Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern Africa
Landscape studies of hunter–gatherer rock art often suffer from logical flaws. Some of these failings stem from the founding question that researchers ask: “Why do some places have images while others do not?” This question is misleading and not particularly helpful in some—but not all—contexts wher...
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MDPI AG
2025-02-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/14/1/15 |
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| author | Geoffrey Blundell Ghilraen Laue |
| author_facet | Geoffrey Blundell Ghilraen Laue |
| author_sort | Geoffrey Blundell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Landscape studies of hunter–gatherer rock art often suffer from logical flaws. Some of these failings stem from the founding question that researchers ask: “Why do some places have images while others do not?” This question is misleading and not particularly helpful in some—but not all—contexts where there is no direct ethnographic evidence to provide an answer. Instead, we suggest that a better question from which to begin is: “How are rock art images related to landscape?”. To answer this question, we examine the relationship between iconography, cosmology and topography in two areas of southern African San rock painting. We argue that cosmology guided iconography and that the imagery, in turn, manipulated topography into landscape for the San. In this view, we do not need to rely on cognitive templates that invest topography a priori with significance that then determines the choice of locale for art. Instead, landscape for the San was socially and symbolically constructed through the placement of imagery. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-28f3bc5eff6e41f89748ebf589c5fda1 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-0752 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Arts |
| spelling | doaj-art-28f3bc5eff6e41f89748ebf589c5fda12025-08-20T02:44:43ZengMDPI AGArts2076-07522025-02-011411510.3390/arts14010015Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern AfricaGeoffrey Blundell0Ghilraen Laue1Department of Human Sciences, KwaZulu-Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg 3200, South AfricaDepartment of Human Sciences, KwaZulu-Natal Museum, Pietermaritzburg 3200, South AfricaLandscape studies of hunter–gatherer rock art often suffer from logical flaws. Some of these failings stem from the founding question that researchers ask: “Why do some places have images while others do not?” This question is misleading and not particularly helpful in some—but not all—contexts where there is no direct ethnographic evidence to provide an answer. Instead, we suggest that a better question from which to begin is: “How are rock art images related to landscape?”. To answer this question, we examine the relationship between iconography, cosmology and topography in two areas of southern African San rock painting. We argue that cosmology guided iconography and that the imagery, in turn, manipulated topography into landscape for the San. In this view, we do not need to rely on cognitive templates that invest topography a priori with significance that then determines the choice of locale for art. Instead, landscape for the San was socially and symbolically constructed through the placement of imagery.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/14/1/15rock artlandscapehunter-gatherersSansouthern Africa |
| spellingShingle | Geoffrey Blundell Ghilraen Laue Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern Africa Arts rock art landscape hunter-gatherers San southern Africa |
| title | Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern Africa |
| title_full | Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern Africa |
| title_fullStr | Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern Africa |
| title_short | Rock Art and Hunter–Gatherer Landscapes: Iconography, Cosmology and Topography in Southern Africa |
| title_sort | rock art and hunter gatherer landscapes iconography cosmology and topography in southern africa |
| topic | rock art landscape hunter-gatherers San southern Africa |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/14/1/15 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT geoffreyblundell rockartandhuntergathererlandscapesiconographycosmologyandtopographyinsouthernafrica AT ghilraenlaue rockartandhuntergathererlandscapesiconographycosmologyandtopographyinsouthernafrica |