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.

The Rock Art of Africa

The Rock Art of Africa
Author: A.R. Willcox
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 392
Release: 2018-01-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1315515350

It has long been known that all forms of art – rock paintings, carvings and scribings, and also portable sculpture – are present at various locations throughout Africa. This book was the first inclusive survey and brings together in one volume accounts of African rock art which were previously scattered in scholarly monographs, journals and travellers’ tales. The range of the coverage is geophysically comprehensive, from the Atlas Mountains to the Cape of Good Hope. The art styles are set into a firm chronological framework, and are displayed against a background of human, physical and cultural evolution. Considerable discussion is also devoted to the varied purposes which the paintings and carvings served in the communities which produced them, looking at the differing interpretations fully and fairly. A fascinating collection of illustrations, some in colour, truly reflects the variety of forms in which African rock art is manifested. Originally published 1984.

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.

A Cosmos in Stone

A Cosmos in Stone
Author: David J. Lewis-Williams
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2002-04-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0759116717

J. David Lewis-Williams is world renowned for his work on the rock art of Southern Africa. In this volume, Lewis-Williams describes the key steps in his evolving journey to understand these images painted on stone. He describes the development of technical methods of interpreting rock paintings of the 1970s, shows how a growing understanding of San mythology, cosmology, and ethnography helped decode the complex paintings, and traces the development of neuropsychological models for understanding the relationship between belief systems and rock art. The author then applies his theories to the famous rock paintings of prehistoric Western Europe in an attempt to develop a comprehensive theory of rock art. For students of rock art, archaeology, ethnography, comparative religion, and art history, Lewis-Williams' book will be a provocative read and an important reference.

Making Scenes

Making Scenes
Author: Iain Davidson
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1789209218

Dating back to at least 50,000 years ago, rock art is one of the oldest forms of human symbolic expression. Geographically, it spans all the continents on Earth. Scenes are common in some rock art, and recent work suggests that there are some hints of expression that looks like some of the conventions of western scenic art. In this unique volume examining the nature of scenes in rock art, researchers examine what defines a scene, what are the necessary elements of a scene, and what can the evolutionary history tell us about storytelling, sequential memory, and cognitive evolution among ancient and living cultures?

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.