African Rock Art

African Rock Art
Author: David Coulson
Publisher: Harry N Abrams B.V.
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2001
Genre: Art
ISBN:

Contains more than two hundred photographs of Africa's rock art, coupled with historical and interpretive analyses, compiled to raise public awareness of the variety, importance, and frailty of these works.

Rock Art in Africa

Rock Art in Africa
Author: Jean-Loïc Le Quellec
Publisher: Flammarion-Pere Castor
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2004
Genre: Art
ISBN:

The only book of its kind to examine cave art throughout Africa. The paintings and engravings discovered in African caves are amazing works of art that hold clues to understanding the history of humankind.

San Rock Art

San Rock Art
Author: J.D. Lewis-Williams
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2013-02-15
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0821444581

San rock paintings, scattered over the range of southern Africa, are considered by many to be the very earliest examples of representational art. There are as many as 15,000 known rock art sites, created over the course of thousands of years up until the nineteenth century. There are possibly just as many still awaiting discovery. Taking as his starting point the magnificent Linton panel in the Iziko-South African Museum in Cape Town, J. D. Lewis-Williams examines the artistic and cultural significance of rock art and how this art sheds light on how San image-makers conceived their world. It also details the European encounter with rock art as well as the contentious European interaction with the artists’ descendants, the contemporary San people.

Handbook of Rock Art Research

Handbook of Rock Art Research
Author: David S. Whitley
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 876
Release: 2001
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780742502567

While there has always been a large public interest in ancient pictures painted or carved on stone, the archaeological study of rock art is in its infancy. But intensive amounts of research has revolutionized this field in the past decade. New methods of dating and analysis help to pinpoint the makers of these beautiful images, new interpretive models help us understand this art in relation to culture. Identification, conservation and management of rock art sites have become major issues in historical preservation worldwide. And the number of archaeologically attested sites has mushroomed. In this handbook, the leading researchers in the rock art area provide cogent, state-of-the-art summaries of the technical, interpretive, and regional advances in rock art research. The book offers a comprehensive, basic reference of current information on key topics over six continents for archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians, and rock art enthusiasts.

Visionary Animal

Visionary Animal
Author: Renaud Ego
Publisher: Wits University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2018-11-01
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9781776142262

This collection of essays on themes such as rain animals and therianthropes focuses on myth and ritual in San rock art. Visionary Animal details the ancient rock art of southern Africa and the significance of the animals depicted in it. Their significance is emphasized with their frequency and meaning can be found in the relationship of these animals and humans. Visionary Animal explores two fundamental categories of anthropology – myth and ritual which have defined the well-established iconological tradition of San rock art interpretation. This richly illustrated collection of essays explores themes such as rain animals and therianthropes that combine human and animal bodies from this point of view.

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Rock Art

The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Rock Art
Author: Bruno David
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1185
Release: 2018
Genre: Art
ISBN: 0190607351

Rock art is one of the most visible and geographically widespread of cultural expressions, and it spans much of the period of our species' existence. Rock art also provides rare and often unique insights into the minds and visually creative capacities of our ancestors and how selected rock outcrops with distinctive images were used to construct symbolic landscapes and shape worldviews. Equally important, rock art is often central to the expression of and engagement with spiritual entities and forces, and in all these dimensions it signals the diversity of cultural practices, across place and through time. Over the past 150 years, archaeologists have studied ancient arts on rock surfaces, both out in the open and within caves and rock shelters, and social anthropologists have revealed how people today use art in their daily lives. The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Rock Art showcases examples of such research from around the world and across a broad range of cultural contexts, giving a sense of the art's regional variability, its antiquity, and how it is meaningful to people in the recent past and today - including how we have ourselves tended to make sense of the art of others, replete with our own preconceptions. It reviews past, present, and emerging theoretical approaches to rock art investigation and presents new, cutting-edge methods of rock art analysis for the student and professional researcher alike.

Relating to Rock Art in the Contemporary World

Relating to Rock Art in the Contemporary World
Author: Liam M. Brady
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Total Pages: 411
Release: 2016-12-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1607324989

Rock art has long been considered an archaeological artifact reflecting activities from the past, yet it is also a phenomenon with present-day meaning and relevance to both indigenous and non-indigenous communities. Relating to Rock Art in the Contemporary World challenges traditional ways of thinking about this highly recognizable form of visual heritage and provides insight into its contemporary significance. One of the most visually striking forms of material culture embedded in landscapes, rock art is ascribed different meanings by diverse groups of people including indigenous peoples, governments, tourism offices, and the general public, all of whom relate to images and sites in unique ways. In this volume, leading scholars from around the globe shift the discourse from a primarily archaeological basis to one that examines the myriad ways that symbolism, meaning, and significance in rock art are being renegotiated in various geographical and cultural settings, from Australia to the British Isles. They also consider how people manage the complex meanings, emotions, and cultural and political practices tied to rock art sites and how these factors impact processes relating to identity construction and reaffirmation today. Richly illustrated and geographically diverse, Relating to Rock Art in the Contemporary World connects archaeology, anthropology, and heritage studies. The book will appeal to students and scholars of archaeology, anthropology, heritage, heritage management, identity studies, art history, indigenous studies, and visual theory, as well as professionals and amateurs who have vested or avocational interests in rock art. Contributors: Agustín Acevedo, Manuel Bea, Jutinach Bowonsachoti, Gemma Boyle, John J. Bradley, Noelene Cole, Inés Domingo, Kurt E. Dongoske, Davida Eisenberg-Degen, Dánae Fiore, Ursula K. Frederick, Kelley Hays-Gilpin, Catherine Namono, George H. Nash, John Norder, Marianna Ocampo, Joshua Schmidt, Duangpond Singhaseni, Benjamin W. Smith, Atthasit Sukkham, Noel Hidalgo Tan, Watinee Tanompolkrang, Luke Taylor, Dagmara Zawadzka