aspects are pre-Christian and refer to cosmogony, anthropogony, or narratives associated with the mythical origin of death. Investigating rock images allows us to better understand the link between the images, the myths, and their repercussions on the life of the Kongo today.