Other than in passing references, the Abbé Henri Breuil, French prehistorian and internationally renowned expert on rock art, is today rarely mentioned in academic accounts of South African archaeology. Breuil was nevertheless a key foundational figure in the study of South African prehistory: he bridged the slow shift from amateur to professional archaeology and, in a broader political context, the transition from racial segregation to apartheid. Unlike other temporary visitors, Breuil spent a total of a decade in South Africa, much of which time he was engaged with field work. Breuil’s first visit to the country was in 1929. He spent several productive years recording rock art sites in the 1940s and he finally departed the country in 1951. Breuil died aged 84 in 1961, still wholly absorbed with his southern African research materials.2