African Rock Art

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that African rock art is both art and ethnographic records, created by hunter-gatherers, herders and later farming communities five or six thousand years B.C. The paper relates that rock art includes rock engravings (petroglyphs) and rock paintings (pictographs) depicting comparable themes and images but traditionally present a limited number of details and human figures. The paper describes the techniques used in creating the art and contends that African rock art is art because art is in the perception of an individual. The paper includes color pictures, map and graphs.

Table of Contents:
This is Art?
Ethnographic Records
This is Art
Rock Art Links
The Rock Art Research Institute's Perceptions
This is Art!
Complicated Pictures?
Perceptions

From the Paper:

"Ethnographic records or rock art, created by hunter-gatherers, herders, and/or later farming communities, is displayed in the majority of Africa countries. Southern African rock-art, however, traditionally records experiences reflecting the belief systems and rituals of the indigenous people of their particular region. Although a minimum of 14,000 sites are currently on record, more exist, not yet formally recorded and projected to exceed 50,000 sites in the Southern African region."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "African Rock Art." (October 2000), 3 Oct. 2007 http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/rock/hd_rock.htm.
• Arnoldi, Mary Jo, Christine Mullen Kreamer, and Michael Atwood Mason. "Reflections on "African Voices" at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History." African Arts 34.2 (2001): 16+. Questia. 5 Oct. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002429883>.
• Bascom, William. African Art in Cultural Perspective; An Introduction,. New York: W. W. Norton, 1973. Questia. 5 Oct. 2007 <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102076284>.
• Deacon, Janette. (2002). Southern African Rock-Art Sites. 5 Oct. 2007 <http://www.icomos.org/studies/sarockart.htm>.
• The Columbia World of Quotations. (1996). New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. 5 Oct. 2007 <www.bartleby.com/66/>.

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