![]() ![]() However, even with good contextual analyses, rock art often leaves researchers at a loss to say what certain glyphs were meant to represent. Was the battle axe meant to indicate a war-like person? Would a cross signal a peacemaker? Or would the similarity of a cross to a battle axe symbolize the spread of Christianity by force?įor archaeologists and anthropologists, context is everything, allowing them the best possible opportunity to find and piece together the clues needed in order to understand the past and the people who lived there. ![]() Needless to say, this would probably make the identification of the person holding the cross-like implement more difficult to determine, let alone provide a full understanding of the meaning that the artist was trying to convey. In contrast, a determination that the hypothetical image dated to 1,000 CE-when Christianity was sweeping through Scandinavia-would mean that the figure might as likely be holding a Christian cross as a battle axe. Knowing that this image dated to 1,000 BCE during the Bronze Age would rule out any potential Christian interpretation, suggesting that the cross-like item might actually be a battle axe. With these contextual clues, archaeologists and anthropologists are better able to determine the likely identity or function of certain depictions because they can interpret what they see on a rock face in light of what they already know about the inhabitants of that particular location at a particular date.įor example, consider a rock art image hypothetically found in Scandinavia showing a human figure holding a large cross-like implement. Identifying and understanding the meaning of particular petroglyphs, in fact, can be likened to a game of Pictionary-with some sketches being fairly straightforward and others a visual conundrum- albeit without the artist on hand to say who has guessed right!įor archaeologists and anthropologists, researching rock art typically involves the detailed recording of images in their primary context and an attempt to determine their age (date of origin) and likely cultural affiliation (which group created them) through a variety of means ranging from stylistic comparisons to radiocarbon dating of materials found in association with the rock art. Less obvious representations of real or imagined phenomena (such as the sun, geographic features, natural forces like wind or running water or creatures of fantasy) can also be identified as well as things that no two people would agree upon without having the artist there to explain what is being depicted. Rock art images are quite diverse, seemingly depicting everything from simple geometric shapes (lines, circles, triangles, squares) to more or less recognizable representations of creatures or elements from the local environment (such as humans, animals, plants, or tools). To understand this, one must first appreciate the nature and variability of the subject matter. Besides a general human fascination with visual representation in different media, these rock art images can tell us not only about the people who made them-a broadly anthropological question-but also about environmental conditions of the past. Less well known, but far more common, are the petroglyphs (drawings or etchings carved on stone) that have been identified around the world. The most famous early examples of this so-called rock art are the fabulous Paleolithic cave paintings from southwestern France and northern Spain, which date to about 15,000 years ago (see Expedition 47(3):20-24). ![]() ![]() For tens of thousands of years, humans have expressed themselves artistically on their surroundings-painting, etching, carving, and molding designs, decorations, and imagery on surfaces ranging from portable, often hand-held objects (such as animal bone and stone) to more stationary features of the landscape, such as scattered rocks, caves, and cliffs. ![]()
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