Career
While he was working as a surveyor and the headmaster of Windhoek school in central Namibia, (South West Africa), he discovered "The White Lady" rock painting in 1918. Maack was at the time convinced that the art had distinct European style and this view was up-held by various prominent archaeologists of the day. "The White Lady" has been controversially dated from 6000 to 20,000 years old.
The controversial date meant that the whole theory of the "cradle of civilization" being in east or central Africa was thrown into chaos.