iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Rock Art

Rock art is a term in archaeology for any man-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:

Petroglyph attributed to Classic Vernal Style, Fremont archaeological culture, eastern Utah.
In addition, petroforms and inukshuks are rock art made by aligning or piling natural stones. The stones themselves are used as large markings on the ground.

Terminology

Enlarge picture
Buddhist stone carvings at Ili River, Kazakhstan
The term "rock art" appears to have been used first used in about 1959: "The rock art tells us little for, a certain human being, certain about marriage customs.",[1] and has also been described as "rock carvings",[2] "rock drawings",[3] "rock engravings",[4] "rock inscriptions",[5] "rock paintings",[6] "rock pictures",[7] "rock records"[8] and "rock sculptures.[9]

Location

Both petroglyphs and pictographs can be parietal, meaning on the walls of a cave or rock shelter, open-air meaning they are made on exposed natural outcrops or monument-based which are made on stones consciously deposited.

Creation

Enlarge picture
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka rock painting, World Heritage Site
Petroglyphs are created by rock removal, including scratching, abrading, pecking, carving, drilling, incising and sculpting. Locations of choice are rock facets coated with patina, a dark mineral accumulation on rock surfaces. Petroglyphs remove the patina, exposing the contrasting lighter rock interior. Instances of negative images, produced by removing the patina surrounding the intended figure, are also known. Sometimes petroglyphs are painted or accentuated by polishing. The degree of repatination indicates relative dating. Some of the most ancient petroglyphs are the same color as the surrounding rock.

Pictograph, southeastern Utah, attributed to Basketmaker period, Puebloan archaeological culture.


Pictography is the application of pigments. Survival of ancient paintings is attributable to use of mineral pigments, most commonly manganese, hematite, malachite, gypsum, limonite, clays and various oxides. The best preserved pictography is found under sheltering overhangs and in caves. The simplest pictographs are wet clay finger drawings and charcoal drawings. To produce crayons or paints first the minerals had to be finely ground and combined with binding materials. Crayons and animal hair brushes have been excavated in caves with paintings. Exceedingly fine lines evidence the production of excellent brushes. The most common rock art element found around the world, the human hand, exemplifies several pictography types. A technique used since the Neolithic is spraying around a hand, resulting in a negative image. The more common positive print was often made with pigment applied to the hand and transferred to the rock.

Groupings: Motifs and panels

Enlarge picture
Indigenous Australian rock painting in Kakadu National Park.
Traditionally, individual markings are called motifs and groups of motifs are known as panels. Sequences of panels are treated as archaeological sites. This method of classifying rock art however has become less popular as the structure imposed is unlikely to have had any relevance to the art's creators. Even the word 'art' carries with it many modern prejudices about the purpose of the features.

Rock art can be found across a wide geographical and temporal spread of cultures perhaps to mark territory, to record historical events or stories or to help enact rituals. Some art seems to depict real events whilst many other examples are apparently entirely abstract.

Shamanism Motif

Common features in rock art that are related to portraying shamans were bones and other skeletal remains on their coats. One reason for the bones would be that they were used as a type of armor for protecting the shaman on his journeys through different worlds. Devlet, the author of "Rock Art and the Material Culture of Siberian and Central Asian Shamanism" highlights, “Another interpretation of these skeletal costume elements explains them as representations of a shaman brought back to life after the dismemberment that occurs during the initiation process: the depicted bones thus refer to the wearer’s own skeleton” (43). The concept of death and revival is often associated with shamans and the way they are portrayed. The bones were usually on the back of the shaman’s jacket or used on the breast-piece. Another important aspect used to distinguish shamans in rock art depictions is that they are wearing fringed fabric. There are differences in the lengths of the fringe and where on the shaman the fringe is located. In the rock art, the fringe was usually long single strands attached to different parts of the shaman’s body. The symbolism of the fringe can be interpreted in several ways. One example is, “The fringe on a shaman’s coat is an important element, which marks his or her ornithomorphic nature (i.e. the ability to transform into a bird or to gain its abilities such as the capacity for flight)” (Devlet 44). The concept of fringe being correlated with flying was mainly used in rock art in the Altai, Tuva, and Mongolian regions.

A more mainstream characteristic is the detection of the shaman’s ritualistic drum. Even though there are different types, shapes, and images painted on the shaman’s drum, it is clearly depicted in the rock art. The range of decoration used on the drums varied from simplistic to innately elaborate. The resemblance is remarkably illustrated, “In the Altai region, images depicted on historical shamanic drums demonstrate a striking similarity with what is shown on the rock engravings” (Devlet 47).

See also

Enlarge picture
Rock paintings, Mexico
Enlarge picture
Petroglyphs are easily accessible from the Una Vida site, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico. Observe reuse (overwriting of symbols) and various artists' styles -- compare the barking dog (left center) to the two rectangular dogs below it. The hand-print (center-left) and foot-print (inside rectangular body, center) are common in Puebloan art. (Image has been enhanced for contrast; see a similar but unenhanced image at Chaco Culture National Historical Park.)

Notes

1. ^ J. D. Clark, Prehist. S. Afr. ix. 248, 1959
2. ^ H. M. Chadwick, Origin Eng. Nation xii. 306, 1907: "The rock-carvings at Tegneby"
3. ^ H. A. Winkler, Rock-Drawings of Southern Upper Egypt I. 26, 1938: "The discovery of rock-drawings showing boats of a type foreign to Egypt."
4. ^ H. G. Wells, Outl. Hist. I. xvii. 126/1, 1920: From rock engravings we may deduce the theory that the desert was crossed from oasis to oasis.
5. ^ Deutsch, Rem. 177, 1874: "The long rock-inscription of Hamamât."
6. ^ Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 822/2, 1908: "The rock-paintings are either stencilled or painted in outline."
7. ^ Man No. 119. 178/2, 1939: "On one of the stalactite pillars was found a big round stone with traces of red paint on its surface, as used in the rock-pictures"
8. ^ G. Moore, The Lost Tribes and the Saxons of the East, 1861, Title page: "with translations of Rock-Records in India."
9. ^ Tylor, Early Hist. Man. v. 88, 1865 "Rock-sculptures may often be symbolic boundary marks."

References

  • Ekaterina, Devlet. "Rock Art and the Material Culture of Siberian and Central Asian Shamanism." The Archaeology of Shamanism. 2001 43-54. 01/04/2007 <http://scandinavian.wisc.edu/dubois/Courses_folder/shamanism_readings/2_9_13/Devlet.pdf>.
  • Malotki, Ekkehart and Weaver, Donald E. Jr., 2002, Stone Chisel and Yucca Brush: Colorao Plateau Rock Art, Kiva Publishing Inc., Walnut, CA, ISBN 1-885772-27-0 (cloth). For the "general public", this book has well over 200 color prints with commentary on each site whre the photos were taken; the organization begins with the earliest art and goes to modern times.
  • Rohn, Arthur H. and Freguson, William M, 2006, Puebloan ruins of the Southwest, University of New Mexico Press, Albuqureque NM, ISBN-10 0-8263-3970-0 (pbk, : alk. paper). Adjunct to the primary discussion of the ruins, contains color prints of rock art at the sites, plus interpretations.
  • Schaafsma, Polly, 1980, Indian Rock Art of the Southwest, School of American Research, Sana Fe, University of New Mexico press, Albuqureque NM, ISBN 0-8263-0913-5. Scholarly text with 349 references, 32 color plates, 283 black and white "Figures", 11 Maps, and 2 Tables.

External links

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please [ improve this article] if you can. <includeonly></includeonly><noinclude>
This high-risk template has been protected from editing to prevent vandalism.
..... Click the link for more information.
Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a rock surfaces by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions of technique to refer to such images.
..... Click the link for more information.
pictogram (also spelled pictogramme) or pictograph is a symbol representing a concept, object, activity, place or event by illustration. Pictography is a form of writing whereby ideas are transmitted through drawing.
..... Click the link for more information.
Cave or Rock Paintings are paintings on cave or rock walls and ceilings, usually dating to prehistoric times. The earliest known rock paintings are dated to the Upper Paleolithic, 40,000 years ago, while the earliest European cave paintings date to 32,000 years ago.
..... Click the link for more information.
Petroforms, or also known as boulder outlines, or boulder mosaics, are usually prehistoric, human made shapes and patterns that were made by arranging rocks on the open ground.
..... Click the link for more information.
inuksuk (plural inuksuit) [1] (from the Inuktitut: ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ, plural ᐃᓄᒃᓱᐃᑦ; alternatively inukshuk in English [2] or inukhuk in Inuinnaqtun [3]
..... Click the link for more information.
Parietal may refer to:
  • Parietal lobe of the brain
  • Parietal bone of the skull
  • Parietal scales of a snake lie in the general region of the parietal bone.
  • Parietal cell in the stomach
  • Parietal pleura
  • Parietal pericardium

..... Click the link for more information.
motif is a repeated idea, pattern, image, or theme. Paisley designs are referred to as motifs. Many designs in mosques in Islam culture are motifs, especially those of flowers. Two major Roman motifs are egg in tongue and ball and reel.
..... Click the link for more information.
Panel can refer to:
  • A committee or jury used to decide some matter. In a legal context it may refer to a subset of a full set of appeal court judges, in contrast to an En banc hearing, which involves them all.

..... Click the link for more information.
prevew not available
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims.
Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details.
This article has been tagged since September 2007.

..... Click the link for more information.
ritual is a set of actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community.[1][2]
..... Click the link for more information.
Shamanism refers to a range of traditional beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spirit world. There are many variations in shamanism throughout the world, though there are some beliefs that are shared by all forms of shamanism:

..... Click the link for more information.
See also Mr Bones (disambiguation) and Boner


Bones are rigid connective organs that make up the skeleton of vertebrates. Bones are primarily comprised of osseous tissue which may also be referred to as bone or bone tissue.
..... Click the link for more information.
skeleton or skeletal system is the biological system providing physical support in living organisms. (By extension, non-biological outline structures such as gantries or buildings may also acquire skeletons.
..... Click the link for more information.
Coat can refer to any one of the following:
  • Coat (clothing), an article of clothing for humans.
  • Coat (animal), the fur coat of an animal.
  • Coat of arms, a heraldic design used to identify a nation, city, family, or individual.

..... Click the link for more information.
Armour or armor (see spelling differences) is protective clothing intended to defend its wearer from intentional harm in combat and military engagements, typically associated with soldiers.
..... Click the link for more information.
Dismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism.
..... Click the link for more information.
skeleton or skeletal system is the biological system providing physical support in living organisms. (By extension, non-biological outline structures such as gantries or buildings may also acquire skeletons.
..... Click the link for more information.
Death is the permanent end of the life of a biological organism. Death may refer to the end of life as either an event or condition.[1] Many factors can cause or contribute to an organism's death, including predation, disease, habitat destruction, senescence,
..... Click the link for more information.
Revival may refer to:
  • Revival (play), of a former hit play in a new production
  • Revival (television) of a former television series
  • Language revival, of an extinct language
  • Revivalism, of religious fervor or fervent traditions

..... Click the link for more information.
textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial fibers often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibers, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn.
..... Click the link for more information.
Symbolism is the applied use of symbols: iconic representations that carry particular conventional meanings. Usually pictures.

The term "symbolism" is often limited to use in contrast to "representationalism"; defining the general directions of a linear spectrum - where in
..... Click the link for more information.
Altay or Altai may refer to:
  • Altay Mountains
and related notions:
  • Altay people an ethnic group
  • Altay language
  • Altaic languages
  • Altay, Xinjiang, also spelled "Aletai", a city in Xinjiang, China

..... Click the link for more information.
Республика Тыв?
..... Click the link for more information.
The term Mongolian can refer to:
  • a person, place or item from Mongolia
  • a member of the Mongolian people, known as the Mongols
  • the Mongolian language or the Mongolian alphabet
  • (historical) the race native to East Asia (later also Mongoloid)

..... Click the link for more information.
ritual is a set of actions, often thought to have symbolic value, the performance of which is usually prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community.[1][2]
..... Click the link for more information.
The drum is a member of the percussion group that can be large, technically classified as a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with parts of a player's body, or with some
..... Click the link for more information.
Decoration may refer to:
  • Decorative art, the craft of a painter and decorator.
  • An object or act intended to increase beauty of a person, room, etc.
  • An object, such as a medal, that is awarded to honor the recipient ostentatiously: see List of prizes, medals, and

..... Click the link for more information.
Altay or Altai may refer to:
  • Altay Mountains
and related notions:
  • Altay people an ethnic group
  • Altay language
  • Altaic languages
  • Altay, Xinjiang, also spelled "Aletai", a city in Xinjiang, China

..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter