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Interpreting paintings without a commentary: meaning and motive, content and composition in the rock art of the western Cape, South Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

John Parkington
John Parkington*
Affiliation:
Spatial Archaeology Research Unit, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch, Cape 7700, South Africa
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Extract

The graphic rock-paintings of southern Africa, with their lively and colourful scenes, have long been one of the glories of the continent's archaeology. The last years have seen them become intellectually quite as graphic, as fragments of San ethnography and ethnohistory have been found to provide a commentary that allows aspects of their symbolism and meaning to be explored. This paper goes beyond, to see what can be iluminated without benefit of commentary.

Type
Papers
Information
Antiquity , Volume 63 , Issue 238 , March 1989 , pp. 13 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 1989

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