Abstract. – Rock art analysts in sub-Saharan Africa have occasionally attributed rock art with ethnicity or mode of production. This view ignores the complexity of past economic, political, and social interactions among various populations that inhabited the region and the outcome of this to the evolution of rock art in the continent. Recent research from Kondoa suggests that associating rock art authorship with ethnicity or mode of production does not only mislead interpretation but also distorts the reader’s perceptions. [Africa, Central Tanzania, Later Stone Age, Iron Age, rock art, authorship]