Rock art is an archaeological term used to refer to human-made markings placed on natural stone. A global phenomenon, rock art is found in many different regions of the world, having been produced in many different contexts throughout human history, although the majority of rock art that has been ethnographically recorded has been produced as a part of ritual. Such artworks are often divided into three forms: petroglyphs which are carved into the rock surface, pictographs which are painted onto the surface, and earth figures engraved into the ground.
The oldest known rock art dates from the Upper Palaeolithic period, having been found in Europe, Australasia and Africa. Archaeologists studying these artworks believe that they likely had magico-religious significance.
The archaeological sub-discipline of rock art studies first developed in the late-19th century among Francophone scholars studying the Upper Palaeolithic rock art found in the cave systems of Western Europe. Rock art also continues to be of importance to indigenous peoples in various parts of the world, who view them as both sacred items and significant components of their cultural patrimony. Such archaeological sites are also significant sources of cultural tourism, and have been utilised in popular culture for their aesthetic qualities.
Read more about Rock Art: Terminology, Background, Motifs and Panels, Rock Art Studies
Famous quotes containing the words rock and/or art:
“When we were at school we were taught to sing the songs of the Europeans. How many of us were taught the songs of the Wanyamwezi or of the Wahehe? Many of us have learnt to dance the rumba, or the cha cha, to rock and roll and to twist and even to dance the waltz and foxtrot. But how many of us can dance, or have even heard of the gombe sugu, the mangala, nyang’umumi, kiduo, or lele mama?”
—Julius K. Nyerere (b. 1922)
“What art can paint or gild any object in afterlife with the glow which Nature gives to the first baubles of childhood. St. Peter’s cannot have the magical power over us that the red and gold covers of our first picture-book possessed. How the imagination cleaves to the warm glories of that tinsel even now! What entertainments make every day bright and short for the fine freshman!”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)