Contested Images : Diversity in Southern African Rock Art Research

Text in English. 437 pp. Rock art, once considered by most to be merely a 'quaint' representation ot the lite-style and vision of a 'primitive' people, is assuming an ever greater importance in academic debate. Rock art research, believed by some to be the field of the future, may well play a prominent role in the understanding of Southern African history at this time when received colonial perspectives are being rejected. Certainly, its integration with archaeology is producing an increasingly complete picture of changing settlement and ideology over the last two thousand years. New theoretical developments are opening up the field in ways that were undreamed of in the past and, in exploring some of them, this collection of papers offers a way to better understanding of a once neglected art form. The volume brings together the work of a number of scholars who have critically examined what has come to be known as the 'trance hypothesis'. Though they reach consensus about the value of the hypothesis, they raise questions about points of detail and the applicability of the hypothesis to all paintings and engravings. Many of the chapters engage in wider issues that impinge on other disciplines, such as linguistics and folklore studies, demonstrating the relationship between them and rock art. The work includes an overview of the development of rock art studies, showing how the approach has been modified in the light of criticisms and new insights.…