Rock Art Study

The paper brings together a complete list of publications on rock art of Northeast Africa and Arabian Peninsula (co-)authored by Pavel Červíček. The overview is introduced by a  brief overview of life and research of this Egyptologist and Prehistorian of Czechoslovak origin, who spent most of his life in emigration in (West) Germany.

We want to know what meaning consequences have the imperfection and originality in the rock art paintings of Vereda San Rafael in Colombia. To answer this we are going to define the concepts of imperfection and originality based on the theoretical approaches of Julien Algirdas Greimas. The next step would be to adapt this ideas to the study of rock art, in specific in the South American Rock Art Site, Vereda de San Rafael in Colombia.

The wolf (Canis lupus) in Palaeolithic art
It is well known that carnivores (and other potentially aggressive large species) are poorly represented in Palaeolithic art. This is also the case for genus Ursus and genus Panthera, each of them recorded by 100-200 representations dating from 40,000 to 10,000 cal BP, compared to several thousand herbivores. The genus Canis, which was established in Europe before the Pleistocene is even markedly rarer. In the late Middle Pleistocene, C. lupus dispersed into Europe and wolf’s remains are commonly found in Late Pleistocene cave deposits. In this poster, we will review the extant evidence of wolf’s representations in Palaeolithic art, separating them from the ones of other canid (i. e. fox, Vulpes vulpes), as well as from the wolverine (Gulo gulo), which also has a resembling overall shape, despite being part of the Mustelidae family. In most cases, when the animal is represented complete (or almost so), the ear and muzzle, together with the overall body proportions, allow to make a distinction between the different species represented.
In the end, we conclude that only 9 depictions can be safely retained as representing a wolf. There are 5 more which might be listed as probable wolves, and 6 that remain frankly dubious.
Interestingly, the wolf, which is a gregarious species, is almost always depicted as a single animal. It is represented at a small scale, mostly rendered by engraving, and it is noteworthy that there is at least one specimen in Germany, and one in Italy, which are countries with an overall limited artistic record if compared to France and Spain. All are of Lateglacial age and associated with Magdalenian or Late Epigravettian lithic industries.
When, at the end of the Pleistocene, first the cave bear became extinct, and then the spotted hyena and the lion gradually disappeared from Europe, the wolf was left – up to present times – as the only large carnivore of Europe. The exiguous number of wolves which enter the Palaeolithic art record at that time possibly reflects the changes happening in the European megafauna.

References
Di Maida, G., & M. Mussi. 2017. “Cry wolf! The engraved pebble of Grotta Polesini (central Italy).” In: Vocation préhistoire: hommage à Jean-Marie Le Tensorer (eds. D. Wojtczak, N. Al Najjar, R. Jagher, H. Elsuede, F. Wegmüller, & M. Otte), 99–108. Liège: Éditions ERAUL. Études et Recherches Archéologiques de l’Université de Liège.

Lombo Montañés A. 2016. “Los cánidos en las manifestaciones gráficas paleolíticas”. In: O. Rivero Vilá & A. Ruíz Redondo (eds.), El arte de las sociedades prehistóricas. V Encuentro Internacional de Doctorandos y Postdoctorandos, 67-69. Santander.

A recently recorded Colorado Desert rock art site within the Palen-McCoy Wilderness, CA-RIV-12421, reflects a fascinating intersection between prehistoric and historic peoples. The vibrant petroglyph expressions include Western Archaic Tradition, Patayan, and equestrian motifs. The heaviest concentration of scratched motifs known in the Colorado Desert can be found here. Historic inscriptions are also present beginning in 1873, including that of O. P. Calloway and possibly the “infamous” land grafter John Benson. All tolled, CA-RIV-12421 provides a relatively high mixture of potential chronological markers. An attempt has been made to analyze the context of this site utilizing its environmental setting and the extant temporal clues available in the rock art. Findings of this investigation include a suggestion that much of this art was created in the Historic Period (ca. 1540-1774), with equestrian motif creation occurring between the early 1700s and 1873. The site’s geomorphology, ecological, and archaeological aspects, in conjunction with its high concentration of bighorn sheep petroglyphs, suggests that it may have functioned as a destination locality for spiritual and hunting purposes.

Art, communication and wellbeing In this paper the Authors are considering that deep echoes might possibly exist betrt een prehistoric and today's man. They base their hvpothesis upon their observations made during long sessions of micropsychoanalysis, especially on transfer-ence/counter-transference dvnamics, and on the study of rock Art. From an analytical point of view, such echoes refer to representations and affects linked with self-preservation and adaptation. In some of their previous studies, D. Gariglio and D. Lysek had assumed that some evervdal, life factors, both prehistoric and present-dav, could express some evidence of unconscious tracks of r,r,ellbeing experiences. These tracks coulcl be reactivated whenever psvchic fluidity exists. This could tl-ren promote an elaboration and a rearrangement of the information stored in the psyche. In addition, after a recent journer. to prehistoric Perigord, it seems reasonable to suppose, even in pre-lettered societies, some dynamics linked to wellbeing experiences. Such hypothesis might add a connection between us and our distant ancestors.

Western Basketmaker II style petroglyphs (Ca 1000 BCE to 450 CE), found along the lower San Juan River, Colorado River into Grand Gulch, the Little Colorado River, and the Chinle Wash drainages including Canyon De Chelly can be shown through several lines of evidence to represent two cultural groups. The methodology involves a systematic analysis of proxemic (spatial) arrangements, body posture and gesture displays, superimposition sequences for temporal chronology and cultural associations by ethnographic analogy. Cultural diagnostics include cultural directionality, mythic iconography and cultural idioms specific to each language group.  Superimposition sequences of Western BMII panels, show an earlier culture with assemblages of iconography nominated as ‘Group 1’, overlaid by a second assemblage of iconography nominated as ‘Group 2’.

Group 1 iconography finds its contemporary counterpart in myths and Katsinas, (masked and not masked) and altar paintings of the Keres language speakers.  The distribution of Group 1 iconography occurs along the San Juan River and exclusively along Little Colorado River drainages. Group 2 iconography finds its counterpart in the myths, duck shaped pots, Katsinas, masked and not masked, and altar paintings of the Zuni language speakers.  Group 2 iconography co-exists with Group 1 on the San Juan River but is exclusive in the Chinle Wash drainages and in Canyon De Chelly.

TROLETTI F., Threadlike engravings of historical period on the rocks and plaster of churches and civic buildings. Some comparisons and proposals of interpretation, Proceedings of XVII World UISPP (International Union for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences) Congress. 1-7 sept. 2014, Burgos (ES); vol. 10; Session A18b:, Post-Palaeolithic Filiform Rock Art in Western Europe, Archaeopress Publisching Ltd, Oxford 2016, pp. 43-54.

Rock-art of Nine Mile Canyon and Range Creek in the Tavaputs Plateau created by Fremont people, Mu:kwitsi/Hopi (250 – 1300 A.D.). and the later Numic arrivals. Recent linguistic and mtDNA analysis show the Fremont as being a mixture of Pre-Hopi (Uto-Aztecan) and Tanoan (Jemez) ancestry. Depictions of Awanyu, the Tanoan plumed serpent, in Nine Mile are found in pottery designs and rock-art panels from ancestral Tanoan pueblos of the Rio Grande. Fremont rock art depicts Hopi hair styles, Hopi garden plots and Hopi mythical deities. Hopi katsina masks and carved dolls are linked to Fremont figurines. A.D 1100s-1400s rock-art depict Numic emigrants with large burden baskets. Late A.D 1500-1600 panels depict battles between Fremont (Mu:kwitsi/Hopi) by their Hopi hairstyle and hock moccasins fighting Numic (Paiute/Utes) with flat heads, horns and band signs. Cultural directionality (left-to-right sunwise direction) is specific to Numic language speakers, while Hopi/Tanoan cultural preference is a right-to-left directionality.

Rjabchikov, Sergei V., 2018. The Portrait of a Next Glyphbreaker: Albert Davletshin. Polynesia Newsletter, 14, pp. 7-11.

Keywords:  writing, rongorongo, folklore, rock art, string figure, string game, Rapanui, Rapa Nui, Easter Island, Polynesia, Maya, Proto-Polynesian, PPN

Rock‐art in the form pictographs and modern painting tradition vogue amongst the Kurumba tribe was reported from Vellarikombi located in Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu in the year 1984. Since then, some writings on the rock art as well modern painting tradition have emerged.  However, a comprehensive study on the rock‐art was lacking. Hence, Vellarikombi was visited to understand the pristine rock‐art and modern painting tradition. This article is a reappraisal of the rock‐art and the
modern painting tradition from Vellarikombi.

ROCK ART 2017 VOL 17, No 4 SPECIAL ISSUE Part I

1) A COMBAT ARCHAEOLOGY VIEWPOINT ON WEAPON REPRESENTATIONS IN NORTHWEST ARABIAN ROCK ART
Ömer Can Aksoy
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.893186

2) PETROGLYPHS WITHIN THE WĀDĪ RAGHWĀN, MA’RIB GOVERNATE, REPUBLIC OF YEMEN: LOCATIONS, PECULIAR ICONOGRAPHY, AND INTERPRETATIONS
William D. Glanzman
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.893188

3) QATAR ROCK ARTS: RE-CONSIDERATION ΑND PROSPECTIVES OF QATAR CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM MAP
Sherine El Menshawy
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.893190

4) SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS INTO SAUDI ARABIAN ROCK ART: A REVIEW
Robert G. Bednarik
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.893192

5) NOVEL APPROACHES IN SURFACE LUMINESCENCE DATING OF ROCK ART: A BRIEF REVIEW
Ioannis Liritzis, Panou Evangelia, Exarchos Michalis
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.893194
6) ROCK ART FROM WEST AND SOUTH WEST ARABIA: SOCIO-CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY’S INSIGHTS FOR THE REGION’S EASTERN TRANSITION ZONES
Andre Gingrich
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.893285
7) THE STATE OF ROCK ART RESEARCH IN OMAN:
AN UPDATE
Angelo Eugenio Fossati
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.893196

GUEST EDITOR FORWARD

This volume on “The Rock Arts in Pre-Islamic Arabia- PART I” include some double blind  peer reviewed presentations in the relevanτ conference that took place in spring 2017 in Qatar University. The present Special Issue 17.4 of MAA includes seven distinguished research papers from different disciplines which cover different aspects of rock inscriptions. It makes available to researchers in history and archaeology new information on rock arts of the Arabian Peninsula, and will pave the road for new topics of interest and research methods in the study of rock arts in general. This is a specially the case because the region was the cradle of early human occupation and a source of ancient migrations. It witnessed cultures that have not been fully studied until now in spite of their material culture remains especially rock drawings and inscriptions, which were the tools of ancient people to express their emotions and observations on the rocks across the ages. They recorded their history in inscriptions telling their stories and visions of their world, evidence of the activities of ancient people, and a resource to study the complex human history. The rock drawings are among the most important sources of ancient history but prehistory too, and their study offer an opportunity to rewrite history as they make a huge amount of information that deserve the attention and interest of researchers from different disciplines whether researchers working on the ancient environmental conditions, archaeometry, or the form of economic life, religious beliefs, languages, manners, rituals, ancient philosophy. The same is true for researchers working on social and political life, or historians aiming to chronicle events of those times. In this regard, the archaeological sites in the Arabian Peninsula offer us a model of the genius of people in recording events they lived, and the landscape they lived in, drawing them on the rocks, a fertile ground for varied scientific studies. The research into archaeology including rock arts is a fine area for interdisciplinary research per excellence, for what the different phenomena represents of interlinks, and partial or general  impact on each other. This reflects the need for collaborative researches involving teams from multi disciplines and methods bale to investigate and explain the phenomena narrated through these drawings in a more comprehensive and precise way. 
This Publication was made possible by fund from the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Arts and Sciences in Qatar University. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences, nor Qatar University.

Prof. Kaltham Al-Ghanim
Director
Center for Humanities and Social Sciences
Qatar University