Weathering of rock art at two sites in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg,southern Africa

Sediments of the Karoo Basin in southern Africa represent one of the world's finest laboratories for investigating sandstone weathering. The natural breakdown of these sandstones, most notably in the Clarens Formation, is destroying much of the indigenous rock art heritage that exists there. In an attempt to elucidate the operative weathering processes, a range of micro-climatic, rock temperature, rock moisture, rock chemistry, and rock property data have been monitored over a 15 year period at two sites in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg. Results suggest that rock moisture regimes and to a lesser extent, rock thermal regimes exert the most damaging influence on San paintings. It is argued that granular disintegration and the enlargement of existing sandstone pores and bedding planes close to the rock surface, facilitate an increasingly dynamic moisture regime, which leads to an accelerating rate of weathering. Recent technological advances in data collection suggest that a re-evaluation of environmental controls may be necessary before weathering, at a scale appropriate to the deterioration of rock art, can be fully understood. The continued existence of indigenous rock art in southern Africa depends on investigations aimed at the development of techniques for its preservation.     

Rock surface luminescence dating of prehistoric rock art from central Iberia

Rock art paintings are notoriously difficult to date numerically. Recently, luminescence dating has been shown to provide reliable rock surface burial ages in various archaeological settings. Here we use the cross-cutting relationship between a fallen rock and two paintings of the Iberian Levantine (older) and Schematic (younger) styles to constrain the age of the paintings by dating the rockfall event using rock surface luminescence dating. Infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals as a function of depth into the buried face of the talus border indicate that the IRSL signal measured at 50°C (IR₅₀) was sufficiently reset to a depth of about 1.6 mm prior to burial. An uncorrected IR₅₀ age of 1.6 ± 0.2 ka was calculated for the rockfall event by dividing the surface equivalent dose (D_e) by the total dose rate. This age was corrected using both conventional and field-to-laboratory saturation approaches to yield indistinguishable ages of 2.7 ± 0.5 and 2.9 ± 0.3 ka, respectively. Since the panel with Schematic art was first available to the artist after the rockfall, we conclude the Schematic rock art at Villar del Humo is younger than ~2.9 ka. The Levantine rock art was painted on a panel constrained by the talus boulder before detachment, and so it is likely to be older than ~2.9 ka.     

Rock Art and Ritual: An Archaeological Analysis of Rock Art in Arid Central Australia

Rock art researchers throughout the world have explicitly or implicitly invoked ritual as an activity associated with the production of rock art but the articulation between the structure and composition of rock art assemblages and ritual behaviour remains poorly understood. Anthropologist, Roy Rappaport (1999) argued that all ritual, whatever the content or focus, has a universal structure. We review this proposition in the context of ritual studies and propose a method aimed at assessing the potential for identifying ritual structure in rock art assemblages. We discuss an archaeological analysis undertaken on the rock art assemblages in arid Central Australia, which aimed at distinguishing such a ritual structure among engraved assemblages, likely to have a Pleistocene origin, as well as more recent painted, stencilled and drawn assemblages. This analysis, despite its limitations, provides the foundation for developing a model, which will enhance the understanding of the relationship between the production of rock art and ritual.     

Beyond ‘the Phenomenological Walk’: Perspectives on the Experience of Images

Scandinavian rock art has been of major interest for archaeological studies of a phenomenological character. By reflecting on the experience of rock art it has been argued that images choreograph movement and that this embodied interaction reflects both social order and world views. This perspective has been applied in studies of both open-air rock art and images in the confined spaces of caves. When critically evaluating these efforts, it seems clear that these phenomenological studies reduce rock art to a mere representation of the experience of place. Phenomenology also fails to challenge the assumption that the meaning of images is created primarily by the intentions of its creator. It is therefore suggested that, in order to discuss the experience of images as meaningful, we need to develop the phenomenological theory of embodiment into a material phenomenology. This material turn enables us to problematize the relationship between intentionality and the meaning of images, which could lead to a perspective where rock art affects both the experience of place and of landscape and the creation of new images. Consequently, an archaeology of images should treat rock art as an expression which creates and maintains practices and relations with places and landscapes.     

Uranium-series age estimates for rock art in southwest China

We report the first uranium-series age estimates for rock art in China. Calcite bracketing a paint layer was used to constrain the age of a naturalistic outline hunter-gatherer painting in the Jinsha River area of northwest Yunnan Province (southwest China). The rock paintings in this region are unique in style and content compared with other bodies of rock art in China, which are dominated by Neolithic subject matter. The minimum and maximum ages were determined using isochron techniques on multiple samples of calcite from above and beneath the paint layer. A large painted deer head was dated to between 5738 and 2050 years. This painting and underlying flowstone are superimposed on older paintings that suggest the older paintings are at least 3400 years old, if not older than 5738 years. The results indicate for the first time that Jinsha River rock art is older than other forms of rock art in the region and show that rock art likely extends back to at least the transition from the Palaeolithic to Neolithic in this part of China.     

贺兰山岩画博物馆选址分析

以文物遗址为依托的博物馆建设,一直是考古、历史、建筑、规划等专业人事关心和研究的课题之一。本文以贺兰山岩画博物馆选址为研究对象,在分析贺兰口岩画和聚落遗址空间分布特点的基础上,论述岩画、聚落遗址、生态环境与博物馆选址的关系,并着重从地段环境、生态环境、空间格局和视觉景观4个方面对拟选的3个方案进行综合比较分析,确定贺兰山岩画博物馆选址的最终方案,最后还为其他文物遗址博物馆选址提出了5条建设性原则。     

Bighorn hunting,resource depression,and rock art in the Coso Range,eastern California: a computer simulation model

The extraordinary record of prehistoric rock art depicting tens of thousands of animal images in the Coso Range of eastern California provides an opportunity to study the relationship between aboriginal hunting, forager ecology, bighorn prey population levels, and the production of rock art. We review archaeofaunal evidence that the Coso desert bighorn sheep population was strongly depleted during the Newberry era after 1500 B.C. We discuss the dating of the rock art and show a correlation between bighorn depletion and increased rock art production. These data are consistent with the arrival of Numic foragers ca. A.D. 600 who competed with the Coso Pre-Numics and eventually terminated the Coso rock art tradition. An ecological predator-prey computer simulation of the human populations (Numic and Pre-Numics), the sheep population, and the rock art “population”, demonstrates these proposed interconnections and gives a reasonable fit to the observed rock art production rate.     

论岩画阐释中的多元视界

岩画意义的解释经常会出现望图生义或者恣意猜度的现象,导致学术界对岩画的解释产生了偏见。为了避免这种情况,在解读岩画的时候应当充分考虑各种可能的因素,如岩画所处的环境,岩画自身之间的关联,岩画产生地所呈现出来的地方性知识,其他学科的支持等。     

Acoustics and Levantine rock art: auditory perceptions in La Valltorta Gorge (Spain)

This article explores the relevance of acoustics as a factor for in the production and active use of Levantine rock art in Spain. The renowned rock art area of La Valltorta Gorge serves as a case study. Two experiments are described; the first assessed whether the sites with the most painted motifs had better acoustics than those with fewer motifs. The second tested which areas in La Valltorta Gorge had better acoustics and whether there was a difference between the acoustics of the decorated area and the contiguous sectors of the Gorge where no paintings have been found. In both experiments different sounds and pitches were used. The results suggest a strong relationship between the painted areas and the sonority of the place, with the major sites generally having provided the best results, with the exception of the sonority when facing the rock art panels. It is suggested that La Valltorta Gorge was chosen to be decorated with a view to increasing the perceptual impact of the rituals that may have been held at rock art sites due to the amplification caused by the echoing and resonance.     

Revisiting the Parietal Art of Wonderwerk Cave,South Africa

Seen by all who visit Wonderwerk Cave, the rock paintings that adorn its walls have attracted less attention than many other aspects of the site. The paper gives a brief account of their history and significance and of factors that have constrained their study. Graffiti damage and restoration added layers through which researchers would need to delve in order to understand them archaeologically. Pointing to directions for future work, the paper concludes with discussion on a currently debated category of southern African rock art, the “non-entoptic” geometric rock art tradition, to which the Wonderwerk Cave rock paintings would belong. A shift in theoretical focus is advocated for comprehending local contingencies in the formation of rock art “traditions” rather than simply assuming the prior existence of such constructs.     

Burning Images: A Critical Review of Rock Art Conservation in Zimbabwe

Rock art is the most easily accessible of archaeological material. In Zimbabwe, there are thousands of sites, mostly in open-air environments which can be accessed and enjoyed by many people without any restrictions. Yet, rock art is also easily damaged and therefore requires conservation. Social, political and economic challenges in the last two decades have had profound effects on the conservation status of this particular cultural heritage. This paper examines the state of conservation of rock art, conservation approaches and challenges in Zimbabwe. It also discusses possible solutions especially as the country is making frantic efforts at international re-engagement. The story of rock art conservation in Zimbabwe is similar to what is happening in many neighbouring developing countries such as Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. Therefore, the discussion in this paper also informs on general issues in rock art management and conservation in Africa.     

Comments on Jörn Staecker: The Concepts of imitatio and translatio: Perceptions of a Viking‐Age Past.

Three groups of motifs – cervids, boats and human figures – dominate North European hunter‐gatherer rock art. The scarcity of explicit narrative scenes makes the interpretation of this art a very difficult task, but important clues can be found in a group of ‘ambiguous’ images, where the said three categories are combined in ‘unrealistic’ ways. In this paper, the prospect of an ethnographically informed approach to their interpretation is explored, using as a case study the rock painting of Pyhänpää (Central Finland) and ethnographic material drawn chiefly from Saami religion and traditional Finnish epic poetry. It is argued that the ambiguous imagery of rock art has a clear counterpart in the pre‐Christian religious tradition, where cervids and boats have a similarly ambiguous nature. The painting, which shows an elk, a boat and a human figure merged together, is interpreted as representing the shamanic flight and the sense of co‐essence between the shaman and his spirit helper beings. The making of the painting is associated with the belief that such beings lived inside specific rock cliffs and that their power could be obtained through visits to rock art sites.     

Artificial Intelligence, 3D Documentation,and Rock Art—Approaching and Reflecting on the Automation of Identification and Classification of Rock Art Images

Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory - Rock art carvings, which are best described as petroglyphs, were produced by removing parts of the rock surface to create a negative relief. This...     

Removal of Rock Art Affected by the Raising of the Clanwilliam Dam Wall,Western Cape Province,South Africa: Techniques and Procedures

The commissioning by South Africa’s Department of Water and Sanitation of a new and higher wall for the Clanwilliam Dam will increase dam storage and provide additional water for emerging and existing commercial farmers. But there is a cost to South African heritage. The raising of the wall will flood 27 rock art sites as well as other archaeological and historical resources. In partial mitigation of this impact on heritage the removal of particular pieces of rock art was approved by Heritage Western Cape, the provincial heritage agency. This report focuses on the removal process and techniques used to cut out three pieces of rock art under the management of PGS Heritage between 18 April 2016 and 7 May 2016 from the sites designated CDE02 and CDW10. Publication of the techniques used and the procedures followed will add to the sparse literature on rock art removal and increase the accessibility and availability of information about the removed stones.     

Working on Rock Art in the Dakhleh Oasis: Some Thoughts on Threats to Petroglyphs and Possibilities of Research in the Western Desert,Egypt

The rock art in Dakhleh, despite being known for more than a century, has been thoroughly investigated only since the late 1980s, and remains far from being well known especially outside of Egypt. At the same time, the consecutive seasons of fieldwork conducted by the Petroglylph Unit (part of the international Dakhleh Oasis Project) have produced a great number of findings and substantially enhanced our knowledge of the petroglyphs of this area. Here, rather than focusing on interpretive aspects of the research, I wish to discuss the threats endangering the petroglyphs in the Oasis. Dakhleh has developed very intensively in the last 100 years. It is, however, the twenty-first century which seems to pose some serious threats to archaeological heritage. Hence, in this paper I wish to report on what has been done so far to document rock art in the Oasis, and try to establish the priorities for potential future work. The agricultural and infrastructural development in the area, and the uncertain political climate in the country, heavily influence the state of rock art preservation and the possibilities of research. The need for documentation and preservation of rock art is larger than ever before, because many changes in the local landscape cannot be stopped. The time is pressing, because more and more rock art is disappearing due to the reasons discussed in this paper. Threats to Egyptian rock art in general will form a background for considerations concerning petroglyphs from the Western Desert.     

Rock Art Between Preservation,Research and Sustainable Development—a Perspective from Southern Ethiopia

This paper focuses on southern Ethiopia, along the outer rim of the Rift Valley and not far from the Kenyan border, in an area forming part of a larger region known as a cradle of humankind. However, it also hosts a diverse Holocene rock art heritage, which is still underestimated and underdocumented. Paintings and engravings are widespread in the region, both in rock shelters and open-air sites, often located in remote areas currently inhabited by communities belonging to different ethnic groups. The aim of this paper is to present the first results of a new project in the area around Yabelo, within the broader framework of rock art research in East Africa, integrating archaeological research, preservation and heritage management with a relevant involvement of local communities. The outstanding cultural importance of these contexts offers new prospects for both scholarly research and sustainable development. The recording and study of the artworks is underway, using digital technologies that guarantee a high standard of accuracy of the documentation and non-invasive recording methods. This provides important insights for reconstructing cultural dynamics in the area between the final Pleistocene and onset of the Holocene. Moreover, the focus on rock art makes it possible to enhance local knowledge, increasing the awareness of local communities, with a significant impact on the preservation of this fragile heritage and the development of local, sustainable tourism projects. Differently from other archaeological features, rock art can have a more immediate attractiveness for contemporary observers, in terms of the apparent immediacy of the images and their emotional impact, raising awareness of cultural heritage and fostering major involvement in its preservation.     

High‐resolution geospatial surveying techniques provide new insights into rock‐art landscapes at Shuwaymis,Saudi Arabia

Many parts of the Arabian Peninsula contain rock art that has received minimal archaeological attention or has not yet been thoroughly surveyed. In 2001 an extensive rock‐art complex called Shuwaymis, Ha'il Province, Saudi Arabia was brought to the attention of the Saudi General Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. This paper sets out the results of the first high‐resolution geospatial mapping and recording of rock art at this remote site. The research saw the innovative use of a differential GPS to record rock‐art panels to within 5 mm of accuracy at the site of Shuwaymis‐2, the first time that such technology has been used to record rock art in the Arabian Peninsula. With such technology it was possible to show which of eighty‐three late prehistoric rock‐art panels surveyed were in their original position and which had fallen, and to demonstrate that there was spatial homogeneity of rock‐art styles and composition across the site. The mapping recorded multiple panels of cattle, ibex, equid, large cat and other animals. The depictions of lions and cattle in particular indicate that the rock art must have been engraved no later than the early Holocene humid phase (c.10–6 ka BP).