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1
Garlake, Peter Storr. "Rock art in Zimbabwe." Thesis, SOAS, University of London, 1992. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29499/.
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This work is based on the comparative iconographic analysis of a distinct corpus of paintings within the Later Stone Age, Bushman or San art of southern Africa. They are distinct from the rest of the paintings of the region in age, numbers, variety, complexity and density. It defines in detail the principles that determined the form of the paintings - where the primary concern was to depict objects through outline alone - and the canon - the very restricted range of subjects that were depicted. It demonstrates that the human imagery established a set of archetypes, expressing concepts of the roles of men and women in the community through a set of readily legible attributes. The art was thus in essence conceptual and, of its nature, not concerned with the individual, illustration, narrative, documentation or anecdote. Within this framework, the paintings focused on concepts of the various forms and degrees of supernatural energy or potency that all San have believed to be inherent in every person. Further studies demonstrate how large and dangerous animals, particularly the elephant, were conceived as symbols of potency and their hunting as a metaphor for trance. Compositions based on oval shapes and the dots within and emanating from them are shown to be further symbols of aspects of potency. Many recurrent and hitherto ignored motifs attached to human figures are shown to be a graphic commentary on the metaphysics of the archetypes. The study is set in the context of the archaeology of the sub-region, recent studies of San concepts, perceptions and beliefs, a review of previous research, and a critique of influential recent South African work which first integrated paintings with San beliefs.
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Hale, John Patrick. "Rock art in the public trust managing prehistoric rock art on federal land /." Diss., [Riverside, Calif.] : University of California, Riverside, 2010. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=2019830541&SrchMode=2&sid=1&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1274289259&clientId=48051.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2010.Includes abstract. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed May 19, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.
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Ling, Johan. "Elevated rock art : towards a martitime understanding of rock art in northern Bohuslän, Sweden /." Göteborg : Göteborgs Univ., Inst. för Arkeologi och Antikens Kultur, 2008. http://bvbr.bib-bvb.de:8991/F?func=service&doc_library=BVB01&doc_number=016446937&line_number=0001&func_code=DB_RECORDS&service_type=MEDIA.
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Konoske, Ashley Anderson. "The archaeology and rock art of Rock Creek, northwestern Nevada /." abstract and full text PDF (free order & download UNR users only), 2006. http://0-gateway.proquest.com.innopac.library.unr.edu/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:1436190.
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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Nevada, Reno, 2006."May, 2006." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 241-257). Library also has microfilm. Ann Arbor, Mich. : ProQuest Information and Learning Company, [2006]. 1 microfilm reel ; 35 mm. Online version available on the World Wide Web.
5
Searight, Susan. "The prehistoric rock art of Morocco." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 2001. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/381/.
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This study aims to examine all aspects of Moroccan rock art and place it in an archaeological and environmental context. Almost 300 sites are now known but few have been studied fully. This work is the first overall analysis to be attempted. Data on climatic changes during the Holocene period, together with archaeological and faunal reports, provided the necessary background to the rock art. The distribution of engraved and painted sites in Morocco is very uneven. Animals were the most frequent themes, but a review of all the sites revealed great site and subject diversity. Four main types of engravings were Identified, their Characteristics described and their distribution plotted. Climatic fluctuations, new animal species, the introduction of meth weapons, the chariot and writing established a chronological framework. A critical appraisal of these events led to a tentative chronology for Moroccan rock art, thought here to have started around 2500 be. The situation of rock art sites showed that they were chosen for very specific reasons, some of them by nomadic pastoralists. Viewing rock art as a medium of communication, it was proposed that the images were messages defining territories, proclaiming ownership or commemorating heroes or battles. The images may have two levels of meaning: one easily understood by members of the group and by outsiders, the second, symbolic, less obviously comprehensible. Moroccan rock art was not an isolated phenomenon in north Africa. The rock art of Algeria, Libya and Mauritania showed both similarities and differences, IrnpMng a cultural link, albeit tenuous, between these countries. Available archaeological, environmental and rock art data revealed striking differences In information-availability between north and south Morocco. Archaeological research has established a chronologicaal nd cultural framework, in northern Morocco,to which rock art adds nothing. On the other hand, rock engravings of metal weapons are almost the only evidence of a Moroccan Bronze Age. In southern Morocco, the distribution of rock art sites reveals intensive human activity in an area little known from excavation. Rock art, archaeology and environment are thus related in this study to producea comprehensive picture of the past.
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Sapwell, Mark Andrew. "Art of accumulation : the role of rock art palimpsests in Fennoscandia 4500-1200 BC." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.648511.
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Stoffle, Richard W., Lawrence L. Loendorf, Diane E. Austin, David B. Halmo, Angelita S. Bulletts, and Brian K. Fulfrost. "Tumpituxwinap (Storied Rocks): Southern Paiute Rock Art in the Colorado River Corridor." Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, University of Arizona, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/279732.
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The Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) is interested in understanding the human and environmental consequences of past Glen Canyon Dam water release policies and using these data to inform future water release and land management policies. One step in this direction is to understand how American Indian people have used the Colorado River and adjoining lands in Glen Canyon and Grand Canyon. The BOR, through its Glen Canyon Environmental Studies (GCES) office, has provided funds for various American Indian groups to identify places and things of cultural significance in the 300 mile long river and canyon ecosystem that has come to be called the Colorado River Corridor. This study is the second to report on the cultural resources of the Southern Paiute people found in this riverine ecosystem.
The rock art study funded by the BOR and managed by the Glen Canyon Environmental Studies (GCES) office is the basis of this report. This study is unique in the history of rock art studies and is unusual when compared with other American Indian cultural resource assessments.
There are five unique features of this study. First, all funds for conducting the research were contracted to the Southern Paiute Consortium. Second, the Southern Paiute people decided during the previous studies that their next study would be about rock art. Third, the GCES /BOR permitted research to be conducted in terms of Paiute perceptions of the study area rather than specifically in terms of the scientifically established study area for the project. Thus, it was possible to conduct the Kanab Creek side canyon study. Fourth, all interviews were guided by a ten -page survey instrument, so Southern Paiute responses could be systematically compared. Fifth, both all-male and all- female research trips were conducted, thus producing the first gender - specific interviews of rock art sites. The resulting study is both interdisciplinary and multivocal.
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Dandridge, Debra Elaine. "Lichen: the challenge for rock art conservation." Texas A&M University, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/4695.
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This study investigates the effects that lichens have on rock surfaces in which
ancient rock art (petroglyphs and pictographs) may be found. The study area includes
four sites in the United States: one quartzite site in southwest Minnesota, two sandstone
sites in Wyoming, and one volcanic site in Central New Mexico. One additional granitic
site studied is located northeast Queensland, Australia. The questions driving the pursuit
of this dissertation research are:
1. How does the chemistry of the rock change with weathering and how deep is
the profile?
2. Do lichens cause differential chemical changes?
3. How does the chemistry of the unaltered rock influence these changes?
4. Do lichens strip the patina or âÂÂdesert varnishâ from the rock surfaces?
The results of this research confirm from elemental chemical analyses that
geochemical changes do take place in the presence of lichens. The combined
mechanical and chemical processes contribute to the degradation and greater erodability
of all the rock surfaces studied. Chemically, we have demonstrated that cements that
hold grains of rocks together can be dissoluble by lichen byproducts in the presence of an aqueous environment whether the rocks are sandstone or granite. This information
regarding the mechanical and geochemical processes at work in natural environments
has significant practical benefit for the management, conservation, and preservation of
rock art sites everywhere.
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Abd-El-Moniem, Hamdi Abbas Ahmed. "A new recording of Mauritanian rock art." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2005. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1444476/.
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Towards "A New Recording of Mauritanian Rock Art" is an attempt to utilise new methods and techniques for recording rock art in north-west Africa. This research aims to show the recorded work not as isolated figures but as groups of inter-related figures. According to the published and unpublished inventories of the Mauritanian rock art sites, the two studied sites, which have only engravings, have not been recorded before. They are situated in the Adrar plateau in the north-central part of the Mauritanian Sahara. In addition to the methods and techniques of recording rock art (e.g. tracing, rubbing and photography), the methodology used in this work includes a number of new aspects that seem to be ignored or omitted in most previous work on the subject. This new recording aims to provide new clues that enable the researcher to carry out two basic interpretative analyses and gain a better understanding of the recorded engravings as an example of the rock art of Mauritania.
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Wakankar, Vishnu Shridhar. "Painted rock shelters of India /." Bhopal : Directorate of Archaeology, Archives, and Museums, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, 2005. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb41099869t.
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Haubt, Robert Alexander. "The Global Rock-Art Database: Centralizing Heritage Data Collections using a Collaborative, Information Structure and Data Visualization Approach in an Open Source Application." Thesis, Griffith University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367148.
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The Rock-Art Database (RADB) is a non-for profit online project at PERAHU, Griffith University in Australia. It seeks to improve theory and practice in the digital curation of rock-art data through building a centralized global rock-art heritage hub. Through the use of new technologies the database explores new ways to look at rock-art information and explores the potential within its digital curation. The system can be accessed on the World Wide Web at http://www.rockartdatabase.com.
Australia alone features over 100,000 rock art sites, important heritage places for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and a testament to over 10,000 years of human activity, including interactions with other peoples and the environment. Many of these sites have not been documented or recorded and are threatened by natural and cultural agents. It is becoming increasingly important to develop conservation models for the protection and preservation of sites. Indigenous cultural heritage in particular is difficult to manage on a local government level due to complex human / time / environment relationships and the importance of intangible cultural heritage.
Currently no centralized Australian or global database system exists to curate, present and promote rock-art. This project aims to fill this gap by exploring the potential of collaborative approaches, information structure and visualization of semantic and rich- media formats using Australian rock-art heritage as examples for a centralized global platform.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science
Arts, Education and Law
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Santos, Thalison dos. "Rock-art of toca do Paraguaio (Piauí, Brazil)." Master's thesis, Instituto Politécnico de Tomar. Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/6015.
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Master Erasmus Mundus em Quaternario e Pré-História.Volume 1 e 2Este trabalho aborda a arte rupestre da Toca do Paraguaio (Piauí, Brasil) como o resultado de composições entre características morfo-técnicas universais. Estas características surgem de acordo com eixos morfo-técnicos interativos (morfologia e técnica), durante o processo de materialização das idéias, conduzido pelos autores. Esta tese buscou pela história morfo-técnica de 939 pinturas da Toca do Paraguaio, com o objetivo de identificar identidades, a partir das particularidades da história morfo-técnica que as pinturas demonstraram. Por meio da aplicação deste modelo, foi possível sugerir um mínimo de identidades que poderiam ter pintado o sítio. Na parte interpretativa das pinturas, foi identificada uma possível representação de cabana (a única em Capivara), bem como, pinturas que aparecem transportando objetos que poderiam ser interpretados como cerâmica ou cestaria. Considerando estas interpretações, foi possível sugerir um marcador cronológica para esses tipos de pinturas, de acordo com as idades estimadas para o surgimento dessas tecnologias na região. Este trabalho também contextualizou cronoestratigraficamente, os outros tipos de materiais encontrados no sítio, como as ferramentas líticas, os fragmentos cerâmicos, restos humanos, faunísticos e vegetais.
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Abdul, Kahir. "Contribution to the tagus rock art complex study." Master's thesis, Instituto Politécnico de Tomar. Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/6017.
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Master Erasmus Mundus em quaternário e pré-história. Volume I e IIA arte rupestre que se estende ao longo do rio Tejo é considerada como um dos maiores complexos ao ar livre de arte Pós-Paleolitica, não só na Península Ibérica mas também da Europa. Milhares de imagens banham as margens do rio Tejo num repertorio que conjuga todas as formas de representação. Contudo, com a construção da barragem nos anos 70, mais de 90% desta arte rupestre foi condenada às profundezas do rio para sempre. No entanto e antes do nível da água subir, conseguiu-se preservar grande parte da arte através da transferência das gravuras para moldes de Latex. Estes moldes, ao cuidado do Museu do COA, são da responsabilidade do CNART (Centro Nacional de Arte Rupestre). Por meio do projecto RUPTEJO 2008 – Presente, os moldes foram emprestados ao Instituto Terra e Memoria, Mação, Portugal, onde os investigadores ligados ao projecto podem estudar e tentar compreender os aspectos culturais sociais e técnicos, dando deste modo alguma justiça aos autores originais deste conjunto fascinantes de gravuras. Esta tese foca-se no estudo do sito de Gardete analisando os seus aspectos tipológicos e técnicos, estando inserida numa serie de estudos levados a cabo noutros sítios do Tejo ao longo dos anos que tentam contribuir para uma melhor compreensão de todo o complexo do Tejo. Elaborou-se deste modo um catálogo das gravuras de modo a manter viva a mística e curiosidade que o complexo de arte rupestre do rio tejo desperta nos seus observadores.
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Lymer, Kenneth J. "Animals, art and society : rock art and material culture in ancient Central Asia." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2004. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.400540.
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Källblad, Emma Jane. "Charactered through body and art : an interpretive study from central Indian rock-art." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.620621.
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Briede, Amanda. "I Wanna Rock!" VCU Scholars Compass, 2011. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2459.
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Do you know that feeling? That feeling when the music you are listening to a concert or a new record and it just seems right? When you think, that’s it! That’s what music should sound like! When the music seems to touch your soul or mirror it, or…. something. And when you feel that, nothing else seems to exist and you are purely experiencing the music. My thesis work explores the way in which we try to capture this ephemeral moment of pure experience in order to keep it with us to revisit at our leisure. This, however, is a futile endeavor. No matter how many photos you take, records you collect, or days of music on your iPod, that initial feeling, that visceral experience, cannot be replicated. In this work I use both materials that evoke this idea of the ephemeral (transparent plastic and glass) and materials are ephemeral themselves (water and wax) to convey the inability to capture music and the feelings it evokes in us. I have also chosen to add elements to the space, such as a wooden floor, stage lights, and fabric panels, to suggest a performance stage or sound studio and to further this connection to the music which the work was inspired by.
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Pendegraft, Signa Winona. "Ground stone and pecked rock rock art on the Pah Rah Uplands, Washoe County, Nevada /." abstract and full text PDF (free order & download UNR users only), 2007. http://0-gateway.proquest.com.innopac.library.unr.edu/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:1447618.
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Freedman, Davina Gwyneth. "Prehistoric rock-art in Scotland : one tradition or many?" Thesis, University of Reading, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.553149.
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The primary aim of this thesis is to explore the contribution that aspects of identity can add to our understanding of societies in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Scotland through the carvings they produced. Through a consideration of the history of rock-art research it is established that the identities of the makers of the art have been largely neglected, except as figures in a simple evolutionary schema where they function as exemplars of 'primitives'. Subsequent developments in the field have broadened the debate by focusing on context. Others have considered other aspects of humaness through their attention to sensation and memory, but these positions leave many questions unresolved. Moving beyond this I utilise developments in social sciences to indicate the important place of art in the expression of social and cultural identities. Drawing too on ethnographic analogies the role of art production in the development and maintenance of social relations is highlighted. Although people may share symbols which are used in order to articulate cultural meaning, these elements can also be employed in different ways which are essential to people's sense of community, tradition and identity. The rock-art repertoires of five areas in Scotland are considered and compared primarily as expressions of identity. These are rigorously analysed and differences made apparent at a number of levels. I assert here that rock-art is not a homogenous entity as assumed by some scholars and have sought to move the study of rock -art beyond those of current concerns to ones that consider the identity of the carvers.
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Soukopova, Jitka. "The 'round head' rock art in the Central Sahara." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.557274.
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The Central Sahara is one of the richest regions of the prehistoric rock paintings and engravings in the world. The earliest paintings called the Round Heads were created in the Early Holocene by groups of dark-skinned hunter-gatherers who produced their paintings in the mountains of the Tassili n'Ajjer, Algerian Tadrart and Libyan Acacus. Since their discovery in the 1950s these paintings have been described and classified but they have not yet been studied systematically, their chronology has not been established and they have not been related to the archaeology. The study of archaeology, climatology and the rock art not only in the Central Sahara but in all African continent resulted in confirming the so called high chronology of the Round Heads which originated in the l O" millennium BP. It also revealed that this art did not finish with the arrival of pastoral population in the 8th millennium BP but the two artistic traditions coexisted until the complete desertification of the region. The results are based on a critical evaluation of existing literature and on fieldwork undertaken by the author in the key sites. Unlike the southern African rock art, the interpretation of the Round Heads has not been undertaken before because it was considered inappropriate and unachievable. The method of research presented here has not been previously applied to the rock art in the Central Sahara. Using the comparative studies, ethnography and landscape archaeology this thesis approaches the interpretation of the Round Heads and the painted sites as a pioneering work placing them in a wider African context. The first volume of the thesis presents the general overview of the rock art, archaeology and past climates in the Central Sahara, and the results obtained from the fieldwork. The second volume is an Appendix presenting each site studied during the fieldwork which constitutes the basis for the synthesis presented in the first volume.
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Rainsbury, Michael P. "River and coast : regionality in North Kimberley rock art." Thesis, Durham University, 2009. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/2540/.
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The aim of this thesis is to examine regionality in the rock art of the north Kimberley, Western Australia. The region is renowned for its art of polychrome Wandjina figures, totemic ancestors and creators of the land for modern West Kimberley people. Underlying them are smaller, elegantly painted human figures. These are Bradshaw Figures or the Gwion Gwion as they are increasingly being called. The figures are decorated as if for dancing with waist mounted tassels, sashes and elaborately decorated headdresses, and an elaborate stylistic chronology has been prepared for the Kimberley art sequence. What is missing from the literature and what this thesis aims to fulfil, is knowledge of regionality and changes in the distribution of the body of art. Some the earliest art is from what I term the Early Phase and is thought to date to a time of aridity near the height of the ice age in Australia. Successive art periods may have occurred at times of changing climate as sea levels rose at the end of the ice age and the ensuing flooding of the exposed coastal plain. The sea level and the shoreline only stabilised in its present day position, and the present climate and environment settled to its current conditions, around 6500 years ago. I argue that the different styles of art and different locations selected in which to paint are related to the situation in the period of flux, when the inhabitants of the Kimberley were affected by changes, including the changes in their territory due to rising sea levels. Two geographically distinct areas were selected which would have been different at the time of painting of the earlier art, one being a river and the other, the coast, as at the time of painting the elegant figures, with retreating shorelines, it would have been inland. My research shows that the painters of Middle Phase art oscillated between permanent water and more transient sources, an effect influenced by their experience of ancient changes in climate.
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Valdez-Tullett, Joana. "Design and connectivity : the case of Atlantic rock art." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2017. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/426895/.
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Circles, cup-marks and wavy lines are some of the most emblematic motifs associated with Atlantic Rock Art. The term 'Atlantic' was only introduced in the 1940s and is used throughout this thesis as it reflects the widespread distribution of the prehistoric assemblage of rock art, but also the geographic scope of this investigation. This particular iconography is known from Portugal, through to Spain, Ireland, England and up to Scotland, sharing a number of characteristics. Prior to the use of this expression, Atlantic Art was known by a variety of designations that demonstrate the fragmented character of its historiography and the regional nature of investigations. In 1997 Bradley's study introduced a turning point in investigations, with an inter-regional approach and the premise of Landscape Archaeology. This contrasted with traditional studies, more focused on the motifs and creation of typologies, failing to view Atlantic Art holistically, as a socially meaningful practice. In this thesis I set out to investigate differences and similarities of Atlantic Art. I define what its quintessential characteristics are beyond the motif typologies, and identify regional variations. Contextualizing these similarities and deviations, I assess the social and cultural implications of its creation and use. In each one of my five study areas (one in each country), I subjected empirical data to a three-scale investigation: i) Graphic - to study the motifs, ii) Sensorial - to study the rock medium and iii) Environmental - to study the landscape placement. These were developed under principles of Relational Ontology and Assemblage Theory, combining a multi-scalar methodology with a dynamic perspective of the data, explored through a detailed categorical scheme and its analysis with a Presence/Absence Matrix (PAM), spatial analysis carried out with GIS and Social Network Analysis (SNA) to relate and explore the differences and similarities, relationships and connectivity between the study areas. Concepts of developmental psychology and cultural transmission were used to posit that the tradition spread through methods of teaching. Contextualizing the tradition chronologically, it became clear that it formed another transformative processes that characterised the Neolithic.
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Jalandoni, Andrea. "The Archaeological Investigation of Rock Art in the Philippines." Thesis, Griffith University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/378158.
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Austronesians are a genetically-related people, recognized by the similarities in their
languages, and with a shared past evidenced by material culture. Research into the origin and
migration route of Austronesians has progressed through the disciplines of Linguistics,
Archaeology, and Genetics. Out of Taiwan is currently the dominant theory with strong
evidence from the three disciplines involved. Consequentially, the Philippines is the first stop
of the migrating Austronesians, and therefore the closest link to the homeland in Taiwan
linguistically, archaeologically, and genetically. The archaeological approach to understand the
Austronesian diaspora has been tracing material culture like nephrite and ceramics. However,
rock art as a traceable material culture has been underutilized, especially in places like the
Philippines where the rock art is relatively unknown and lacks research. The two rock art styles
that have been identified in Borneo, East Timor, and Southwest Pacific and have been linked
to Austronesians are the Austronesian Painting Tradition (APT) and the Austronesian
Engraving Style (AES). The aim of this research has been to test the validity of APT and AES in
the Philippines.
An inventory of rock art of the Philippines was needed to enable descriptions and comparisons
with the region. This was achieved through low-cost 3D modelling using Structure-from-
Motion (SfM) photogrammetry. However, the physical and socio-economic environment in
the Philippines makes rock art research a difficult undertaking. One of the challenges of
studying Philippine rock art was the geological condition obfuscating the rock art at some of
the sites. Remote sensing techniques were used during this research to address the issue.
Specifically, an innovative method of combining SfM and GIS (Geographic Information
Systems) algorithms was developed so that obscure engraved rock art was made clearly
visible. Being able to properly identify the rock art allowed for a more accurate inventory,
thereby increasing the reliability of the interpretations.
There are 22 verified rock art sites in the Philippines and seven areas with alleged sites. Of the
verified sites, four have engravings, 16 have black figures, and two have predominantly orange
figures. Four of the sites (three engraving and one painting site) were completely recorded
with 3D models which resulted in spatially-linked databases of the three engraving sites. All
other sites were described from past publications, museum reports, and empirical
observations. By compiling the rock art in an inventory and comparing the inventory to the
prescribed qualities of APT and AES, it is evident that APT and AES are not descriptive of
Philippine rock art. Furthermore, primary sources of Taiwanese rock art reveal that it is highly unlikely APT originated in Taiwan since there is no known painted rock art on the island.
Although the Taiwanese engraved rock art matches the description of AES and could therefore
originate in Taiwan, it is inconclusive because the description of AES is too generic.
A systematic quantitative literature review of the rock art of Southeast Asia and Micronesia
was compiled to ascertain the amount of research conducted and to compare the inventory
of the Philippines with the rock art of the region. For example, parallels in anthropomorphic
depictions are found within the Philippines and between the Philippines and the region. Aside
from determining similarities, conspicuous absences in motifs and styles were also noted, such
as hand stencils and painted boats. An example of the unique aspect of Philippine rock art is
the textured vulva-forms of Alab because they are not similar to the few other examples of
engraved vulva-forms in Southeast Asia. In addition, a summary of Micronesian rock art is
provided which might be the first for the region. Micronesian rock art potentially has
information of an Austronesian style of rock art. The first colonizers of Micronesia were
Austronesians and they remained the sole inhabitants for millennia on some islands until
European contact in the 16th century, making the rock art found in Micronesia very likely
Austronesian.
Cost-effective techniques were emphasized throughout the research, not just as an efficient
way to conduct this particular research but also to encourage the continuity of the research
into Philippine rock art. Beyond the Philippines, the methods are relevant to any rock art
research on a limited budget, which is typical of most rock art projects. It should be noted that
the methods employed, while low-cost, were still state-of-the-art for rock art recording. With
a baseline of the current conditions of the rock art sites, a longitudinal study can be organised
for the quantitative monitoring of change. In addition to answering archaeological questions,
the inventory can be used to develop conservation plans and influence government policies.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Hum, Lang & Soc Sc
Arts, Education and Law
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Zedeno, M. Nieves, Richard W. Stoffle, Genevieve Dewey-Hefley, and David Shaul. "Storied Rocks: American Indian Inventory and Interpretation of Rock Art on the Nevada Test Site." Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, The University of Arizona in Tucson, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/272093.
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This government-to-government consultation between the Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office (DOE /NV) and the Consolidated Group of Tribes and Organizations (CGTO) focused on the interpretation of 10 rock art sites; seven on the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and three on the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Office (YMSCO).
The consultation entailed a systematic ethnographic study of petroglyphs, pictographs, and other rock art manipulations. The objective of the project was to gain an understanding of the cultural significance of rock art for contemporary American Indians and its place in their traditional cultural landscapes. Research activities involved visits to rock art sites by tribal elders and tribal cultural experts. During the field visits, Indian consultants responded to standardized interviews and provided observations, comments, and recommendations regarding each of the sites under study.
The project involved 14 American Indian tribes and two Indian organizations that represent Indian people having aboriginal and historic ties to lands currently occupied by the NTS. The study was initiated as part of the overall DOE /NV American Indian Program, which includes a decade of project - specific and general consultation efforts. This study built upon previous efforts and contributed to DOE /NV's understanding of American Indian cultural resources on the NTS.
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Boyd, Carolyn E. "The work of art : rock art and adaptation in the lower Pecos, Texas Archaic /." Ann Arbor (Mich.) : UMI dissertation services, 1999. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb400202055.
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Agnoletto, Ambra <1986>. "Opera Rock. Genere di confine." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/1616.
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Non un musical inteso in senso classico quindi, né solamente una pièce teatrale trasposta in film rock, Hedwig corrisponde in varie caratteristiche all’idea di rock opera fino ad ora stilizzata, diventando a mio parere l’unico esempio moderno e coerente del genere considerato in questo percorso.
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Waldock, Victoria. "Mobilising stone : investigating relations of materiality, movement and corporality in Holocene Saharan rock-art." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:330c820b-c468-4b3b-afb2-65209cf7c8ce.
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This project investigates Saharan pastoralist rock-art (7500-3000BP), with a particular focus on the engravings of the Messak Plateau in southwest Libya. Taking an anthropological approach, the art is examined within the context of the lives of its creators - transhumant cattle-herders who occupied the plateau seasonally. Drawing from fieldwork in Libya together with data from multiple expeditions in the Sahara, the study addresses a major lacuna in Saharan research by focusing on materially constituted, as-lived dimensions at the micro scale. A fundamental but archaeologically elusive aspect of lived experience is a consideration of 'movement', both physical and esoteric. Its incorporation is central to this project, forming a multi-aspected theoretical framework and a methodological tool. Augmented by input from specialists in geomorphology, pastoralism, stone sculpting and animal behaviour, this movement-driven focus has produced a more developed picture of the Messak herder lives, advancing our understanding of these particular non-text, somatic societies. A singular contribution is the creation of a hypothetical model for small-scale, quotidian pastoralist practices, which expands upon the archaeological evidence, fleshing out details of a well-systematised form of dairy pastoralism involving controlled breeding and the processing of milk products. At the same time it is proposed that the herders' relationship with their cattle was one of partnership rather than ownership, involving trans-species empathy and a valuation of animal personhood. This viewpoint is part of a broader set of animal-human relations reflecting a cosmological order that diverges from modern, Western ontological constructs. Other significant findings include detailed information on the role and identity of the image-maker, revisionist data on the amount of effort and skill expended in carving processes, and an examination of the ways in which rock-art was used to manifest social emotional concerns. These were expressed via animal emotions portrayed in the rock-art, and also through performative, gestural markings associated with the imagery. Such expressions include apotropaic, supplicatory or other interactions involving communication with unseen powers.
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Solomon, Anne Catherine. "Rock art incorporated : an archaeological and interdisciplinary study of certain human figures in San art." Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 1995. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21817.
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Bibliography: p. 206-228.Understanding a widespread motif in San rock art - a human figure depicted in frontal perspective with distinctive bodily characteristics - is the aim of this study. A concentration of these figures in north eastern Zimbabwe was first described by researchers in the 1930s and subsequently, when one researcher, Elizabeth Goodall, described them as 'mythic women'. Markedly similar figures in the South African art have received little attention. On the basis of fieldwork in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, the south western Cape (South Africa) and Zimbabwe, and an extensive literature survey, a spectrum of these figures is described. In order to further understanding of the motif, existing interpretive methods and the traditions which inform them are examined, with a view to outlining a number of areas in need of attention. It is argued that analysis of rock art remains dependent on a range of dualistic notions which may be linked to retained structuralist ideas. It is suggested that the dominant model in rock art research, in which the rock art is seen as essentially shamanistic, perpetuates distinctions between mind and body, myth and ritual, and sacred and profane, while in its search for general truths concerning the rock art, and its central focus on iconography, the model retains traces of linguistic structuralism. It is proposed that the 'mythic woman' motif, with its gendered and sexual characteristics, is not well accounted for by reference to southern San ritual and religious practice alone. Drawing on contemporary theories concerning temporality and embodiment, it is argued that the motif is better understood in relation to recurrent themes of death and regeneration in San mythology and oral narratives, with shamanistic practice enacting related themes. The motif may be seen as representing San history in terms of culturally specific temporal schemes arising from San experience of the world. The 'ethnographic method', by means of which San accounts are used to illuminate features of the art, is reassessed and extended. Hermeneutic theories are drawn upon in order to address questions regarding the way in which ethnographies and art may be mutually illuminating, and to account for the inevitability of multiple interpretations arising from the situated process of reading or viewing. Prominent themes, images and devices in San myth and oral narrative are discussed in an attempt to move beyond a narrowly iconography-centred approach and in order to account for devices and stylistic features of San arts which are evident in both verbal and visual media. Implications of the research for investigating an archaeology of gender, and the writing of San history, are discussed.
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Walsh, Grahame L. "Development of Australian Rock Art Recording Methodologies: For the Interpretation of Cultural and Environmental Histories." Thesis, Griffith University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367578.
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This thesis documents the history of the ongoing process for developing and refining field recording, archiving and analysis techniques pertaining to rock art and cultural heritage in Australia.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy by Publication (PhD)
Australian School of Environmental Studies
Science, Environment, Engineering and Technology
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Khan, M. "The prehistoric rock art of Northern Saudi Arabia : A synthetic approach to the study of the rock art from Wadi Damm, Northwest of Tabuk." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.234146.
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Susino, George J. "Microdebitage and the archaeology of rock art an experimental approach /." Connect to full text, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/606.
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Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Sydney, 2000.Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 21, 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science to the Division of Geography, School of Geosciences. Degree awarded 2000; thesis submitted 1999. Includes bibliography. Also available in print form.
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Johnston, Iain Gray. "The Dynamic Figure Art of Jabiluka: A study of ritual in early Australian rock art." Phd thesis, Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/148425.
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This thesis is an investigation of ritual practice in
the Dynamic Figure rock art of Jabiluka in Mirarr Country,
Australia. Painted across western Arnhem Land, Dynamic Figure art
constitutes the earliest easily recognisable body of rock art in
this region of northern Australia. Despite its antiquity, its
most striking attributes are the extremely detailed depictions of
human figures with a plethora of material culture, that are
engaged in a range of narrative scenes. This thesis explores how
the material culture, scenes and other attributes of Dynamic
Figure art are acutely associated with ritual and the insights
this rock art provides into past ritual behaviour. The highly
detailed work of Dynamic Figure artists has enabled the
identification of ritual indicators derived from archaeological
and anthropological investigation of ritual practice. These
ritual indicators provide insights into aspects of the esoteric
and actual performative forms of ritual behaviour. These detailed
depictions also provide further insights into people’s
lifeways, revealing evidence about society, gender, initiation
and material culture during the period of Dynamic Figure art
production. In this thesis, I demonstrate the value of rigorous
analysis and investigation of one type of rock art from a defined
study area, in contrast to previous studies in the region with
broad spatial and temporal boundaries. This focused approach
incorporates the multi-vocal sources available in northern
Australia to consider inquiries not possible of broader studies.
The Dynamic Figure art of Jabiluka demonstrates the significance
of ritual places, headdresses and aspects of both continuity and
discontinuity in art production in northern Australia and further
highlights the significance of rock art to understand ritual
practice and people’s past lifeways.
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Ndlovu, Ndukuyakhe. "Incorporating indigenous management in rock art sites in KwaZulu -Natal /." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2005. http://eprints.ru.ac.za/1380/.
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Watchman, Alan Leslie, and n/a. "Properties and dating of silica skins associated with rock art." University of Canberra. Applied Science, 1996. http://erl.canberra.edu.au./public/adt-AUC20061110.104443.
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Hydrated amorphous silicon dioxide (Si02.nH-,O), or opal-A, is deposited naturally
from seepage and runoff water as white or brown rock surface coatings, called 'skins',
that often partly obscure rock paintings and engravings, but occasionally, a thin
translucent silica skin can form a protective film over rock art. White lustrous silica
skins, less than 1 mm thick, occur where seepage water regularly flows from bedding
and joint planes, whereas much thinner brown skins form on the sides of boulders and
cliffs where runoff water periodically flows. To find the degree of silica skin variability
and to determine how climate and rock type affect the properties of silica skins I
collected samples at seven Australian and two Canadian rock painting sites that were
located in temperate, tropical and sub-arctic regions. The skins had developed on
sandstone, quartzite, schist, gneiss and migmatite. I studied the effects of the skins on
rock art stability, documented their compositions, textures and structures to establish
their common properties, and searched for a way to date the silica which would provide
an indication of the minimum age of the underlying art. 1 also made replication
experiments to determine factors that influence the properties of artificial silica skins
and the rates of their precipitation so that I could propose a mechanism for natural silica
skin formation, and ascertain whether an artificial silica skin could act as a protective
rock art conservation measure.
I was able to subdivide the analysed samples into silica skin Types I, II and III on the
basis of their colour (translucent, white or brown), composition (SiO2, Al2O3 and
absorbed water contents) and texture (smooth vitreous or vermiform). I propose that
silica skins initially begin to form on stable rock surfaces by a process involving a
combination of evaporation- and ionic-induced polymerisation of silicic acid in seepage
and runoff water. Condensation reactions, random clustering of small silica spheres
and deposition of the resulting aggregates eventually produce a thin surficial silica film.
Deposition of silica often traps micro-organisms that live in the damp seepage and
runoff water zones, and these fossils in finely laminated skins enable the radiocarbon
dating of silica deposition, and therefore the dating of rock paintings enclosed by silica.
Micro-excavation of silica layers associated with rock art combined with accelerator
mass spectrometry gave preliminary radiocarbon determinations that were either
consistent with, or contradicted, prevailing opinions about the antiquity of the rock art
at selected sites. Experiments using a laser technique for combusting fossilised microorganisms
in finely laminated skins were unable to generate sufficient carbon for
dating. Catalysis of a mixture of equal proportions of methyl-trimethoxy silane and
water produces a translucent stable film that may be suitable as a consolidant, whereas
other artificial silica skins made from silica glass and tetra-ethoxy silane develop microfractures
on drying, and these are unsuitable as rock art consolidants.
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Susino, George James. "Microdebitage and the Archaeology of Rock Art: an experimental approach." University of Sydney. School of Geosciences, 1999. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/606.
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The search for a reliable and non-invasive technique for the dating of rock art has produced an array of different, localised, and limited techniques. This is one of them. Still in its experimental stage, the recognition of quartz microdebitage produced by the pecking of engravings is the aim of this project. This investigation aims to establish whether microdebitage from rock engravings can be distinguished from other sediments. Analysis of microdebitage from rock engraving experiments was used to determine the difference between experimental and naturally derived particles. This research discusses methodology, and applications for the recognition of quartz grain features, derived from experimental and natural material from Mutawintji National Park (Broken Hill, NSW, Australia) and the Sydney region (NSW Australia). A three-step process was devised for this research: What features occur on non-cultural quartz grains? What features occur on rock engraving quartz grains? Are they different? Can rock engraving quartz microdebitage be identified under natural conditions? Microdebitage from rock engravings was examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy to identify diagnostic attributes, with the objective of assessing the potential of microdebitage for spatial and temporal archaeological investigation. Characteristics of the quartz grains in the microdebitage were compared with quartz from differing environments. The observation of diagnostic features on quartz grains made it possible to discriminate between microdebitage from rock engravings and the natural soil background. This knowledge may be applied to excavated material from archaeological sites, for identifying episodes of rock engraving and other lithic activity in temporal relation to other evidence of cultural activity.
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Ricard, Bertrand. "Les groupes de rock amateurs : un art de vivre communautaire." Paris 5, 1996. http://www.theses.fr/1996PA05H030.
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Cette thèse se donne pour but, la compréhension, à partir de l'exemple des petits groupes "rock" de la banlieue parisienne et d'une expérience personnelle de musicien, de la forme la plus contemporaine de "lien social". Il s'agira de montrer à la fois que cette manière de s'agréger, autour d'une "vision" esthétique commune, d'un imaginaire partage déborde le strict cadre du "rock" et se retrouve sous diverses modulations dans l'ensemble du corps social, mais aussi que l'éthique qui se crée ne peut plus s'analyser avec les outils traditionnels mais nécessite au contraire, un appareillage adapté à la situation "présente". Aussi, après avoir réfuté les critiques adressées la culture de masse et à la culture populaire et examine comment les groupes articulaient leur quotidien, leur "usage des plaisirs" au moyen de rituels et d'un code particulier, nous nous attarderons plus longuement sur les enjeux et les conséquences de cette "éthique de l'esthétique" que ce soit, l'absence de morale, le retour du "sacre", l'apparition d'un narcissisme collectif et l'émergence d'une identification autour de ses propres "valeurs", en un mot, nous nous attacherons a démontrer que la forme de "communauté qui vient" en cette fin de siècle se distingue radicalement des utopies des années 60 et 70This PhD tackles with the most contemporary form of "social link" from the example of the small rock bands in the suburbs of Paris as well as from my own personal experience as a musician. I will set out to point out that the way musicians incorporate themselves into a band both through a common aesthetic vision and a shared imagination goes well beyond the scope of rock music and shows within the social body as a whole in many different ways. Furthermore, I will show that the code of ethics that's being created should no longer be analyzed through a classical approach but requires new methods of investigation. I first have intended to question the many criticisms that have been levelled at mass culture or folk culture and have analyzed how the bands go through their everyday routine as well as how in grown rituals and specific codes help them fulfill their expectations. The stress will then be laid on what is at stake and on the consequences of this "ethics of aesthetics", whether it be the absence of moral values, the return of the sacred, a collective form of narcissism or a new pattern of identification to one's own set of values. To put it in a nutshell, I will show that this late twentieth century form of community utterly differs from the utopias of the 60s and 70s
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Lucerna, Elena <1988>. "Jeff Buckley: L'anima fragile del rock." Master's Degree Thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/1836.
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La tesi riguarda la vita e la musica di Jeff Buckley, cantante e musicista rock degli anni '90. Il lavoro tratta dello sviluppo della carriera di Buckley, inserita all'interno del contesto musicale dell'epoca, sottolineando le sue caratteristiche di cantante ed interprete musicalmente colto ed eclettico. La tesi presenta inoltre l'analisi dei testi e della musica dei brani dell'artista.
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Cosser, Marijke. "Images of a changing frontier worldview in Eastern Cape art from Bushman rock art to 1875." Thesis, Rhodes University, 1992. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002196.
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A discussion of the concept of worldview shows that how an artist conceives the world in his images is governed by his worldview - an amalgam of the worldview of the group of which he is a part modified by his own ideas, beliefs, attitudes, perceptions and upbringing. The author proposes that studying an artist's work can reveal his, and hence his group's, worldview and thus the attitudes prevalent when the work was produced. A brief historical sketch of the Eastern Cape to 1834 introduces the various settlers in the area. Though no known examples of Black, Boer or Khoi pictorial art are extant, both the Bushmen and the British left such records. A short analysis of rock art shows how the worldview of the Bushman is inherent in their images which reflect man's world as seen with the "inner" eye of the spirit. In white settler art, the author submits that spatial relationships changed in response to a growing confidence as the "savage" land was "civilised" and that the position, pose and size of figures - and the inclusion or exclusion of certain groups - reflect socio-political changes. The two foremost nineteenth-century Eastern Cape artists, Thomas Baines and Frederick I'Ons, succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of Frontier life but are shown to interpret their surroundings through the rose-tinted spectacles of British Romanticism. They also reveal individuality in approach - Baines preferring expansive views while I'Ons's landscapes tend to be "closed-in", strictly following the coulisse scheme of Picturesque painting. Perhaps, the author postulates, such differences result from the very different environments, i.e. Norfolk and London, in which the two grew up. I'Ons is shown typically to use generalised landscapes as backdrops for his foreground figures, while comparing Baines's scenes with modern photographs shows that he adjusted the spacial elements of the topography as well as the temporal sequence of events to suit aesthetic considerations. Lithographed reports of his work contain even further adjustments. The author concludes that the use of Africana art as historical records must be treated with great caution.
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Leuta, Tsepang Cecillia. "Evaluating the rate of rock art deterioration in the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park, KwaZulu-Natal." Diss., Pretoria : [s.n.], 2009. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02232010-121907/.
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Suleiman, Feda. "Dome Of The Rock: A Rich Historic and Artistic Account." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1461152510.
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Firnhaber, Michael Paul. "Experiencing rock art : a phenomenological investigation of the Barrier Canyon tradition." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2008. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1444172/.
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The Barrier Canyon Style of rock art is found in south-eastern Utah, United States. It is the work of Late Archaic hunter-gatherers, and dates from approximately 4000 to 1500 B.P. This painted tradition is dominated by abstracted anthropomorphic figures, often depicted life-size. The landscape is a rugged one of deep, dry canyons bordered by sheer sandstone cliffs. It is within these canyons that the rock art is found. The methodological foundations for this study are catered to different facets of the tradition. The macro-topography of the land lends itself well to current trends in the study of rock art and landscape. The micro-topographies of individual sites are ideal subjects for phenomenological and kinaesthetic investigations of place. The large anthropomorphic motifs are best examined in terms of Alfred GelTs theories of art and agency. Metaphor theory helps find meaning in all these elements. Together, they provide an understanding of the relationships between the rock art, the landscape, and those who produced and consumed the sites and their images. The study begins with an experiential exploration of the study area---an embodied discussion of being-in-the-land. It proceeds through a discussion of how sites are discovered and accessed, and then moves on to a smaller-scale study of the physicality of the sites and the demands placed on the visitor by their local topography. Next, the study explores the positioning of the images on the rock, examining the agentive properties of the figures, and the immediate kinaesthetic effects the images impose on the visitor. From here, the art is explored in detail, and then a series of in-depth case studies apply the findings on a site-specific level. Finally, a concluding chapter discusses metaphors gleaned from the art and the land, and brings them together with the experiences described to provide a fuller understanding of this rock art tradition. I, the undersigned Michael Paul Firnhaber, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis.
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Sharpe, Kate. "Motifs, monuments and mountains : prehistoric rock art in the Cumbrian landscape." Thesis, Durham University, 2007. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/1362/.
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This thesis presents a comprehensive review and analysis of the prehistoric rock carvings in the county of Cumbria in NW England. It builds upon Beckensall's Prehistoric Rock Art in Cumbria (2002), focussing on a substantial study area with diverse topography, and seeking to understand the rock art in relation to the natural landscape and known archaeology, and in the context of rock art traditions in neighbouring regions. Systematic evaluation of the database resulted in the exclusion of several panels of `rock art', which were determined to be of geological origin. Additional panels were sought by increasing public awareness and through direct field-survey, and six new panels were documented. Further examples were identified from literature sources, and all were collated in a revised dataset. From the landscape characteristics of known panels, predictive theoretical models were developed, and areas matching these models were field-surveyed. These demonstrated that the upland rock art tradition of NE England does not appear to cross into Cumbria, and that a very different, outcrop-based practice occurred in the central valleys. GIS was used to explore the updated dataset for relationships between rock art, topography, and archaeology. Three groups of panels with shared characteristics were further investigated, focussing on the materiality of the carved rocks, their accessibility within the landscape, their potential social and religious dimensions, and their extended biographies within multiple contexts. Connections with seasonal expeditions for the procurement of stone were explored and the notion of natural route-ways applied to account for the location of rock art at key communication nodes. Concepts of `natural monuments' and `ancestral art' were also considered, with topographical elements such as rivers and mountains, and natural features like fissures and solution hollows, argued to be integral to a social and sacred landscape, which was signified and enhanced by rock carvings.
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Woody, Alanah J. "How to do things with petroglyphs : the rock art of Nevada." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2000. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/43793/.
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The focus of this thesis is the rock art of Nevada, a state in the western United States. While the previously dominant models of rock art interpretation (hunting-magic and shamanism) have produced significant bodies of research, I argue that both are based on faulty Anthropological theory and produce theorisations which are one dimensional because of the focus on rock art imagery at the expense of site contexts. Because meaning is not derived from the images themselves, but is rather derived from the social contexts of use and production, it is these which must be reconstructed and which will elucidate the imagery. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the details of rock art site contexts, rather than simply select a model and apply it to the site regardless of fit. In short, rock art must be approached as archaeology, albeit informed by ethnography when possible. In this thesis I examine in detail the official rock art site records for the state of Nevada and identify patterns in the contexts and distributions and examine variation and similarities throughout the state. Based on these, I suggest alternative analyses of Nevada's rock art and discuss the role that it may have played in the colonization of the Americas; the symbolic construction of social and ethnic identities; the identification of ritual spaces in pre-history; and the significance of rock art to modern Native Americans.
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Banerjee, Ruman. "Rock art of Central India : new discoveries, documentation, analysis and interpretation." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2015. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.687451.
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This work investigates three key issues in Central Indian rock art research. The first is the question of chronology. How old is this art? I deployed state of the art dating techniques, namely V-series and screening methods, to assign an absolute chronology to the rock art of Central India, with special reference to Mirzapur and Rewa. Apart from absolute ages, the possibilities of relative dating techniques have also been explored, taking into consideration the techniques of superimposition and colour scheme. A case study has been included to support my hypothesis complementary to the existing framework of relative chronology in the region. The next issue is involved with mapping, where rock-shelter sites were mapped on the landscape creating several GIS models, land use models and finally predictive models to test a few hypotheses in Central Indian rock shelter archaeology. New techniques have been introduced here as well, to quantify the changing landscape along with archaeological record in the regions of Mirzapur and Rewa. This study helped to understand and indentify the threats related to the preservation of painted rock-shelters. Lastly several new sites were discovered over a period of a long field survey and this provided fresh data for Indian rock-shelter archaeology, facilitating the testing of several hypotheses, with a number of caveats, in terms of location and types of rock shelters and finally the role of descriptive statistics in rock art research. On the basis of my research, data collection, laboratory experiments, analyses and ultimately final results and data interpretation, I argue that rock art in some specific regions of Central India dates back to Late Pleistocene age and they are mostly made in red and various shades of red colour. Some of these rock art sites are in great danger because of mining activity, honey collection, fire making and camping activities within these precious sites. Apart from anthropogenic reasons, natural reasons, like the effects of desertification is also damaging this extraordinary corpus. Therefore, proper policy implementation is absolutely imperative to conserve and preserve the cultural heritage of this region.
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Ponomareva, Irina A. "Change and Continuity in the Prehistoric Rock Art of East Siberia." Thesis, Griffith University, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/392023.
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Four centuries of rock art exploration and research in Siberia resulted in considerable achievements in documentation, cultural and chronological attributions of style and traditions and learning about ancient ritual practices related to rock art. However, the range of interpretational frameworks has remained rather limited, and the active role rock art played in prehistoric ethno-cultural processes has been overlooked. Rock art motifs and styles have been by default considered as mere markers of ethno-cultural groupings and migrations. This thesis continues a long-established Soviet/Russian tradition of considering rock art sites in their archaeological context but poses and answers new questions which are relevant not only for Siberian but also global rock art research, namely, why rock art was created, why specific styles emerged and why changes in rock art production occurred. These questions are explored through anthropological perspectives on ethnicity, identity, community and symbolism.
Aiming to answer these questions, macro ethno-cultural and social processes that took place in East Siberia in the prehistoric period are reconsidered through the development of rock art styles and traditions. Importantly, this PhD is primarily fieldwork based because publications available for the rock art of East Siberia contain only black-and-white drawings and few low-quality black-and-white photographs. This research is focused on East Siberia which lies east of the Yenisey River, and specifically deals with the following regions: 1) Cis-Baikal, an area to the west from Lake Baikal; 2) Trans-Baikal, an area to the east from Lake Baikal which includes Zabaykalsky Krai and Buryatia; and 3) Sakha Republic (Yakutia). This project’s fieldwork was carried out in Sakha Republic (Yakutia) and Trans-Baikal. In total, 108 rock art sites with more than 6,000 designs were recorded. In addition, rock art sites in the Lower Amur River basin and Tomskaya Pisanitsa in West Siberia were surveyed during this fieldwork. Prior to this PhD project, rock art sites of the Upper Lena River in Cis-Baikal were visited by the author to gain better understanding of the area’s rock art.
This thesis is focused on three chronological rock art groups: 1) the earliest, possibly Paleolithic rock art, 2) Neolithic rock art, and 3) Bronze Age rock art styles and traditions. The concept of style is employed as an analytical tool to investigate diachronic and spatial patterns. Several rock art styles and traditions, such as Amur, Angara, Selenga and Kyakhta, were better defined, and their chronology was elaborated based on the archaeological record and analogues in art objects from archaeological contexts. Such an accurate placement of rock art in time and space allowed the exploration of the role rock art played in constructing and reconstructing ethno-cultural identities, which contributes to the wider field of archaeology and cultural anthropology.
The most important observation made in this research addresses the questions of why rock art is created, why specific styles and traditions emerge and why changes in rock art occur. Rock art sites create and maintain a strong connection between people, their past and their land. Rock art does not just reflect group or individual identities but helps construct them through powerful emotional attachments. The emergence or change of rock art styles occurs in a situation of major cultural changes, the reasons and dynamics of which may vary. The important factor is that people had to protect their tradition, culture and well-being in a situation of threat to their ethno-cultural continuity. In protecting continuity, it is inevitable changes in a rock art tradition occur. It becomes highly important to mark rocks with symbols of now ‘hot’ identity thus expressing belongingness, and those marks remain there for millennia continuing to structure identities of those who claim their belongingness to these places afterward. Specific styles and motifs become these symbols which need to be threefold – exhibiting the connection with the past, expressing a new identity and being perceived by an outsider. Therefore, a rock art tradition/style simultaneously features continuity, change and similarity to other synchronous traditions/styles which is a shared field of interaction. This view explains why rock art styles do not fit into neat culture-historical frameworks and do not have clear-cut temporal and spatial limits. This explanatory framework can be applied elsewhere in any other study on rock art and identity.
This PhD thesis not only contributes to Siberian rock art research in a major new way but also shows many new directions for future rock art research globally.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Hum, Lang & Soc Sc
Arts, Education and Law
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Harrison, James Burr. "Rock art boundaries: considering geographically limited elements within the Pecos River Style." Thesis, Texas A&M University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/501.
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This thesis examines six prominent Pecos River Style rock art anthropomorph attributes to determine if they are found in limited geographic districts of the Lower Pecos Region. Both Boyd (2003) and Turpin (2004) have suggested that spatially-segregated motif distributions exist in the rock art and that these patterns are important in understanding regional prehistoric hunter-gatherer lifeways during the Archaic Period. This study verifies that the feather hip cluster motif is geographically limited, identified only in the neighboring Seminole and Painted Canyon systems. As part of this spatial analysis, the previously undocumented principle of intersite stylistic traditions is introduced. Possible explanations for these anthropomorph attributes are also discussed. Finally, structural analyses of the six attributes are presented.
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Winch, Lauren. "Metabolism, mythology, magic or metaphor? : animals in the rock art of Thailand." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.658567.
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A common feature of many rock art corpora is the inclusion of animals, both naturalistic and fantastical. For a long time it was assumed that animals in the art simply related to actual or desired prey species. In recent decades, however, research has increasingly revealed rock art to be full of subtle nuances, mythological phenomena, multifaceted magic and potency, and metaphorical references to various aspects of society and culture. In line with this burgeoning interest in the multiplicities inherent within rock art, the central aim of this thesis is to examine which animals feature in the rock art of Thailand and why. Evidence outlined in this thesis suggests that the rock art of Thailand was created almost exclusively within the last 4000 years and consists of anthropomorphic figures, wild animal species, domesticated animals, geometrics and boats. This thesis explores the specific social and environmental contexts of rock art in Thailand alongside considerations gleaned from rock art research in other parts of the world, and uses this in the analysis of data gathered during primary fieldwork in May-July 2011. Fieldwork was conducted in two study regions: the southern peninsula and inland mountains. The key conclusion of this research project is that metabolic, mythological, magical and metaphorical considerations all played a part in the inception of prehistoric rock art in Thailand in different and often complimentary ways. Another important deduction is that the notions of personal and collective identity permeate both the inland and peninsula datasets, albeit idiosyncratically manifested through alternative methods of literal and metaphorical representation. Fieldwork findings and secondary sources suggest that the rock art was most likely produced by communities who were predominantly hunter-gatherer-fishers who may have also practiced a certain degree of mixed subsistence strategies. Domesticated animals appear to be absent from the painted record of the peninsula region yet dominate the faunal repertoire of the inland sites; alongside archaeological evidence from the two regions from the period between 5,000-2,000 BP I therefore conclude that the peninsula painting communities had a subsistence economy which continued to be more strongly centred on hunter-gatherer lifeways than their inland counterparts in the face of expanding agricultural practices in Southeast Asia.
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Alves, Lara Bacelar. "The movements of signs : post-glacial rock art in north-western Iberia." Thesis, University of Reading, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.426255.
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Alves, Lara Bacelar. "The movement of signs : post-glacial rock art in north-western Iberia." Thesis, University of Reading, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.428320.
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Robinson, David Wayne. "Landscape, taskscape, and indigenous perception : the rock-art of South-Central California." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2006. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/284062.
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Gerber, Creighton C. "Digital Recording and Interpretation of Rock Art at Walnut Canyon National Monument." Thesis, Northern Arizona University, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10817088.
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In this thesis, I examine how digital technology can benefit recording and interpretation methodology for archaeological rock art sites. The thesis is based on data collected at Walnut Canyon National Monument during a summer internship at the Flagstaff Area National Monuments in Arizona. Walnut Canyon is known for the Sinagua cliff dwellings that visitors can view from the trails. Though there are also many rock art panels within the monument’s boundaries, the panels are still relatively unknown by archaeologists and inaccessible to visitors by both trails and lack of interpretive materials. The thesis is theoretically based in critical and multivocal approaches, which engage with power relations between professionals and non-professionals and add outside perspectives to archaeological interpretation, by examining how digital technology affects accessibility and public participation. To investigate how digital technology can enhance recording and interpretation of rock art, I use 3D photogrammetry, GigaPan high-resolution panoramas, 360-degree panoramas, oblique flash photography, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), high dynamic range (HDR) photography, and DStretch photo enhancement software. What I find is that the digital recording methods I use for the project have much to offer both the public and researchers. While the methods do not replace a physical visit, a virtual visit could go far beyond many interpretive exhibits. Each method has its own considerations for how to be implemented effectively, so researchers and interpreters should consider any constraints they have and only select the methods that are most effective for their project goals.