Rock Art

This report presents a critique of established cultural heritage practices in Western Australia, focusing on the control of the process by corporate proponents and its effects on rock art and stone arrangements. The moderating roles of scholarly societies in questions of ethics are reviewed, and the report concludes with a constructive proposal to end practices that have facilitated large-scale destruction of cultural heritage sites.

70 years after the discovery of the famous “Cave of
Swimmers” in the heart of the Libyan Desert by the “English
Patient” László Almásy, only 10 km further west
along the edge of the Gilf Kebir plateau, Massimo and
Jacopo Foggini detected another painted shelter which
– with its exceedingly rich and complex imagery – clearly
surpasses all comparable rock art sites in Egypt, if not
in the entire Sahara. About 8000 single figures, among
them numerous hybrid creatures that inspired its name,
“The Cave of Beasts”, offer unique insights into daily life
and spirituality of a so far unknown past cultural world of
about 8000 years ago and certainly range this shelter
among the most important prehistoric sites of the continent.

In order to make this extraordinary cultural heritage
broadly accessible for scientific studies as well as for the larger public, an interdisciplinary research project was
launched in 2009, financed by the German Research
Council (DFG), which aims at a comprehensive documentation
of the rock art as well as at its placement in
the archaeological context of the surrounding landscape.
In summer 2013, the first of three planned volumes will
be published, presenting on 220 double pages the complete
picture trove of Wadi Sura II in scale 1:2, based on
high resolution digital photography and straightened by
3D laser scanning. The volume will be supplemented by
13 articles dealing with the context of the pictures and
their archaeological setting.

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During this ancient period of external influences, numerous Greek and Sicilian townships were named Megara, due to a strong following of the earth deity Megara (i.e. Demeter – Gaia’s underground mysteries). (T: 417-418.) “The women to this day perform rites that are analogous to the story told (T: 418).” But given the extensive number of villages named Megara, it continues to be confusing. As discussed by Pausanias (5.23.6), numerous Sicilian villages named Megara Hyblaea (Hyblafa) has resulted in difficulties distinguishing between various sites and districts. Given extensive research, the Cathedra Kourotrophos Goddess comes from the Sanctuary of Hyblaea of the Hyblaean Megarians at Catana.

This article explores how the practice of including rock art in burials from the Bronze Age in Scandinavia was influenced by and incorporated into the new ideas and practices brought about by the introduction of cremation. Three portable stones with rock art found on the exterior of a cairn at the Late Bronze Age site of Sandbrauta in Central Norway are the point of departure for the discussion. Clay from a Late Bronze Age landslide that occurred soon after the ritual activity had sealed off the site, thus revealing the stones with the petroglyphs to be part of the ritual context. It is argued that the stones with rock art displaying different stages of decoration reflect stages in the stones` biography as well as stages in the process of bodily transformation, thus rendering the cairn to be a place for integrated rites involving both the transformation of bodies and rock art.

"Proto-historic rock engravings and Lepontic inscriptions at the springs of the river Brembo (Carona,Valcamisana, Bergamo). Preliminary report. Many engraved rocks, which are now studied by the Authors were discovered at Carona, between 2100 and 2400 m above sea level, by two members of the Historical and Cultural Association Valle Brembana. The huge area of the engraved rocks was divided into three sectors: Le Torbiere (LTB), Aga (AGA) and Camisana (CMS). The same iconography is repeated on majority of the rocks; the most frequent themes include many different symbols (as crosses in various typologies, Salomon knots, stars, circles, stairs, etc.), animals, and human figures, both male and female, these last ones represented wearing the typical dress; there are also warriors of various historical periods (13th, 17th century), a lot of modern inscriptions and dates, the oldest one being 1492. The most interesting rock is CMS 1, on which many pre-Roman inscriptions were engraved. They are written in the 3rd-2nd century Lepontic alphabet, and most of them are also in Lepontic language, which is a Celtic dialect. The Authors discuss 11 inscriptions, mostly consisting in names followed sometimes by patronymic; among them the name of the god Poeninus is repeated twice, in nominative and dative cases. Poeninus is the Celtic god of the mountain peaks and passes and a sanctuary was dedicated to him at the Great San Bernardo Pass. Probably the inscriptions must be referred to fulfilled vows by people on their way to the mountain passes. Lepontic inscriptions are not the most ancient engravings
on this rock. There are also a scene with a sort of a priest together with some wolves and a small anthropomorphic figure; they all find good comparisons among the figures of the so called Situlae Art of the 5th century BC. This chronology seems to be confirmed for the figures are covered by the engraved inscriptions, which are therefore an important terminus ante quem. Particularly difficult is defining the chronology of some figures of spears, which could be in tight relation with the Lepontic inscriptions, due to some cases of superimposition that must be confirmed by future analysis."

In 1995, the Côa process has done a revolution in national archeology, leading to the first time being independent
in national heritage organisms. This change was in practice the result of the mediatic process that unfolded
around the controversy of the construction of the dam of Foz Côa vs preservation of the rock engravings. The
importance of the archaeological context allied to a favorable political combination meant that the Côa rock art
complex was preserved, thus initiating a new stage in studies of rock art in Portugal.
Throughout these 22 years, many changes have occurred, from an administrative, methodological, epistemological,
social and academic point of view, and there is a new generation of archaeologists who also investigate
rock art archaeological sites.
We intend with this work to make a historiographical approach to the subject in question, addressing the main
sites and works carried out. In this first text we will focus on the investigation carried out in the territory south
of the Tagus river, in the districts of Setúbal, Portalegre, Évora, Beja and Faro.
Keywords: Rock Art, Historiography, South of Portugal, 1995-2017.

Esta tesis concentra los resultados del análisis de las representaciones rupestres prehispánicas documentadas en el Parque Provincial Ischigualasto y su área de amortiguación, ubicado en el noreste de la provincia de San Juan. A partir de investigaciones previas, éstas y otras evidencias documentadas en el área fueron referidas a ocupaciones esporádicas de baja densidad correspondientes a los últimos 2000 años y, en particular, a los Períodos Agroalfarero Medio y Tardío.

A small cave on the north side of the Little Belt Mountains in central Montana contains a graphic portrayal of buffalo dreamer transformation. The bison is emerging from the inner-earth and exiting the cave as a supernatural buffalo human. The historic tribes of the region were known to dream about bison transforming into humans and to recreate it in ceremonial dances by dressing and acting like bison. This scene at Dry Wolf Caves probably pre-dates recorded ceremonies and associated rituals by up to 2000 years, but the later accounts are undoubtedly rooted in similar bison-associated transformation traditions of the past, which this pictograph portrays.

This is a commentary on a paper about grooved markings found on sandstone surfaces in the Pennine upland of Yorkshire, United Kingdom, of other single examples in Scotland and the U.S.A., and of numerous unsuccessful attempts to secure an archaeological or geological explanation for them. The author explains the unexplained phenomenon.

The various methods that have so far been applied to the dating of rock art in China are considered and their effectiveness is examined. The approaches are compared and contrasted with those employed in various other parts of the world, particularly in the light of the new methodology of direct dating. The utility of new techniques is considered for future dating work on Chinese rock art, by discussing their potential applicability, the tendency towards over-sophisticated methods, their reliability and their relevance for Chinese researchers. Guidelines are presented for future strategies in this field.

Представлен краткий обзор памятников наскального искусства, выявленных на территории пров. Ганьсу на северо-западе Китая. Петроглифы распространены на всей территории региона, наибольшая их концентрация наблюдается в северо-западной и центральной частях. Здесь же находятся наиболее изученные памятники. В конце ХХ-начале XXI в. значительное число местонахождений было открыто в восточной и юго-восточ-ной частях провинции, многие из них до сих пор не опубликованы, большинство имеющихся публикаций увидели свет в малодоступных региональных изданиях, нередко без иллюстраций. Петроглифы Ганьсу исполнены в техниках выбивки, прошлифовки и гравировки, крашеные рисунки пока не найдены. Наблюдаются отличия между памятниками разных районов провинции: местонахождения в северо-западной и центральной частях демонстрируют сходство с традициями Синьцзяна, Цинхая, Тибета, в меньшей степени-Внутренней Монголии, а памятники востока и юго-востока близки к наскальным изображениям Нинся, Внутренней Мон-голии и отчасти петроглифам Цзюйцышань (пров. Хэнань).
The paper presents a brief overview of rock art sites known to date on the territory of Gansu Province in northwestern China. Petroglyphs have been discovered in all parts of the province, most of them concentrate in the northwestern and central parts of the region. Over the past decades, a significant number of rock art sites has been found in the eastern and southeastern parts of Gansu, but many materials from this territory have not yet been published or were published in hard-to-get local periodicals, quite often without any illustrations. The purpose of this article is to fill the lacuna in the rock art studies of this part of China through the generalization of all available data on Gansu petroglyphs and listing the rock art sites known to date. Petroglyphs of Gansu can be generally attributed to the northern province of Chinese rock art. The techniques used to produce images include percussion (pecking), abrasion (scratch-ing or rubbing) and engraving, no painted images have been discovered so far. At the same time, pronounced differences between rock art sites in different parts of the province can be observed: the sites in the northwestern and central parts of the region have obvious similarities with the rock art traditions of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet and (to a lesser degree) Inner Mongolia, while the petroglyphs of eastern and southeastern parts of Gansu are close to the rock art of Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and partly to the petroglyphs of Jucishan in Henan Province.

The archaeological record of the Late Neolithic – Chalcolithic – Early Bronze Age periods in the Negev exhibits prevalent east to west orientations, which is understood in the literature as an expression of the preoccupations with afterlife beliefs, mortuary cult and ancestor worship. These archaeological remains are often described as astronomical alignments and are related to the setting sun on the day of the summer solstice. They are attributed to an emerging pastoralist elite. Orientation seems to be also the central theme in the oral traditions of contemporary pastoralists. While the material remains express orientation in space, the oral traditions, which are illustrated at their best in star-lore, express an orientation in time: the cyclic renewal of seasons is observed in the east to west passage of stars and asterisms. The seasons and the constellations, which define them, are related to equinoxes. As material and spiritual expressions of the beliefs that characterize pastoral nomads, the archaeological record and star-lore seem to be closely related. However, due to polar shift and the precession of the equinoxes, contemporary star-lore orientates itself differently from its Chalcolithic – Early Bronze Age forerunner, and it cannot reflect the orientation exhibited by tumuli fields, walls, masseboth and other remains, except in a very approximate way. A significant pre-cession of equinoxes occurred in the early phases of the Middle Bronze Age. The event left a deep mark on cultures worldwide and it was paralleled by a shift in symbolism. In the Negev it also meant a deterioration of the climate. Nomadic mythology and star-lore had to re-orientate themselves, to adjust to the new coordinates, which superseded an apparently perfect previous order. The majority of the rock art corpus in the Negev is dated roughly to the period that preceded the shift. However, a few of the engravings dated to the Early Bronze Age become meaningful only when related to the changes, which occurred during and after the precession of the equinoxes. Other engravings reflect precisely Chalcolithic – Early Bronze Age realities, but their symbolic implications outlived the astronomic context in which they were conceived and they are actual even in our days.

Th is paper reports on the presence of large rock carvings within the territory of Rovereto (Trento, Italy) in an area characterized by the presence of smooth, steeply sloping rocky slopes, the slide surfaces
of the ancient landslide of Lavini di Marco.
Among these carvings stands out a large boat (almost 17 meters long), which appears to be a wheeled warship with two chimneys and two cannons. Th e engraving probably dates back to the second half
of the 19th century. Th rough interviews with the inhabitants of the nearby village of Marco and the ensuing search for comparisons, it was possible to identify the author of at least some engravings around
the boat as Luigi Zeni, a religious and visionary artist who lived in the nineteenth century. However, it is difficult to say who is the author of the steamer, although it can be hypothesized, based on the
type of artifact and its historical context, that it was made between the 50s and 60s  of the nineteenth century probably by a person who saw similar boats in use on the Danube.

Rock art has been poorly investigated in Croatia and in the southeast of Europe. The CRORA (CROatian Rock Art) project was launched in 2009 and aims to systematically catalogue, valorize, and present rock art in Croatia. This project has identified 122 parietal art sites (rock art engravings and paintings) in Croatia, dated from the Palaeolithic to the Modern age, were recorded,  demonstrating that this region, with its abundance of karst phenomena, has great potential region for the further systematic survey and study of rock art.
A dozen rock art paintings sites were identified in the frame of this investigative effort - most located in small rock shelters facing river valleys - that exhibit numerous similarities with the schematic rock art found in parts od Italy, France, Portugal and Spain dated to the period from the Neolithic to the dawn of the Bronze Age. Similar sites have also been identified in Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. These new discoveries in Croatia and in the adjacent regions of the eastern Adriatic coast broaden our knowledge of the phenomenon of schematic rock art and open an completely new area for its study.

Riassunto (il progetto CROatian Rock Art e la scoperta di arte rupestre schematica in Croazia)
L'arte rupestre è stata poco studiata in Croazia e nel sud-est dell'Europa. Il progetto CRORA (CROatian Rock Art) è stato lanciato nel 2009 e mira a catalogare, valorizzare e presentare sistematicamente l'arte rupestre in Croazia. Questo progetto ha permesso di documentare un totale di 122 siti, con incisioni e pitture, databili dal Paleolitico all'Età Moderna, dimostrando come questa zona, nonostante i suoi numerosi fenomeni carsici, abbia un grande potenziale per ulteriori indagini sistematiche e studi sull'arte rupestre.
Nell'ambito di questo sforzo investigativo sono stati identificati una dozzina di siti con pitture rupestri, per lo più in piccoli ripari rocciosi lungo i solchi fluviali, che mostrano numerose somiglianze con l'arte rupestre schematica di Italia, Francia, Portogallo e Spagna, databili dal Neolitico agli albori dell'età del Bronzo. Siti simili sono stati individuati anche in Slovenia e Bosnia-Erzegovina. Queste nuove scoperte in Croazia e nelle regioni adiacenti della costa adriatica orientale ampliano la nostra conoscenza del fenomeno dell'arte rupestre schematica e aprono un'area completamente nuova per il suo studio di questo fenomeno.

Full text of the 2018 chapter "Ethnogeologies of Rock Art? Some considerations derived from Amazonianist Ethnographies", published in the volume "Archaeologies of Rock Art - South American Perspectives" Edited by A. Troncoso, F. Armstrong, and G. Nash. The chapter brings the possibility of studying rock art through and with an articulation with Indigenous geological knowledge in Amazonia, as a particular way of connecting archaeology, geology and ethonography of rock art, thus pontentially providing innovative insights to Amazonian rock art research. Texto Completo do capitulo "Ethnogeologies of Rock Art? Some considerations derived from Amazonianist Ethnographies" publicado em 2018 no livro "Archaeologies of Rock Art - South American Perspectives" Editado by, A. Troncoso, F. Armstrong, and G. Nash. O capítulo trata de uma aproximação para o estudo da arte rupestre através das conhecimentos geológicos indígenas  e aponta que esta pode ser uma abordagem para unir a etnografia, a geologia e a arqueologia da arte rupestre na Amazônia.

 EN DEUX MOTS  La chasse à la baleine a d'abord été une activité côtière. Au Moyen Âge, elle était pratiquée sur la côte basque et à proximité des côtes du Japon. Pour la période préhistorique, jusqu'à présent, aucune représentation ne figurait explicitement cette chasse, et les os de cétacés retrouvés dans certains sites archéologiques (presqu'exclusivement ceux de marsouins et de dauphins), par exemple en Europe du Nord, pouvaient fort bien être ceux d'animaux échoués. Des gravures rupestres coréennes vieilles de 5 000 à 7 000 ans, récemment décrites, sont en revanche sans ambiguïté : dès le Néolithique, les habitants de cette région prenaient la mer pour capturer des cétacés, en particulier des baleines. ARCHÉOLOGIE Où et quand les hommes ont-ils chassé des balei-nes pour la première fois ? Jusqu'à présent, les plus anciennes traces dataient des X e et XI e siècles, en Europe et au Japon. Des gravures rupestres coréen-nes font faire un bond en arrière de plus de 4 000 ans à cette activité. « L 'origine de la chasse à la baleine se perd dans la nuit des temps », écrivait il y a une quinzaine d'années Richard Harrison, biologiste anglais spécialiste des mammifères marins et, à l'occa-sion, historien de la chasse à la baleine [1]. On n'avait alors aucune idée quant à la région du monde, ni à la période où nos ancêtres avaient commencé à chasser les grands cétacés à fanons. Une nouvelle étude de gravures rupestres de Corée du Sud vient d'apporter une réponse : la plus ancienne trace de chasse à la baleine se situe dans le Pacifique du Nord-Ouest, il y a plus de 5 000 ans [2]. À l'époque historique, la chasse commerciale à la baleine s'est développée dans deux régions du monde : au large des côtes du Pays basque et le long des côtes du Japon. Les premiers documents attestant de la chasse des Basques Sang-Mog Lee, préhistorien, travaille au musée de l'université nationale de Kyungpook, en Corée du Sud. Daniel Robineau, spécialiste des cétacés, est professeur au Muséum national d'histoire naturelle, à Paris. robineau@mnhn.fr 56 LA RECHERCHE | DÉCEMBRE 2004 | Nº 381 datent du XI e siècle. Pour le Japon, un poème antérieur au X e siècle évoque la capture de cétacés à partir d'un bateau. On peut donc vraisemblablement postuler que ces chasses ont commencé vers la fin du premier millénaire. Dans ces deux régions, il s'agissait d'une industrie fondée sur la capture, dans les eaux côtières, d'animaux venant s'y reproduire ou y passant lors de migrations. Les espèces ciblées étaient des baleines franches : baleine des Basques, Eubalaena glacialis, et baleine du Pacifique nord, Eubalaena japonica. Ces animaux, qui nagent lentement, offrent en effet peu de résistance aux chasseurs et ont l'intéressante particularité de flotter en surface après leur mort. Des techniques de capture similaires étaient utilisées : les baleines étaient harponnées à partir d'un petit bateau non ponté propulsé à la rame ou, à l'occasion, à la voile. Lorsque l'animal harponné était fatigué, on pouvait plus chasses à la baleine SUR LA FALAISE DE BANGU-DAE, EN CORÉE DU SUD, des gravures datées de 5000 à 3000 av. J.-C. montrent des cétacés. Ici, en bas, les traits qui subdivisent le corps de l'animal évoquent son découpage, peut-être en vue d'un partage.