| The Archaeology of Rock Art.
Edited by Christopher Chippendale and
Paul Taçon. New Directions in Archaeology
Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1999. *** ISBN: 0521576199 (pb),
0521572568 (hb), UK£18.95/US$29.95 (pb),
UK£50.00/US$79.95 (hb).
Ursula Frederick (Consulting Archaeologist,
Sydney, Australia) UrsulaFrederick@ermsydney.erm.com.au
The study of rock art has long been considered
as an archaeological pursuit. Archaeologists
have played a major role in the recording,
analysis, interpretation and management
of the world’s rock art and as a discipline
devoted to the study of the past, archaeology
has an obvious interest in documenting and
understanding ‘images’ that have endured
the passage of time. What then is
so unique about a book entitled the Archaeology
of Rock Art ?
In their introduction the editors emphasize
the archaeological approach of the papers
represented in the volume and they suggest
that many of the methodological and theoretical
tools used in archaeology similarly direct
the course of rock art studies. They
proceed by drawing the methodologies used
throughout the volume into three main arms:
informed methods, formal methods and analogy.
A striking feature of the methodologies
presented within the volume is the number
of chapters which incorporate an informed
critique of current archaeological models.
Through revisiting such topics as the origins
and development of Paleolithic art, the
colonization of the Pacific, the relationship
between ‘styles’ and dating, and the application
of shamanistic interpretations of rock art,
many of the papers resurrect old ideas in
new ways and address ongoing debates through
more contemporary perspectives. While
the value, validity and practical application
of specific methods employed in individual
chapters varies, the challenge to past research
makes for an interesting read and presents
the reader with a well-rounded view of the
way rock art studies are currently directed.
Methods aside, a number of broader themes
are evident within the book. These
include examining chronological sequences
for different cultural traditions, the function
of rock art as iconography and symbolic
metaphor and the role rock art may have
played in the mediation of stress and social
transition. Questions regarding the
function and meaning of rock art continue
to prevail albeit framed within newer areas
of scholarly endeavour, such as landscape
and geographic modelling, information theory,
and cross-cultural ‘contact’studies.
In doing so the volume facilitates the resolution
of broader archaeological issues, such as
the application of dating techniques, use
of ethnography, statistical, spatial and
formal analyses and the difficulties of
categorizing and ‘reading’ archaeological
data.
Viewed regionally, the papers contribute
a wealth of new information from vastly
different areas, including Africa, Australia,
North America, Europe, Asia and the Pacific
Islands.
From the outset the editors recognize that
no settled or standard approach to the archaeology
of rock art has emerged. It is this
very diversity and flexibility of methodological
and theoretical constructs which is not
only pivotal to the structure of the volume
but is perhaps the defining characteristic
of current archaeological investigations
of rock art. The chapters do indeed
hold a methodological focus in so far as
many of them explicitly address the assumptions
we employ, the problems and pitfalls of
past research and the issues that continue
to confound our results and problematize
our interpretations.
The Archaeology of Rock Art is unique
because it owns its origins. It is
interesting because the influence of other
disciplines is clearly apparent and explicitly
developed in the methodologies and conceptual
approaches to considering rock art presented
throughout the volume. While the search
to understand the meaning or motivation
behind an image may, like so many archaeological
questions, continue to elude us, this book
demonstrates the capacity for meaningful
information to be drawn from rock art in
a variety of ways. Perhaps the clearest
message that the book conveys is that this
wealth of information is not achieved through
the adoption of any single or standard approach
but through the adoption and application
of many ways of researching rock art, ways
inspired and informed by many different
disciplines. This book is an indication
that the archaeological approach to rock
art studies, however it is defined, is expanding
outwards, covering vast theoretical territory
while building on a solid knowledge and
understanding of our own disciplinary frailties.
|
World
Archaeological Bulletin