Australian Rock Art: A New Synthesis
The origins of rock art in Australia are probably as old as that of the hunter-gatherers of Western Europe, well-known for the prehistoric caves of Altamira and Lascaux. That the practice of painting and engraving on rocks continues in parts of northern and central Australia emphasises the importance of this art as a source of visual information for Australia's indigenous communities, Rock art can be 'read' to determine cultural processes and provides a durable record of thousands of years of...
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A survey of Australian rock art, presenting detailed case studies revealing the significance of both recent and ancient art for Australia's living indigenous communities.
List of illustrationsList of tablesAcknowledgementsCh. 1Anthropological and archaeological approaches to Australian rock art1A convergence of method5Recent Australian rock art17Continuity with other media28Conclusion29Ch. 2Rock art and indigenous religion31The social background31Rock art and the ancestral order in the western Kimberleys33Rock art and increase ceremonies: a comparative survey47Didactic role of paintings and engravings49Geometric rock art and religion in central Australia52Geometric rock art and other media54General conclusion: rock art and Australian religion62Ch. 3Rock art as an expression of secular and subversive themes65Secular rock art in the Oenpelli area65Comparative material75Capricious and malevolent figures79Iconography, style and cultural context86Ch. 4Rock art and the colonial impact89A visual history of trade and colonisation89The impact of colonisation94Regional variation in colonial history96Survival109Continuity109Ch. 5Putting statements in their cultural context115What is culture?115Reading rock art116Levels of explanation124Conjectural history127Evaluation of isolated statements131Ch. 6Figure and motif141The problem of subjectivity145Classification of geometric figures148Contemporary iconography of geometric rock art154The problem of Koonalda158Classification of figures in silhouette styles158Archaeological typologies of silhouette motifs166Simpler silhouette traditions169Ch. 7Stylistic variations in time and space183Definitions of technique183Definitions of style184Emblemic variation185Style classes186Definition of motif196Stencils200Geographical distribution of rock art styles200Distribution in time212Ch. 8Rock art and human adaptation in Australia229Changes in the natural environment230Changes in indigenous culture231The cultural context of Australian rock art235Vandalism and alienation245Appendix one249Appendix two253Notes257Glossary259References261Index273
