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Rock art

July 30, 2023

Not to be confused with cave paintings, a type of rock art placed on the walls and ceilings of caves; or art rock, a sub-genre of rock music.

In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also may be called cave art or parietal art. A global phenomenon, rock art is found in many culturally diverse regions of the world. It has been produced in many contexts throughout human history. In terms of technique, the four main groups are:

Fremont Petroglyph, in Dinosaur National Monument, attributed to Classic Vernal Style, Fremont archaeological culture, eastern Utah, United States
Reclining Buddha at Gal Vihara, Sri Lanka, where the remains of two columns to support the structure that originally enclosed it is visible
Nanabozho pictograph, Mazinaw Rock, Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

The oldest known rock art dates from the Upper Palaeolithic period, having been found in Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. Anthropologists studying these artworks believe that they likely had magico-religious significance.

The archaeological sub-discipline of rock art studies first developed in the late-19th century among Francophone scholars studying the rock art of the Upper Palaeolithic found in the cave systems of parts of Western Europe. Rock art continues to be of importance to indigenous peoples in various parts of the world, who view them as both sacred items and significant components of their cultural heritage.[1] Such archaeological sites may become significant sources of cultural tourism and have been used in popular culture for their aesthetic qualities.[2]

Buddhist stone carvings at Ili River, Kazakhstan

Etymology

The term rock art appears in the published literature as early as the 1940s.[3][4] It has also been described as "rock carvings",[5] "rock drawings",[6] "rock engravings",[7] "rock inscriptions",[8] "rock paintings",[9] "rock pictures",[10] "rock records",[11] and "rock sculptures."[12][13]

Background

Parietal art is a term for art in caves; this definition usually extended to art in rock shelters under cliff overhangs. Popularly, it is called "cave art", and is a subset of the wider term, rock art. It is mostly on rock walls, but may be on ceilings and floors. A wide variety of techniques have been used in its creation. The term usually is applied only to prehistoric art, but it may be used for art of any date.[14] Sheltered parietal art has had a far better chance of surviving for very long periods, and what now survives may represent only a very small proportion of what was created.[15]

Both parietal and cave art refer to cave paintings, drawings, etchings, carvings, and pecked artwork on the interior of caves and rock shelters. Generally, these either are engraved (essentially meaning scratched) or painted, or, they are created using a combination of the two techniques.[16] Parietal art is found very widely throughout the world, and in many places new examples are being discovered.

The defining characteristic of rock art is that it is placed on natural rock surfaces; in this way, it is distinct from artworks placed on constructed walls or free-standing sculpture.[17] As such, rock art is a form of landscape art, and includes designs that have been placed on boulder and cliff faces, cave walls, and ceilings, and on the ground surface.[17] Rock art is a global phenomenon, being found in many different regions of the world.[1] There are various forms of rock art. Some archaeologists also consider pits and grooves in the rock known as cupules, or cups or rings, as a form of rock art.[17]

Although there are exceptions, the majority of rock art whose creation was recorded by ethnographers had been produced during rituals.[17] As such, the study of rock art is a component of the archaeology of religion.[18]

Rock art serves multiple purposes in the contemporary world. In several regions, it remains spiritually important to indigenous peoples, who view it as a significant component of their cultural heritage.[1] It also serves as an important source of cultural tourism, and hence as economic revenue in certain parts of the world. As such, images taken from cave art have appeared on memorabilia and other artifacts sold as a part of the tourist industry.[2]

Types

 
Aboriginal rock painting of Mimi spirits in the Anbangbang gallery at Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu National Park.

Paintings

Main article: Cave painting

In most climates, only paintings in sheltered sites, in particular caves, have survived for any length of time. Therefore, these are usually called "cave paintings", although many do survive in "rock-shelters" or cliff-faces under an overhang. In prehistoric times, these were often popular places for various human purposes, providing some shelter from the weather, as well as light. There may have been many more paintings in more exposed sites, that are now lost. Pictographs are paintings or drawings that have been placed onto the rock face. Such artworks have typically been made with mineral earths and other natural compounds found across much of the world. The predominantly used colours are red, black and white. Red paint is usually attained through the use of ground ochre, while black paint is typically composed of charcoal, or sometimes from minerals such as manganese. White paint is usually created from natural chalk, kaolinite clay or diatomaceous earth.[19] Once the pigments had been obtained, they would be ground and mixed with a liquid, such as water, blood, urine, or egg yolk, and then applied to the stone as paint using a brush, fingers, or a stamp. Alternately, the pigment could have been applied on dry, such as with a stick of charcoal.[20] In some societies, the paint itself has symbolic and religious meaning; for instance, among hunter-gatherer groups in California, paint was only allowed to be traded by the group shamans, while in other parts of North America, the word for "paint" was the same as the word for "supernatural spirit".[21]

One common form of pictograph, found in many, although not all rock-art producing cultures, is the hand print. There are three forms of this; the first involves covering the hand in wet paint and then applying it to the rock. The second involves a design being painted onto the hand, which is then in turn added to the surface. The third involves the hand first being placed against the panel, with dry paint then being blown onto it through a tube, in a process that is akin to air-brush or spray-painting. The resulting image is a negative print of the hand, and is sometimes described as a "stencil" in Australian archaeology.[22] Miniature stencilled art has been found at two locations in Australia and one in Indonesia.

Petroglyphs

Main article: Petroglyph
 
Bidzar Petroglyphs in Cameroon

Petroglyphs are engravings or carvings into rock which is left in situ. They can be created with a range of scratching, engraving or carving techniques, often with the use of a hard hammerstone, which is battered against the stone surface. In certain societies, the choice of hammerstone itself has religious significance.[23] In other instances, the rock art is pecked out through indirect percussion, as a second rock is used like a chisel between the hammerstone and the panel.[23] A third, rarer form of engraving rock art was through incision, or scratching, into the surface of the stone with a lithic flake or metal blade. The motifs produced using this technique are fine-lined and often difficult to see.[24]

Rock reliefs

Main article: Rock relief

Normally found in literate cultures, a rock relief or rock-cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or "living rock" such as a cliff, rather than a detached piece of stone. They are a category of rock art, and sometimes found in conjunction with rock-cut architecture.[25] However, they tend to be omitted in most works on rock art, which concentrate on engravings and paintings by prehistoric peoples. A few such works exploit the natural contours of the rock and use them to define an image, but they do not amount to man-made reliefs. Rock reliefs have been made in many cultures, and were especially important in the art of the Ancient Near East.[26] Rock reliefs are generally fairly large, as they need to be to make an impact in the open air. Most have figures that are over life-size, and in many the figures are multiples of life-size.

Stylistically they normally relate to other types of sculpture from the culture and period concerned, and except for Hittite and Persian examples they are generally discussed as part of that wider subject.[27] The vertical relief is most common, but reliefs on essentially horizontal surfaces are also found. The term typically excludes relief carvings inside caves, whether natural or themselves man-made, which are especially found in India. Natural rock formations made into statues or other sculpture in the round, most famously at the Great Sphinx of Giza, are also usually excluded. Reliefs on large boulders left in their natural location, like the Hittite İmamkullu relief, are likely to be included, but smaller boulders may be called stelae or carved orthostats.

Earth figures

Further information: Geoglyphs
See also: Land art

Earth figures are large designs and motifs that are created on the stone ground surface. They can be classified through their method of manufacture.[28] Intaglios are created by scraping away the desert pavements (pebbles covering the ground) to reveal a negative image on the bedrock below. The best known example of such intaglio rock art is the Nazca Lines of Peru.[28] In contrast, geoglyphs are positive images, which are created by piling up rocks on the ground surface to resulting in a visible motif or design.[28]

Motifs and panels

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

Prehistoric rock depictions were not purely descriptive. Each motif and design had a "deep significance" that is not always understandable to modern scholars.[29]

Interpretation and use

Religious interpretations

In many instances, the creation of rock art was itself a ritual act.[24]

Regional variations

Europe

Main article: Rock art of Europe

In the Upper Palaeolithic of Europe, rock art was produced inside cave systems by the hunter-gatherer peoples who inhabited the continent. The oldest known example is the Chauvet Cave in France, although others have been located, including Lascaux in France, Alta Mira in Spain and Creswell Crags in Britain and Grotta del Genovese in Sicily.

 
Balma dei Cervi post-palaeolithic rock paintings (Italian western Alps): antropomorphic figures and dottings (DStretch enhanced)

The late prehistoric rock art of Europe has been divided into three regions by archaeologists. In Atlantic Europe, the coastal seaboard on the west of the continent, which stretches from Iberia up through France and encompasses the British Isles, a variety of different rock arts were produced from the Neolithic through to the Late Bronze Age. A second area of the continent to contain a significant rock art tradition was that of Alpine Europe, with the majority of artworks being clustered in the southern slopes of the mountainous region, in what is now south-eastern France and northern Italy.

 
A moose in the rock paintings of Saraakallio in Laukaa, Finland

Africa

 
Figure of a woman at the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain range
 
Long-horned cattle and other rock art in the Laas Geel complex
 
Rock paintings from the Western Cape
 
Chongoni Rock Art Area, Malawi

North Africa

Western Africa

East Africa

 
Rock art in the Adi Alauti cave, Eritrea

Southern Africa

Cave paintings are found in most parts of Southern Africa that have rock overhangs with smooth surfaces. Among these sites are the cave sandstone of Natal, Orange Free State and North-Eastern Cape, the granite and Waterberg sandstone of the Northern Transvaal, and the Table Mountain sandstone of the Southern and Western Cape.[36]

The Americas

 
Native American rock painting close to Douglas, Wyoming, USA. One possible interpretation of this painting is: On the left side a group of United States Army soldiers with different insignia and on the right side Native Americans are shown

The oldest reliably dated rock art in the Americas is known as the "Horny Little Man." It is petroglyph depicting a stick figure with an oversized phallus and carved in Lapa do Santo, a cave in central-eastern Brazil.[40] The most important site is Serra da Capivara National Park at Piauí state. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the largest collection in the American continent and one of the most studied.

A site including eight miles of paintings or pictographs that is under study in Colombia, South America at Serranía de la Lindosa was revealed in November 2020.[41] Their age is suggested as being 12,500 years old (c. 10,480 B.C.) by the anthropologists working on the site because of extinct fauna depicted.

Rock paintings or pictographs are located in many areas across Canada. There are over 400 sites attributed to the Ojibway from northern Saskatchewan to the Ottawa River.[42]

However, cave art is not the only type of rock art. While cave art provides the two-dimensional view on a rocky surface, figurines made of a rock material can provide a three-dimensional view that gives insight on indigenous views towards their visual arts. Many sites along and off the California coastline, such as the Channel Islands and Malibu, have both realistic and abstract styles of zoomorphic effigy figurines.[46] From archaeological studies at these sites, archaeologists and other researchers discovered many of these figurines and performed a composition analysis, which most of these figurines are made of steatite but there are still made of other materials.[47][48]

As a result from these archaeological studies, these figures provided context about spheres of interaction between tribal groups, demonstrate economical significance, and possibly hold a ritual function as well.[46][47][48] Under one study by archaeologists Richard T Fitzgerald and Christopher Corey, they dated the earliest figurines to be around the Middle Holocene, suggesting two socioeconomic interactive spheres (one in the northern and one in the southern Channel Islands) and linguistic similarities between Takic-speaking Gabrileno and Chumash neighbors.[47] These figurines share similar styles between these tribes, providing a history of interactive contact.

California

Little Lake is a complex of rock art located in a specific point in time and space (in Rose Valley, Inyo County). Rose Valley is located in the boundaries of the cultural Great Basin and the territory of the Timbisha Shoshone. This site is important to understanding the symbolism and value of North American rock art because it is one of the largest collections of rock art unrelated to the Coso (an indigenous tribe/people of the Mojave Desert). Its importance to territorial and anthropological studies helps many understand the in-depth descriptions and stylistic analyses of large rock art concentrations, which are valued by archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnographers, and even art enthusiasts. Referring back to these sites help social scientists understand and record the values that were important to the creators; it shows economic values or settlement patterns that were once a daily part of life. As a result, it is crucial to focus on the variable resources to understand how cultures were abiding with their environment. However, the rock art related sites at Little Rock can’t be directly dated or analyzed.[49]

Asia

 
Bhimbetka rock painting of India, World Heritage Site.
 
'Great King' neolithic paintings above Malipo in Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. Thought to be over 4000 years old.
 
Petroglyphs in Gobustan, Azerbaijan, dating back to 10,000 BC.
 
Rock art in Balichakra near Yadgir town in Karnataka, India

Central Asia

East Asia

  • Bangudae Petroglyphs, in South Korea
  • Cheonjeon-ri in South Korea[50]
  • Daegok-ri in South Korea[50]
  • Fugoppe Cave petroglyphs on Hokkaido, Japan[50]
  • Helankou in Yinchuan, China[50]
  • Kangjia shimenzi in Xinjiang, China[50]
  • Oponoho (Wanshan) petroglyphs in Taiwan[50]
  • Temiya Cave on Hokkaido, Japan[50]
  • Yinshan petroglyphs in the Yin Mountains, China
  • Zuo River Huashan rock art in Guangxi, China[50]
  • Chifeng Petroglyphs in Inner Mongolia
  • Above 4000 meters above sea level high Tibetan plateau: possibly the oldest rock art, likely dating back to ~169–226,000 years ago, much older than what was previously thought to be the earliest known drawing, made ~73,000[51] years ago. According to the study, children likely intentionally placed a series of hands and feet in mud. The findings could also be the earliest evidence of Hominins on the high Tibetan plateau.[52][53][54]

Southeast Asia

Further information: Austronesian peoples § Rock art

South Asia

Western Asia

  • Rock Art in the Ha'il Region in Saudi Arabia
  • Iranian rock art sites are mostly found in the Zagros Mountain range. But there are many other sites in Central Iran, Sistan and Baluchistan, and Azarbaijan. Most of these rock arts date back to the late prehistory and historic period. Among which the well-known sites of Houmian at Kuhdasht,[62] Khomein, and Teimareh[63] in Central Iran are outstanding.
  • Large carvings of camels that were discovered in 2018 in Saudi Arabia are estimated to be 7,000 to 8,000 years old.[64] This Neolithic dating would make the carvings significantly older than Stonehenge (5,000 years old) and the Egyptian pyramids at Giza (4,500 years old).

Australasia

Australia

Further information: Indigenous Australian art § Rock art

Australian Indigenous art represents the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world. There are more than 100,000 recorded rock art sites in Australia.[65]

The oldest firmly dated rock-art painting in Australia is a charcoal drawing on a rock fragment found during the excavation of the Nawarla Gabarnmang rock shelter in south western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Dated at 28,000 years, it is one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on Earth with a confirmed date. Nawarla Gabarnmang is considered[by whom?] to have one of the most extensive collections of rock art in the world and predates both Lascaux and Chauvet cave art - the earliest known art in Europe - by at least 10,000 years.[66][67]

In 2008 rock art depicting what is thought to be a Thylacoleo was discovered[by whom?] on the north-western coast of the Kimberley.[68] As the Thylacoleo is believed to have become extinct 45000–46000 years ago (Roberts et al. 2001) (Gillespie 2004), this suggests a similar age for the associated Gwion Gwion rock paintings. Archaeologist Kim Akerman however believes that the megafauna may have persisted later in refugia (wetter areas of the continent) as suggested by Wells (1985: 228) and has suggested a much younger age for the paintings.[68] Pigments from the Gwion Gwion of the Kimberley are so old they have become part of the rock itself, making carbon dating impossible. Some experts suggest that these paintings are in the vicinity of 50,000 years old and may even pre-date Aboriginal settlement.[69][70]

 
Gwion Gwion rock paintings in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Miniature rock art of the stencilled variety at a rock shelter known as Yilbilinji, in the Limmen National Park in the Northern Territory, is one of only three known examples of such art. Usually stencilled art is life-size, using body parts as the stencil, but the 17 images of designs of human figures, boomerangs, animals such as crabs and long-necked turtles, wavy lines and geometric shapes are very rare. Found in 2017 by archaeologists, the only other recorded examples are at Nielson's Creek in New South Wales and at Kisar Island in Indonesia. It is thought that the designs may have been created by stencils fashioned out of beeswax.[71][72][73]

  • Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory has a large collection of ochre paintings. Ochre is a not an organic material, so carbon dating of these pictures is impossible. Sometimes the approximate date, or at least an epoch, can be guessed from the content.
  • The Sydney region has important rock engravings.
  • Mount Grenfell Historic Site near Cobar, western New South Wales has important ancient rock-drawings.
  • The Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula) area of Western Australia near Karratha is estimated[by whom?] to be home to between 500,000 and 1 million individual engravings.
  • Kimberley region of Western Australia. Amateur archaeologist Grahame Walsh, who researched Gwion Gwion rock paintings in the region from 1977 until his death in 2007, produced a photographic database of 1.5 million Gwion Gwion rock paintings.[74] Many of the Gwion rock paintings maintain vivid colours because they have been colonised by bacteria and fungi, such as the black fungus, Chaetothyriales. The pigments originally applied may have initiated an ongoing, symbiotic relationship between black fungi and red bacteria.[75]
  • The Grampians-Gariwerd region is Victoria is one of the richest Aboriginal rock art sites in south-eastern Australia.[76] Some of the more well-known and easily accessible sites are the Ngamadjidj Shelter (Cave of Ghosts), Gulgurn Manja (Flat Rock), Billimina (Glenisla Shelter) and Manja (Cave of Hands);[77] one of the most significant sites in south-eastern Australia is Bunjil's Shelter, near Stawell,[78] which is the only known rock art depiction of Bunjil, the creator-being in Aboriginal Australian mythology.[79]
  • The Maliwawa Figures in Arnhem Land, a series of 571 paintings and a drawing, created between 6,000 and 9,400 years ago, show a style nor recognised by researchers in the field before new research was done in 2016–2018 and published in September 2020 by Paul Taçon and his team.[80][81]
  • The Turramurra site in western Queensland is opening in 2020. Cliffs on the property, for some time known as Grace Vale Station, are covered with ancient rock art, including paintings and etchings of megafauna, emu symbols and the traditional songline of the Seven Sisters. Planning for an educational centre created from local rock is under way.[82]

New Zealand

In New Zealand, North Otago and South Canterbury have a rich range of early Māori rock art.[83]

Studies

The archaeological sub-discipline devoted to the investigation of rock art is known as "rock art studies." Rock art specialist David S. Whitley noted that research in this area required an "integrated effort" that brings together archaeological theory, method, fieldwork, analytical techniques and interpretation.[85]

History

Although French archaeologists had undertaken much research into rock art, Anglophone archaeology had largely neglected the subject for decades.[86]

The discipline of rock art studies witnessed what Whitley called a "revolution" during the 1980s and 1990s, as increasing numbers of archaeologists in the Anglophone world and Latin America turned their attention to the subject.[87] In doing so, they recognised that rock art could be used to understand symbolic and religious systems, gender relations, cultural boundaries, cultural change and the origins of art and belief.[1] One of the most significant figures in this movement was the South African archaeologist David Lewis-Williams, who published his studies of San rock art from southern Africa, in which he combined ethnographic data to reveal the original purpose of the artworks. Lewis-Williams would come to be praised for elevating rock art studies to a "theoretically sophisticated research domain" by Whitley.[88] However, the study of rock art worldwide is marked by considerable differences of opinion with respect to the appropriateness of various methods and the most relevant and defensible theoretical framework.

International databases and archives

The UNESCO World Rock Art Archive Working Group met in 2011 to discuss the base model for a World Rock Art Archive.[89] While no official output has been generated to date, various projects around the world — such as The Global Rock Art Database — are looking at making rock art heritage information more accessible and more visible to assist with rock art awareness, conservation and preservation issues. [90][91]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Whitley 2005, p. 1.
  2. ^ a b Whitley 2005, pp. 1–2.
  3. ^ E. Goodall, Proceedings and Transactions of the Rhodesian Scientific Association 41:57-62, 1946: "Domestic Animals in rock art"
  4. ^ E. Goodall, Proceedings and Transactions of the Rhodesian Scientific Association 42:69-74, 1949: "Notes on certain human representations in Rhodesian rock art"
  5. ^ H. M. Chadwick, Origin Eng. Nation xii. 306, 1907: "The rock-carvings at Tegneby"
  6. ^ 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."
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Deutsch, Rem. 177, 1874: "The long rock-inscription of Hamamât."
  9. ^ Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 822/2, 1908: "The rock-paintings are either stenciled or painted in outline."
  10. ^ 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"
  11. ^ G. Moore, The Lost Tribes and the Saxons of the East, 1861, Title page: "with translations of Rock-Records in India."
  12. ^ Tylor, Early Hist. Man. v. 88, 1865, "and bush art or bushmen art."
  13. ^ Trust For African Rock Art, East Africa, common terminology, "Rock-sculptures may often be symbolic boundary marks."
  14. ^ Bahn, 99-101
  15. ^ Bahn, 101
  16. ^ Bahn, 101-105
  17. ^ a b c d Whitley 2005, p. 3.
  18. ^ Whitley 2005. pp. 3–4.
  19. ^ Whitley 2005, p. 4.
  20. ^ Whitley 2005, pp. 4–5.
  21. ^ Whitley 2005, p. 9.
  22. ^ Whitley 2005, pp. 7–9.
  23. ^ a b Whitley 2005, p. 11.
  24. ^ a b Whitley 2005, p. 13.
  25. ^ Harmanşah (2014), 5–6
  26. ^ Harmanşah (2014), 5–6; Canepa, 53
  27. ^ for example by Rawson and Sickman & Soper
  28. ^ a b c Whitley 2005, p. 14.
  29. ^ Arca 2004, p. 319.
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  60. ^ Javid, Ali; Jāvīd, ʻAlī; Javeed, Tabassum (2008). World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India. Algora Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 9780875864846.
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  68. ^ a b Akerman, Kim; Willing, Tim (March 2009). "An ancient rock painting of a marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex, from the Kimberley, Western Australia". Antiquity. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  69. ^ "The Times Literary Supplement – TLS". timesonline.co.uk.
  70. ^ Bradshaw Foundation. "The Bradshaw Paintings – Australian Rock Art Archive". Bradshaw Foundation.
  71. ^ Zwartz, Henry (27 May 2020). "Indigenous rock art found in the NT one of just three such examples worldwide". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  72. ^ Flinders University (26 May 2020). "Miniature rock art expands horizons". Phys.org. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
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References

  • Arca, Andrea (2004). "The topographical engravings of Alpine rock-art: fields, settlements and agricultural landscapes". The Figured Landscapes of Rock-Art. Cambridge University Press. pp. 318–349.
  • Bahn, Paul (ed), The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art, 1998, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0521454735, 9780521454735, google books
  • Devlet, Ekaterina (2001). "Rock Art and the Material Culture of Siberian and Central Asian Shamanism" (PDF). The Archaeology of Shamanism. pp. 43–54. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
  • Harmanşah, Ömür (ed) (2014), Of Rocks and Water: An Archaeology of Place, 2014, Oxbow Books, ISBN 1782976744, 9781782976745
  • Haubt, R.A.; Tacon, P.S.C. (October 22, 2016). "A collaborative, ontological and information visualization model approach in a centralized rock art heritage platform". Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 10: 837–846. Bibcode:2016JArSR..10..837H. doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.10.013.
  • Rawson, Jessica (ed). The British Museum Book of Chinese Art, 2007 (2nd edn), British Museum Press, ISBN 9780714124469
  • Schaafsma, Polly, 1980, Indian Rock Art of the Southwest, School of American Research, Santa Fe, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque NM, ISBN 0-8263-0913-5. Scholarly text with 349 references, 32 color plates, 283 black and white "figures", 11 maps, and 2 tables.
  • Sickman, Laurence, in: Sickman L., & Soper A., The Art and Architecture of China, Pelican History of Art, 3rd ed 1971, Penguin (now Yale History of Art), LOC 70-125675
  • UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2011). "World Rock Art Archives to meet in Tanum". Retrieved May 1, 2011.
  • Whitley, David S. (2005). Introduction to Rock Art Research. Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press. ISBN 978-1598740004.

Further reading

  • David, Bruno, Cave Art, 2017, Thames and Hudson, ISBN 9780500204351
  • Malotki, Ekkehart and Weaver, Donald E. Jr., 2002, Stone Chisel and Yucca Brush: Colorado Plateau Rock Art, Kiva Publishing Inc., Walnut, California, ISBN 1-885772-27-0 (cloth). For the "general public"; this book has well over 200 color prints with commentary on each site where the photos were taken; the organization begins with the earliest art and goes to modern times.
  • B. B. Lal (1968). Indian Rock Paintings: Their Chronology, Technique and Preservation.
  • Rohn, Arthur H. and Ferguson, William M, 2006, Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque NM, ISBN 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.
  • Zboray, András, 2005, Rock Art of the Libyan Desert, Fliegel Jezerniczky, Newbury, United Kingdom (1st Edition 2005, 2nd expanded edition 2009). An illustrated catalogue and bibliography of all known prehistoric rock art sites in the central Libyan Desert (Arkenu, Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir plateau). The second edition contains more than 20000 photographs documenting the sites. Published on DVD-ROM.

External links

  • IFRAO International Federation of Rock Art Organizations, comprising 60 academic rock art organizations of the world. Some of these are:
  • ARARA American Rock Art Research Association.
  • ANISA Anisa, Verein für Alpine Forschung.
  • AURA Australian Rock Art Research Association, Inc.
  • CARA Cave Art Research Association.
  • IC Institutum Canarium.
  • CeSMAP Centro Studi e Museo d'Arte Preistorica.
  • CCSP Centro Camuno do Studi Preistorici.
  • SCAO Società Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell'Uomo.
  • AARS Association des Amis de l'art Rupestre Saharien.
  • SIARB Bolivian Rock Art Research Society.
  • ANAR Archivo Nacional de Arte Rupestre (Venezuela).
  • APAR Asociación Peruana de Arte Rupestre.
  • AAV Asociación Arqueológica Viguesa.
  • AEARC Asociación de Estudios del Arte Rupestre de Cochabamba.
  • ABAR Associação Brasileira de Arte Rupestre.
  • ASER Association de Sauvegarde, d'Etude et de Recherche pour le patrimoine naturel et culturel du Centre-Var.
  • ESRARA Eastern States Rock Art Research Association.
  • GERSAR Groupe d'Études, de Recherches et de Sauvegarde de l'Art Rupestre.
  • GCIAR Grupo Cubano de Investigaciones de Arte Rupestre.
  • INAAK Instituto de Investigación de Arqueología y Antropología 'Kuelap'.
  • NMMZ National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe.
  • NRAF Nevada Rock Art Foundation.
  • NCRAT Northern Cape Rock Art Trust.
  • SDRAA San Diego Rock Art Association.
  • TARA The Trust for African Rock Art.
  • Bradshaw Foundation Extensive archive on rock art from all around the world.
  • Altarockart.no A digital archive of the Rock Art of Alta, Norway
  • Global Rock Art Database (RADB) rockartdatabase, Global Rock Art Database (RADB) search tool for international rock art archives
  • Rock Art in Maira Valley, Piedmont, Italy
  • Chauvet Cave Database of European Prehistoric Art
  • England's Rock Art on the Web Access to the ERA database containing over 1500 records of rock art panels with images and 3D models.
  • Tassili N'Ajjer, Rock Art of the central Tassili N'Ajjer (Tamrit, Sefar, Tin Tazarift, Jabbaren)
  • Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir, Rock Art of Jebel Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir plateau ("Cave of Swimmers")
  • Upper Brandberg, The rock paintings of the Upper Brandberg, Namibia
  • Libyan Desert, Rock Art of the Libyan Desert, and illustrated catalogue and bibliography of the prehistoric rock art of the central Libyan Desert
  • Rupestreweb.info, Latin American rock art. Articles, Zones, News, Rock art researchers directory
  • Tanums Hällristningsmuseum 2013-10-25 at the Wayback Machine Rock Art Research Centre and World Heritage Archive, situated in Tanum, Sweden.
  • Rock Art Studies (RAS) – A Bibliographic database at the Bancroft Library containing over 18,000 citations to the world's rock art literature.
  • Rock Art in Israel – Rock Art archeology and research from the Negev Desert, Israel.
  • Rock Art Examples and Image Capture – Examples from the Côa Valley in Portugal and Magdalenian Rock Art.
  • The Rock Art Foundation – Native American Rock Art in the Lower Pecos region of Southwest Texas
  • Rock carvings made by Neolithic and Early Bronze Age people in Northumberland in the north east of England, between 6000 and 3500 years ago.
  • Over 16.000 photos of more than 1200 rock art sites in the UK with relevant information and links.
  • Broken Rock Gallery and Petroglyph Designs.
  • Rupestre.net A rock art site, mainly devoted to Valcamonica and Alpine Rock Art.
  • EuroPreArt The database of European Prehistoric Art.
  • Rock Art of the Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula) Western Australia
  • UNESCO World Heritage: Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
  • Bundelkhand Rock Paintings, India
  • SpiralZoom.com, an educational website about the science of pattern formation, spirals in nature, spirals in the mythic imagination & spiral rock art
  • Prehistoric Rock Art in Iran
  • (In Persian)
  • Sydney Rock Art
  • Rock Art Research Institute, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
  • Rock Art of the Lower Pecos, Texas Archive of the Moving Image

July 30, 2023
rock, confused, with, cave, paintings, type, rock, placed, walls, ceilings, caves, rock, genre, rock, music, archaeology, rock, human, made, markings, placed, natural, surfaces, typically, vertical, stone, surfaces, high, proportion, surviving, historic, prehi. Not to be confused with cave paintings a type of rock art placed on the walls and ceilings of caves or art rock a sub genre of rock music In archaeology rock art is human made markings placed on natural surfaces typically vertical stone surfaces A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters this type also may be called cave art or parietal art A global phenomenon rock art is found in many culturally diverse regions of the world It has been produced in many contexts throughout human history In terms of technique the four main groups are cave paintings petroglyphs which are carved or scratched into the rock surface sculpted rock reliefs and geoglyphs which are formed on the ground Fremont Petroglyph in Dinosaur National Monument attributed to Classic Vernal Style Fremont archaeological culture eastern Utah United StatesReclining Buddha at Gal Vihara Sri Lanka where the remains of two columns to support the structure that originally enclosed it is visibleNanabozho pictograph Mazinaw Rock Bon Echo Provincial Park Ontario Canada The oldest known rock art dates from the Upper Palaeolithic period having been found in Europe Australia Asia and Africa Anthropologists studying these artworks believe that they likely had magico religious significance The archaeological sub discipline of rock art studies first developed in the late 19th century among Francophone scholars studying the rock art of the Upper Palaeolithic found in the cave systems of parts of Western Europe Rock art continues to be of importance to indigenous peoples in various parts of the world who view them as both sacred items and significant components of their cultural heritage 1 Such archaeological sites may become significant sources of cultural tourism and have been used in popular culture for their aesthetic qualities 2 Buddhist stone carvings at Ili River KazakhstanContents 1 Etymology 2 Background 3 Types 3 1 Paintings 3 2 Petroglyphs 3 3 Rock reliefs 3 4 Earth figures 4 Motifs and panels 5 Interpretation and use 5 1 Religious interpretations 6 Regional variations 6 1 Europe 6 2 Africa 6 2 1 North Africa 6 2 2 Western Africa 6 2 3 East Africa 6 2 4 Southern Africa 6 3 The Americas 6 3 1 California 6 4 Asia 6 4 1 Central Asia 6 4 2 East Asia 6 4 3 Southeast Asia 6 4 4 South Asia 6 4 5 Western Asia 6 5 Australasia 6 5 1 Australia 6 5 2 New Zealand 7 Studies 7 1 History 7 2 International databases and archives 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External linksEtymology EditThe term rock art appears in the published literature as early as the 1940s 3 4 It has also been described as rock carvings 5 rock drawings 6 rock engravings 7 rock inscriptions 8 rock paintings 9 rock pictures 10 rock records 11 and rock sculptures 12 13 Background EditParietal art is a term for art in caves this definition usually extended to art in rock shelters under cliff overhangs Popularly it is called cave art and is a subset of the wider term rock art It is mostly on rock walls but may be on ceilings and floors A wide variety of techniques have been used in its creation The term usually is applied only to prehistoric art but it may be used for art of any date 14 Sheltered parietal art has had a far better chance of surviving for very long periods and what now survives may represent only a very small proportion of what was created 15 Both parietal and cave art refer to cave paintings drawings etchings carvings and pecked artwork on the interior of caves and rock shelters Generally these either are engraved essentially meaning scratched or painted or they are created using a combination of the two techniques 16 Parietal art is found very widely throughout the world and in many places new examples are being discovered The defining characteristic of rock art is that it is placed on natural rock surfaces in this way it is distinct from artworks placed on constructed walls or free standing sculpture 17 As such rock art is a form of landscape art and includes designs that have been placed on boulder and cliff faces cave walls and ceilings and on the ground surface 17 Rock art is a global phenomenon being found in many different regions of the world 1 There are various forms of rock art Some archaeologists also consider pits and grooves in the rock known as cupules or cups or rings as a form of rock art 17 Although there are exceptions the majority of rock art whose creation was recorded by ethnographers had been produced during rituals 17 As such the study of rock art is a component of the archaeology of religion 18 Rock art serves multiple purposes in the contemporary world In several regions it remains spiritually important to indigenous peoples who view it as a significant component of their cultural heritage 1 It also serves as an important source of cultural tourism and hence as economic revenue in certain parts of the world As such images taken from cave art have appeared on memorabilia and other artifacts sold as a part of the tourist industry 2 Types Edit Aboriginal rock painting of Mimi spirits in the Anbangbang gallery at Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu National Park Paintings Edit Main article Cave painting In most climates only paintings in sheltered sites in particular caves have survived for any length of time Therefore these are usually called cave paintings although many do survive in rock shelters or cliff faces under an overhang In prehistoric times these were often popular places for various human purposes providing some shelter from the weather as well as light There may have been many more paintings in more exposed sites that are now lost Pictographs are paintings or drawings that have been placed onto the rock face Such artworks have typically been made with mineral earths and other natural compounds found across much of the world The predominantly used colours are red black and white Red paint is usually attained through the use of ground ochre while black paint is typically composed of charcoal or sometimes from minerals such as manganese White paint is usually created from natural chalk kaolinite clay or diatomaceous earth 19 Once the pigments had been obtained they would be ground and mixed with a liquid such as water blood urine or egg yolk and then applied to the stone as paint using a brush fingers or a stamp Alternately the pigment could have been applied on dry such as with a stick of charcoal 20 In some societies the paint itself has symbolic and religious meaning for instance among hunter gatherer groups in California paint was only allowed to be traded by the group shamans while in other parts of North America the word for paint was the same as the word for supernatural spirit 21 One common form of pictograph found in many although not all rock art producing cultures is the hand print There are three forms of this the first involves covering the hand in wet paint and then applying it to the rock The second involves a design being painted onto the hand which is then in turn added to the surface The third involves the hand first being placed against the panel with dry paint then being blown onto it through a tube in a process that is akin to air brush or spray painting The resulting image is a negative print of the hand and is sometimes described as a stencil in Australian archaeology 22 Miniature stencilled art has been found at two locations in Australia and one in Indonesia Petroglyphs Edit Main article Petroglyph Bidzar Petroglyphs in CameroonPetroglyphs are engravings or carvings into rock which is left in situ They can be created with a range of scratching engraving or carving techniques often with the use of a hard hammerstone which is battered against the stone surface In certain societies the choice of hammerstone itself has religious significance 23 In other instances the rock art is pecked out through indirect percussion as a second rock is used like a chisel between the hammerstone and the panel 23 A third rarer form of engraving rock art was through incision or scratching into the surface of the stone with a lithic flake or metal blade The motifs produced using this technique are fine lined and often difficult to see 24 Rock reliefs Edit Main article Rock relief Normally found in literate cultures a rock relief or rock cut relief is a relief sculpture carved on solid or living rock such as a cliff rather than a detached piece of stone They are a category of rock art and sometimes found in conjunction with rock cut architecture 25 However they tend to be omitted in most works on rock art which concentrate on engravings and paintings by prehistoric peoples A few such works exploit the natural contours of the rock and use them to define an image but they do not amount to man made reliefs Rock reliefs have been made in many cultures and were especially important in the art of the Ancient Near East 26 Rock reliefs are generally fairly large as they need to be to make an impact in the open air Most have figures that are over life size and in many the figures are multiples of life size Stylistically they normally relate to other types of sculpture from the culture and period concerned and except for Hittite and Persian examples they are generally discussed as part of that wider subject 27 The vertical relief is most common but reliefs on essentially horizontal surfaces are also found The term typically excludes relief carvings inside caves whether natural or themselves man made which are especially found in India Natural rock formations made into statues or other sculpture in the round most famously at the Great Sphinx of Giza are also usually excluded Reliefs on large boulders left in their natural location like the Hittite Imamkullu relief are likely to be included but smaller boulders may be called stelae or carved orthostats Earth figures Edit Further information Geoglyphs See also Land art Earth figures are large designs and motifs that are created on the stone ground surface They can be classified through their method of manufacture 28 Intaglios are created by scraping away the desert pavements pebbles covering the ground to reveal a negative image on the bedrock below The best known example of such intaglio rock art is the Nazca Lines of Peru 28 In contrast geoglyphs are positive images which are created by piling up rocks on the ground surface to resulting in a visible motif or design 28 Motifs and panels EditTraditionally 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 citation needed 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 citation needed Prehistoric rock depictions were not purely descriptive Each motif and design had a deep significance that is not always understandable to modern scholars 29 Interpretation and use EditReligious interpretations Edit In many instances the creation of rock art was itself a ritual act 24 Regional variations EditEurope Edit Main article Rock art of Europe In the Upper Palaeolithic of Europe rock art was produced inside cave systems by the hunter gatherer peoples who inhabited the continent The oldest known example is the Chauvet Cave in France although others have been located including Lascaux in France Alta Mira in Spain and Creswell Crags in Britain and Grotta del Genovese in Sicily Balma dei Cervi post palaeolithic rock paintings Italian western Alps antropomorphic figures and dottings DStretch enhanced The late prehistoric rock art of Europe has been divided into three regions by archaeologists In Atlantic Europe the coastal seaboard on the west of the continent which stretches from Iberia up through France and encompasses the British Isles a variety of different rock arts were produced from the Neolithic through to the Late Bronze Age A second area of the continent to contain a significant rock art tradition was that of Alpine Europe with the majority of artworks being clustered in the southern slopes of the mountainous region in what is now south eastern France and northern Italy A moose in the rock paintings of Saraakallio in Laukaa FinlandFinnish Rock Art Knowth Loughcrew Newgrange Neolithic and Bronze Age rock art in the British Isles Rock Drawings in Valcamonica World Heritage Site Balma dei Cervi at Crodo Piedmont Italian Alps Grotta dei Cervi at Porto Badisco Apulia Italy Grotta del Genovese Sicily List of rock carvings in Norway Rock carvings at Alta World Heritage Site Madara Rider World Heritage Site Coa Valley Paleolithic Art World Heritage Site Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain World Heritage Site Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin World Heritage Site Tanum World Heritage Site Tanums hallristningsmuseum sv 30 Rock Art Research Centre and World Heritage Archive situated in Tanum Sweden Africa Edit Figure of a woman at the Tassili n Ajjer mountain range Long horned cattle and other rock art in the Laas Geel complex Rock paintings from the Western Cape Chongoni Rock Art Area MalawiNorth Africa Edit South Oran in Algeria Saharan rock art Tadrart Acacus in Libya World Heritage Site Tassili n Ajjer in Algeria national park and World Heritage Site known for its 10 000 year old paintings Cave of Swimmers is a cave in southwest Egypt near the border with Libya along the western edge of the Gilf Kebir plateau in the central Libyan Desert Eastern Sahara It was discovered in October 1933 by the Hungarian explorer Laszlo Almasy The site contains rock paintings of human figures who appear to be swimming which have been estimated to have been created at least 6 000 to 7000 years ago The Cave of Beasts 10 km westwards was discovered in 2002 Jebel Uweinat a large granite and sandstone mountain as well as the adjacent smaller massifs of Jebel Arkenu and Jebel Kissu at the converging triple borders of Libya Egypt and Sudan harbors one of the richest concentrations of prehistoric rock art in the entire Sahara The rock art here mainly consists of the Neolithic cattle pastoralist cultures but also a number of older paintings from hunter gatherer societies Sabu Jaddi rock art site in Northern Sudan North SInai Archaeological Sites Zone World Heritage Site 31 Limestone cave decorated with scenes of animals such as donkeys camels deer mule and mountain goats was uncovered in the site in 2020 Rock art cave is 15 meters deep and 20 meters high 32 Wadi Abu DomWestern Africa Edit Boucle du Baoule National Park Dabous GiraffesEast Africa Edit Rock art in the Adi Alauti cave EritreaQohaito in Eritrea 7 000 years old rock art near the ancient city Qohaito Dorra and Balho in Djibouti Rock art sites with figures of what appear to be antelopes and a giraffe Kundudo in Ethiopia Flat top mountain complex with rock art in a cave Laas Geel in Somalia A number of cave paintings and petroglyphs can be found at various sites across the country Among the most prominent examples of this is the rock art in Laas Geel Dhambalin Gaanlibah and Karinhegane Nyero Rockpaintings Uganda World Heritage Site pre historic paintings was noticed before 1250 AD 33 Swaga Swaga Game Reserve in Tanzania Archaeologists announced the discovery of ancient rock art with anthropomorphic figures in a good condition at the Amak hee 4 rockshelter site Paintings made with a reddish dye also contained buffalo heads giraffe s head and neck domesticated cattle dated back to about several hundred years ago 34 35 Bahi rock paintings Chabbe Dhaymoole Handoga Kondoa Rock Art Sites Mfangano Island Rock art of UgandaSouthern Africa Edit Cave paintings are found in most parts of Southern Africa that have rock overhangs with smooth surfaces Among these sites are the cave sandstone of Natal Orange Free State and North Eastern Cape the granite and Waterberg sandstone of the Northern Transvaal and the Table Mountain sandstone of the Southern and Western Cape 36 UKhahlamba Drakensberg Park in South Africa The site has paintings dated to around 3 000 years old and which are thought to have been drawn by the San people and Khoisan people who settled in the area some 8 000 years ago The rock art depicts animals and humans and is thought to represent religious beliefs Tsodilo Hills in Botswana A World Heritage Site with rock art Brandberg Mountain Daureb in Namibia It is one of the most important rock art localities on the African continent Most visitors only see The White Lady shelter which is neither white nor a lady the famous scene probably depicts a young boy in an initiation ceremony however the upper reaches of the mountain is full of sites with prehistoric paintings some of which rank among the finest artistic achievements of prehistory Bambata Cave Zimbabwe Animal paintings and human drawings are supposed to be age from 2 000 to 20 000 years old 37 38 39 Mwela and Adjacent Areas Rock Art Site Zambia Chongoni Rock Art Area Driekops Eiland Modderpoort Sacred Sites Nooitgedacht Glacial Pavements Nyambwezi Falls San rock art Twyfelfontein Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art CentreThe Americas Edit Native American rock painting close to Douglas Wyoming USA One possible interpretation of this painting is On the left side a group of United States Army soldiers with different insignia and on the right side Native Americans are shownThe oldest reliably dated rock art in the Americas is known as the Horny Little Man It is petroglyph depicting a stick figure with an oversized phallus and carved in Lapa do Santo a cave in central eastern Brazil 40 The most important site is Serra da Capivara National Park at Piaui state It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the largest collection in the American continent and one of the most studied A site including eight miles of paintings or pictographs that is under study in Colombia South America at Serrania de la Lindosa was revealed in November 2020 41 Their age is suggested as being 12 500 years old c 10 480 B C by the anthropologists working on the site because of extinct fauna depicted Rock paintings or pictographs are located in many areas across Canada There are over 400 sites attributed to the Ojibway from northern Saskatchewan to the Ottawa River 42 Pomier Caves Dominican Republic Naj Tunich Guatemala Rock Paintings of Sierra de San Francisco Baja California Mexico Sierra de Guadalupe cave paintings Baja California Mexico Pictograph Cave Complex Billings Montana United States Canon Pintado Colorado United States Chaco Culture National Historical Park New Mexico United States Chumash rock art California United States Coso Rock Art District California United States Hulkhuku California United States The site of Hulkhuku is located in the San Emigdio Hills in South Central California Archaeologists found that the rock art at the site was meant to be viewed by the general public and was not reserved for the elites of the society or for private rituals This is based on evidence that the rock art is located in areas that were used by the public for everyday activities 43 Nine Mile Canyon Utah United States Quail rock art panel Utah United States Painted Rocks Arizona United States Petroglyph National Monument New Mexico United States Serra da Capivara National Park Piaui Brazil Vale do Catimbau National Park Pernambuco Brazil Localidad Rupestre de Chamanga Uruguay Writing on Stone Provincial Park Alberta Canada Cueva de las Manos Santa Cruz Province Argentina Huerfano Butte Arizona United States Petroglyphs Provincial Park Ontario Canada Serrania La Lindosa Guaviare Department Colombia 44 41 Little Lake Rose Valley California United States 45 However cave art is not the only type of rock art While cave art provides the two dimensional view on a rocky surface figurines made of a rock material can provide a three dimensional view that gives insight on indigenous views towards their visual arts Many sites along and off the California coastline such as the Channel Islands and Malibu have both realistic and abstract styles of zoomorphic effigy figurines 46 From archaeological studies at these sites archaeologists and other researchers discovered many of these figurines and performed a composition analysis which most of these figurines are made of steatite but there are still made of other materials 47 48 As a result from these archaeological studies these figures provided context about spheres of interaction between tribal groups demonstrate economical significance and possibly hold a ritual function as well 46 47 48 Under one study by archaeologists Richard T Fitzgerald and Christopher Corey they dated the earliest figurines to be around the Middle Holocene suggesting two socioeconomic interactive spheres one in the northern and one in the southern Channel Islands and linguistic similarities between Takic speaking Gabrileno and Chumash neighbors 47 These figurines share similar styles between these tribes providing a history of interactive contact California Edit Little Lake is a complex of rock art located in a specific point in time and space in Rose Valley Inyo County Rose Valley is located in the boundaries of the cultural Great Basin and the territory of the Timbisha Shoshone This site is important to understanding the symbolism and value of North American rock art because it is one of the largest collections of rock art unrelated to the Coso an indigenous tribe people of the Mojave Desert Its importance to territorial and anthropological studies helps many understand the in depth descriptions and stylistic analyses of large rock art concentrations which are valued by archaeologists anthropologists ethnographers and even art enthusiasts Referring back to these sites help social scientists understand and record the values that were important to the creators it shows economic values or settlement patterns that were once a daily part of life As a result it is crucial to focus on the variable resources to understand how cultures were abiding with their environment However the rock art related sites at Little Rock can t be directly dated or analyzed 49 Asia Edit Bhimbetka rock painting of India World Heritage Site Great King neolithic paintings above Malipo in Wenshan Prefecture Yunnan Province China Thought to be over 4000 years old Petroglyphs in Gobustan Azerbaijan dating back to 10 000 BC Rock art in Balichakra near Yadgir town in Karnataka IndiaCentral Asia Edit Gobustan National Park in Azerbaijan Petroglyphs of Arpa Uzen Kazakhstan Siypantosh Rock Paintings in Uzbekistan Zarautsoy Rock Paintings in UzbekistanEast Asia Edit Bangudae Petroglyphs in South Korea Cheonjeon ri in South Korea 50 Daegok ri in South Korea 50 Fugoppe Cave petroglyphs on Hokkaido Japan 50 Helankou in Yinchuan China 50 Kangjia shimenzi in Xinjiang China 50 Oponoho Wanshan petroglyphs in Taiwan 50 Temiya Cave on Hokkaido Japan 50 Yinshan petroglyphs in the Yin Mountains China Zuo River Huashan rock art in Guangxi China 50 Chifeng Petroglyphs in Inner Mongolia Above 4000 meters above sea level high Tibetan plateau possibly the oldest rock art likely dating back to 169 226 000 years ago much older than what was previously thought to be the earliest known drawing made 73 000 51 years ago According to the study children likely intentionally placed a series of hands and feet in mud The findings could also be the earliest evidence of Hominins on the high Tibetan plateau 52 53 54 Southeast Asia Edit Further information Austronesian peoples Rock art Angono Petroglyphs the Philippines Bir Hima Rock Petroglyphs and Inscriptions Pettakere cave South Sulawesi Indonesia hand print paintings Pha Taem in Thailand Tambun rock art MalaysiaSouth Asia Edit Bhimbetka rock shelters World Heritage Site Madhya Pradesh India with rock art ranging from the Mesolithic c 8 000 BC to historical times 55 56 57 58 59 60 Edakkal Caves Kerala India Gavali Udupi Hire Benakal Karnataka Balichakra Yadgir town in Karnataka India Rock paintings of Tamil Nadu in India several sites 61 Kaimur district Bihar India several sites Rock paintings of Andhra Pradesh in India several sites 61 Sonda KarnatakaWestern Asia Edit Rock Art in the Ha il Region in Saudi Arabia Iranian rock art sites are mostly found in the Zagros Mountain range But there are many other sites in Central Iran Sistan and Baluchistan and Azarbaijan Most of these rock arts date back to the late prehistory and historic period Among which the well known sites of Houmian at Kuhdasht 62 Khomein and Teimareh 63 in Central Iran are outstanding Large carvings of camels that were discovered in 2018 in Saudi Arabia are estimated to be 7 000 to 8 000 years old 64 This Neolithic dating would make the carvings significantly older than Stonehenge 5 000 years old and the Egyptian pyramids at Giza 4 500 years old Australasia Edit Australia Edit Further information Indigenous Australian art Rock art Australian Indigenous art represents the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world There are more than 100 000 recorded rock art sites in Australia 65 The oldest firmly dated rock art painting in Australia is a charcoal drawing on a rock fragment found during the excavation of the Nawarla Gabarnmang rock shelter in south western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory Dated at 28 000 years it is one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on Earth with a confirmed date Nawarla Gabarnmang is considered by whom to have one of the most extensive collections of rock art in the world and predates both Lascaux and Chauvet cave art the earliest known art in Europe by at least 10 000 years 66 67 In 2008 rock art depicting what is thought to be a Thylacoleo was discovered by whom on the north western coast of the Kimberley 68 As the Thylacoleo is believed to have become extinct 45000 46000 years ago Roberts et al 2001 Gillespie 2004 this suggests a similar age for the associated Gwion Gwion rock paintings Archaeologist Kim Akerman however believes that the megafauna may have persisted later in refugia wetter areas of the continent as suggested by Wells 1985 228 and has suggested a much younger age for the paintings 68 Pigments from the Gwion Gwion of the Kimberley are so old they have become part of the rock itself making carbon dating impossible Some experts suggest that these paintings are in the vicinity of 50 000 years old and may even pre date Aboriginal settlement 69 70 Gwion Gwion rock paintings in the Kimberley region of Western AustraliaMiniature rock art of the stencilled variety at a rock shelter known as Yilbilinji in the Limmen National Park in the Northern Territory is one of only three known examples of such art Usually stencilled art is life size using body parts as the stencil but the 17 images of designs of human figures boomerangs animals such as crabs and long necked turtles wavy lines and geometric shapes are very rare Found in 2017 by archaeologists the only other recorded examples are at Nielson s Creek in New South Wales and at Kisar Island in Indonesia It is thought that the designs may have been created by stencils fashioned out of beeswax 71 72 73 Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory has a large collection of ochre paintings Ochre is a not an organic material so carbon dating of these pictures is impossible Sometimes the approximate date or at least an epoch can be guessed from the content The Sydney region has important rock engravings Mount Grenfell Historic Site near Cobar western New South Wales has important ancient rock drawings The Murujuga Burrup Peninsula area of Western Australia near Karratha is estimated by whom to be home to between 500 000 and 1 million individual engravings Kimberley region of Western Australia Amateur archaeologist Grahame Walsh who researched Gwion Gwion rock paintings in the region from 1977 until his death in 2007 produced a photographic database of 1 5 million Gwion Gwion rock paintings 74 Many of the Gwion rock paintings maintain vivid colours because they have been colonised by bacteria and fungi such as the black fungus Chaetothyriales The pigments originally applied may have initiated an ongoing symbiotic relationship between black fungi and red bacteria 75 The Grampians Gariwerd region is Victoria is one of the richest Aboriginal rock art sites in south eastern Australia 76 Some of the more well known and easily accessible sites are the Ngamadjidj Shelter Cave of Ghosts Gulgurn Manja Flat Rock Billimina Glenisla Shelter and Manja Cave of Hands 77 one of the most significant sites in south eastern Australia is Bunjil s Shelter near Stawell 78 which is the only known rock art depiction of Bunjil the creator being in Aboriginal Australian mythology 79 The Maliwawa Figures in Arnhem Land a series of 571 paintings and a drawing created between 6 000 and 9 400 years ago show a style nor recognised by researchers in the field before new research was done in 2016 2018 and published in September 2020 by Paul Tacon and his team 80 81 The Turramurra site in western Queensland is opening in 2020 Cliffs on the property for some time known as Grace Vale Station are covered with ancient rock art including paintings and etchings of megafauna emu symbols and the traditional songline of the Seven Sisters Planning for an educational centre created from local rock is under way 82 New Zealand Edit In New Zealand North Otago and South Canterbury have a rich range of early Maori rock art 83 The Takiroa Rock Art Shelter near Duntroon contains Maori artwork made from ochre and charcoal 84 Studies EditThe archaeological sub discipline devoted to the investigation of rock art is known as rock art studies Rock art specialist David S Whitley noted that research in this area required an integrated effort that brings together archaeological theory method fieldwork analytical techniques and interpretation 85 History Edit Although French archaeologists had undertaken much research into rock art Anglophone archaeology had largely neglected the subject for decades 86 The discipline of rock art studies witnessed what Whitley called a revolution during the 1980s and 1990s as increasing numbers of archaeologists in the Anglophone world and Latin America turned their attention to the subject 87 In doing so they recognised that rock art could be used to understand symbolic and religious systems gender relations cultural boundaries cultural change and the origins of art and belief 1 One of the most significant figures in this movement was the South African archaeologist David Lewis Williams who published his studies of San rock art from southern Africa in which he combined ethnographic data to reveal the original purpose of the artworks Lewis Williams would come to be praised for elevating rock art studies to a theoretically sophisticated research domain by Whitley 88 However the study of rock art worldwide is marked by considerable differences of opinion with respect to the appropriateness of various methods and the most relevant and defensible theoretical framework International databases and archives Edit The UNESCO World Rock Art Archive Working Group met in 2011 to discuss the base model for a World Rock Art Archive 89 While no official output has been generated to date various projects around the world such as The Global Rock Art Database are looking at making rock art heritage information more accessible and more visible to assist with rock art awareness conservation and preservation issues 90 91 See also EditList of Stone Age art Mulka s Cave The Kindness Rocks ProjectNotes Edit a b c d Whitley 2005 p 1 a b Whitley 2005 pp 1 2 E Goodall Proceedings and Transactions of the Rhodesian Scientific Association 41 57 62 1946 Domestic Animals in rock art E Goodall Proceedings and Transactions of the Rhodesian Scientific Association 42 69 74 1949 Notes on certain human representations in Rhodesian rock art H M Chadwick Origin Eng Nation xii 306 1907 The rock carvings at Tegneby 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 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 Deutsch Rem 177 1874 The long rock inscription of Hamamat Encycl Relig amp Ethics I 822 2 1908 The rock paintings are either stenciled or painted in outline 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 G Moore The Lost Tribes and the Saxons of the East 1861 Title page with translations of Rock Records in India Tylor Early Hist Man v 88 1865 and bush art or bushmen art Trust For African Rock Art East Africa common terminology Rock sculptures may often be symbolic boundary marks Bahn 99 101 Bahn 101 Bahn 101 105 a b c d Whitley 2005 p 3 Whitley 2005 pp 3 4 Whitley 2005 p 4 Whitley 2005 pp 4 5 Whitley 2005 p 9 Whitley 2005 pp 7 9 a b Whitley 2005 p 11 a b Whitley 2005 p 13 Harmansah 2014 5 6 Harmansah 2014 5 6 Canepa 53 for example by Rawson and Sickman amp Soper a b c Whitley 2005 p 14 Arca 2004 p 319 Scandinavian Society for Prehistoric Art www rockartscandinavia se Archived from the original on 2013 10 25 Retrieved 2022 03 01 Centre UNESCO World Heritage North Sinai archaeological Sites Zone UNESCO World Heritage Centre Retrieved 2020 09 09 Ancient cave with distinguished engravings depicting scenes of animals discovered in Sinai Ancient Egypt Heritage Ahram Online Retrieved 2020 09 09 NYERO amp OTHER ROCK ARTSITES IN EASTERN UGANDA PDF Tanzanian Rock Art Depicts Trios of Bizarre Anthropomorphic Figures Archaeology Sci News com Breaking Science News Sci News com Retrieved 2021 02 16 Mysterious and bizarre scientists discovered ancient rock art that dates back to several hundred years ago www msn com Retrieved 2021 02 16 Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa 1973 Stone Age Africa Encyclopedia Britannica Retrieved 2018 10 20 Big Cave Camp Famous Rock Art Galleries visits to Nswatugi cave Bambata Silozwane cave Inanke cave and Maholoholo cave Big Cave Retrieved 2018 10 20 Rock Paintings Bambata Cave 1 Global Geography Retrieved 2018 10 20 Choi Charles Call this ancient rock carving little horny man Science on NBC News 22 Feb 2012 Retrieved 9 April 2012 a b Alberge Dalya Sistine Chapel of the ancients rock art discovered in remote Amazon forest The Guardian Sunday November 29 2020 Grace Rajnovich 1994 Reading rock art interpreting the Indian rock paintings of the Canadian Shield Toronto Natural Heritage Natural History Inc Robinson David W October 2010 Land Use Land Ideology An Integrated Geographic Information Systems Analysis of Rock Art Within South Central California American Antiquity 75 4 792 818 doi 10 7183 0002 7316 75 4 792 ISSN 0002 7316 S2CID 146948008 Research news Newly discovered Amazon rock art show the rainforest s earliest inhabitants living with giant Ice Age animals University of Exeter 2020 12 01 Archived from the original on 2020 12 01 Retrieved 2020 12 01 Quinlan Angus R June 2014 Rock Art at Little Lake An Ancient Crossroads in the California Desert California Archaeology 6 1 125 128 doi 10 1179 1947461X14Z 00000000030 ISSN 1947 461X a b HOOVER ROBERT L 1974 Some Observations on Chumash Prehistoric Stone Effigies The Journal of California Anthropology 1 1 33 40 ISSN 0361 7181 JSTOR 25748312 a b c Fitzgerald Richard Corey Christopher December 2009 The Antiquity and Significance of Effigies and Representational Art in Southern California Prehistory California Archaeology 1 2 183 203 doi 10 1179 cal 2009 1 2 183 ISSN 1947 461X S2CID 96471264 a b Cameron Constance 2000 Animal Effigies from Coastal Southern California PDF Pacific Coast Archaeological Society Quarterly 36 2 30 52 Quinlan Angus R June 2014 Rock Art at Little Lake An Ancient Crossroads in the California Desert California Archaeology 6 1 125 128 doi 10 1179 1947461X14Z 00000000030 ISSN 1947 461X a b c d e f g h O Sullivan Rebecca 2018 East Asia Rock Art Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology 2 ed Springer pp 1 11 doi 10 1007 978 3 319 51726 1 3131 1 ISBN 978 3 319 51726 1 Henshilwood Christopher S d Errico Francesco van Niekerk Karen L Dayet Laure Queffelec Alain Pollarolo Luca October 2018 An abstract drawing from the 73 000 year old levels at Blombos Cave South Africa PDF Nature 562 7725 115 118 Bibcode 2018Natur 562 115H doi 10 1038 s41586 018 0514 3 ISSN 1476 4687 PMID 30209394 S2CID 52197496 Lanese Nicoletta Kids Fossilized Handprints May Be Some of the World s Oldest Art Scientific American Retrieved 17 October 2021 Davis Marks Isis Davis Marks Isis These 200 000 Year Old Hand and Footprints Could Be the World s Earliest Cave Art Smithsonian Magazine Retrieved 17 October 2021 Zhang David D Bennett Matthew R Cheng Hai Wang Leibin Zhang Haiwei Reynolds Sally C Zhang Shengda Wang Xiaoqing Li Teng Urban Tommy Pei Qing Wu Zhifeng Zhang Pu Liu Chunru Wang Yafeng Wang Cong Zhang Dongju Lawrence Edwards R 10 September 2021 Earliest parietal art Hominin hand and foot traces from the middle Pleistocene of Tibet Science Bulletin 66 24 2506 2515 Bibcode 2021SciBu 66 2506Z doi 10 1016 j scib 2021 09 001 ISSN 2095 9273 PMID 36654210 S2CID 239102132 Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka World Heritage Site Retrieved 2007 02 15 Mathpal Yashodhar 1984 Prehistoric Painting Of Bhimbetka Abhinav Publications p 220 ISBN 9788170171935 Tiwari Shiv Kumar 2000 Riddles of Indian Rockshelter Paintings Sarup amp Sons p 189 ISBN 9788176250863 Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka PDF UNESCO 2003 p 16 Mithen Steven 2011 After the Ice A Global Human History 20 000 5000 BC Orion p 524 ISBN 9781780222592 Javid Ali Javid ʻAli Javeed Tabassum 2008 World Heritage Monuments and Related Edifices in India Algora Publishing p 19 ISBN 9780875864846 a b Chapter 1 Introduction to Rock Art in India PDF dead link Bewley R H 1984 The Cambridge University Archaeological Expedition To Iran 1969 Excavations in Zagros Mountains Homian Mir Malas Barde Spid Iran 22 1 doi 10 2307 4299734 JSTOR 4299734 Farhadi M 1999 Museums in wind Tehran Allameh Tabataba i University Press Saudi Arabia camel carvings dated to prehistoric era BBC September 15 2021 Griffiths Billy 2018 Deep Time Dreaming Uncovering Ancient Australia Black Inc p 176 Barker Bryce 18 June 2012 Australia s oldest rock art discovered by USQ researcher University of Southern Queensland Archived from the original on 1 February 2014 Retrieved 20 January 2014 Collis Clarisa June 2012 Ancient artists of rock and soul Monash University Retrieved 20 January 2014 a b Akerman Kim Willing Tim March 2009 An ancient rock painting of a marsupial lion Thylacoleo carnifex from the Kimberley Western Australia Antiquity Retrieved 11 December 2012 The Times Literary Supplement TLS timesonline co uk Bradshaw Foundation The Bradshaw Paintings Australian Rock Art Archive Bradshaw Foundation Zwartz Henry 27 May 2020 Indigenous rock art found in the NT one of just three such examples worldwide ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 28 May 2020 Flinders University 26 May 2020 Miniature rock art expands horizons Phys org Retrieved 28 May 2020 Archaeologists reveal rock art s big little secret Flinders University News 27 May 2020 Retrieved 28 May 2020 Rock Heart Australian Story abc net au 15 October 2002 Ancient rock art s colours come from microbes BBC News 27 December 2010 National Heritage Places Grampians National Park Gariwerd Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment Australian Government Retrieved 8 July 2020 Aboriginal Rock Art Sites PDF Brambuk Retrieved 8 July 2020 Aboriginal Victoria Grampians Victoria Australia Visit Victoria 5 October 2016 Retrieved 8 July 2020 Bunjil Shelter Stawell Attraction Grampians Victoria Australia Visit Victoria 30 March 2020 Retrieved 8 July 2020 Tacon Paul S C May Sally K et al 30 September 2020 Maliwawa figures a previously undescribed Arnhem L and rock art style Australian Archaeology Informa UK Limited 86 3 208 225 doi 10 1080 03122417 2020 1818361 ISSN 0312 2417 S2CID 224849841 via Taylor amp Francis Online Weule Genelle 1 October 2020 Bilbies thylacines and dugongs among stunning Maliwawa rock art documented in Arnhem Land ABC News ABC Science Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 3 October 2020 Larkins Damien 17 October 2020 Indigenous story wall restored open to visitors in outback Queensland ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 21 October 2020 Barrow Terence 1978 Maori art of New Zealand reprint ed Unesco Press p 70 ISBN 9789231013195 Retrieved 2018 03 06 The North Otago and South Canterbury districts of the South Island present a rich range of rock art in red and black pigments The motifs used are mainly humans monsters birds and fish and are styles which pre date Classic Maori traditional art McKinnon Malcolm 29 July 2015 Otago places North Otago Te Ara the Encyclopedia of New Zealand Retrieved 30 May 2019 Whitley 2005 p xi Whitley 2005 pp viii 1 Whitley 2005 p x Whitley 2005 p viii UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2011 World Rock Art Archives to meet in Tanum Retrieved May 1 2011 R Haubt Rock Art Database www rockartdatabase com Haubt R A Tacon P S C October 22 2016 A collaborative ontological and information visualization model approach in a centralized rock art heritage platform Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 10 837 846 Bibcode 2016JArSR 10 837H doi 10 1016 j jasrep 2016 10 013 References EditArca Andrea 2004 The topographical engravings of Alpine rock art fields settlements and agricultural landscapes The Figured Landscapes of Rock Art Cambridge University Press pp 318 349 Bahn Paul ed The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art 1998 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521454735 9780521454735 google books Devlet Ekaterina 2001 Rock Art and the Material Culture of Siberian and Central Asian Shamanism PDF The Archaeology of Shamanism pp 43 54 Retrieved April 1 2007 Harmansah Omur ed 2014 Of Rocks and Water An Archaeology of Place 2014 Oxbow Books ISBN 1782976744 9781782976745 Haubt R A Tacon P S C October 22 2016 A collaborative ontological and information visualization model approach in a centralized rock art heritage platform Journal of Archaeological Science Reports 10 837 846 Bibcode 2016JArSR 10 837H doi 10 1016 j jasrep 2016 10 013 Rawson Jessica ed The British Museum Book of Chinese Art 2007 2nd edn British Museum Press ISBN 9780714124469 Schaafsma Polly 1980 Indian Rock Art of the Southwest School of American Research Santa Fe University of New Mexico Press Albuquerque NM ISBN 0 8263 0913 5 Scholarly text with 349 references 32 color plates 283 black and white figures 11 maps and 2 tables Sickman Laurence in Sickman L amp Soper A The Art and Architecture of China Pelican History of Art 3rd ed 1971 Penguin now Yale History of Art LOC 70 125675 UNESCO World Heritage Centre 2011 World Rock Art Archives to meet in Tanum Retrieved May 1 2011 Whitley David S 2005 Introduction to Rock Art Research Walnut Creek California Left Coast Press ISBN 978 1598740004 Further reading EditDavid Bruno Cave Art 2017 Thames and Hudson ISBN 9780500204351 Malotki Ekkehart and Weaver Donald E Jr 2002 Stone Chisel and Yucca Brush Colorado Plateau Rock Art Kiva Publishing Inc Walnut California ISBN 1 885772 27 0 cloth For the general public this book has well over 200 color prints with commentary on each site where the photos were taken the organization begins with the earliest art and goes to modern times B B Lal 1968 Indian Rock Paintings Their Chronology Technique and Preservation Rohn Arthur H and Ferguson William M 2006 Puebloan Ruins of the Southwest University of New Mexico Press Albuquerque NM ISBN 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 Zboray Andras 2005 Rock Art of the Libyan Desert Fliegel Jezerniczky Newbury United Kingdom 1st Edition 2005 2nd expanded edition 2009 An illustrated catalogue and bibliography of all known prehistoric rock art sites in the central Libyan Desert Arkenu Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir plateau The second edition contains more than 20000 photographs documenting the sites Published on DVD ROM External links EditIFRAO International Federation of Rock Art Organizations comprising 60 academic rock art organizations of the world Some of these are ARARA American Rock Art Research Association ANISA Anisa Verein fur Alpine Forschung AURA Australian Rock Art Research Association Inc CARA Cave Art Research Association IC Institutum Canarium CeSMAP Centro Studi e Museo d Arte Preistorica CCSP Centro Camuno do Studi Preistorici SCAO Societa Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell Uomo AARS Association des Amis de l art Rupestre Saharien SIARB Bolivian Rock Art Research Society ANAR Archivo Nacional de Arte Rupestre Venezuela APAR Asociacion Peruana de Arte Rupestre AAV Asociacion Arqueologica Viguesa AEARC Asociacion de Estudios del Arte Rupestre de Cochabamba ABAR Associacao Brasileira de Arte Rupestre ASER Association de Sauvegarde d Etude et de Recherche pour le patrimoine naturel et culturel du Centre Var ESRARA Eastern States Rock Art Research Association GERSAR Groupe d Etudes de Recherches et de Sauvegarde de l Art Rupestre GCIAR Grupo Cubano de Investigaciones de Arte Rupestre INAAK Instituto de Investigacion de Arqueologia y Antropologia Kuelap NMMZ National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe NRAF Nevada Rock Art Foundation NCRAT Northern Cape Rock Art Trust SDRAA San Diego Rock Art Association TARA The Trust for African Rock Art Bradshaw Foundation Extensive archive on rock art from all around the world Altarockart no A digital archive of the Rock Art of Alta Norway Global Rock Art Database RADB rockartdatabase Global Rock Art Database RADB search tool for international rock art archives Maira Valley Piedmont Italy Rock Art in Maira Valley Piedmont Italy Chauvet Cave Database of European Prehistoric Art England s Rock Art on the Web Access to the ERA database containing over 1500 records of rock art panels with images and 3D models Tassili N Ajjer Rock Art of the central Tassili N Ajjer Tamrit Sefar Tin Tazarift Jabbaren Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir Rock Art of Jebel Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir plateau Cave of Swimmers Upper Brandberg The rock paintings of the Upper Brandberg Namibia Libyan Desert Rock Art of the Libyan Desert and illustrated catalogue and bibliography of the prehistoric rock art of the central Libyan Desert Rupestreweb info Latin American rock art Articles Zones News Rock art researchers directory Tanums Hallristningsmuseum Archived 2013 10 25 at the Wayback Machine Rock Art Research Centre and World Heritage Archive situated in Tanum Sweden Rock Art Studies RAS A Bibliographic database at the Bancroft Library containing over 18 000 citations to the world s rock art literature Rock Art in Israel Rock Art archeology and research from the Negev Desert Israel Rock Art Examples and Image Capture Examples from the Coa Valley in Portugal and Magdalenian Rock Art The Rock Art Foundation Native American Rock Art in the Lower Pecos region of Southwest Texas Beckensall Archive Rock carvings made by Neolithic and Early Bronze Age people in Northumberland in the north east of England between 6000 and 3500 years ago British Rock Art Collection Over 16 000 photos of more than 1200 rock art sites in the UK with relevant information and links Broken Rock Gallery and Petroglyph Designs Rupestre net A rock art site mainly devoted to Valcamonica and Alpine Rock Art EuroPreArt The database of European Prehistoric Art Rock Art of the Murujuga Burrup Peninsula Western Australia Rock Art in South Africa UNESCO World Heritage Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka Bundelkhand Rock Paintings India SpiralZoom com an educational website about the science of pattern formation spirals in nature spirals in the mythic imagination amp spiral rock art Worldwide Rock Art Selection Prehistoric Rock Art in Iran Petroglyphs in Iran In Persian Sydney Rock Art Rock Art in Oregon Rock Art Research Institute University of Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa Rock Art of the Lower Pecos Texas Archive of the Moving Image Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rock art amp oldid 1166478813, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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