Seeing and Construing: The Making and ‘Meaning’ of a Southern African Rock Art Motif
Cambridge Archaeological Journal April 1, 1995 DOI: 10.1017/s0959774300001165 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 41 |
| Key points | Argues that archaeological arguments should be constructed by intertwining disparate strands of evidence rather than by 'reading' archaeological data as a text. Drawing on variations in a southern African rock art motif, San ethnography, and studies of altered states of consciousness, the author proposes that the motif was associated with San shamans breaking through into the spiritual realm. |
Abstract
The construction of archaeological arguments is a continuing source of concern. In comparatively recent years archaeological data have come to be seen as a text that can in some sense be ‘read’. Rejecting this approach in favour of arguments constructed by the intertwining of disparate strands of evidence, this article explores the possible meanings of a southern African rock art motif. Variations in the art itself, nineteenth- and twentieth-century San ethnography and studies of altered states of consciousness combine to suggest that this motif, though idiosyncratically depicted by different artists, was associated with the ways in which San shamans broke through into the spiritual realm.
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Shamanism and Rock Art in Far Western North America Cambridge Archaeological Journal April 1, 1992
- Shamanic Journeys into the Otherworld of the Archaic Chichimec Latin American Antiquity June 1, 1996
- Ascent to the sky. A shamanic initiatory engraving from the Burrup Peninsula, northwest Western Australia Archaeology in Oceania April 1, 1992