Rock Art Categorization

Summary

Rock Art Categorization

Over the past ten years I have sought to elaborate a new categorization for rock art images and one based on analysis of visual perception bolstered by cognitive psychology experiments and current knowledge of visual system neurophysiology. The result has been a suggestion for three classes of image, viz the Canonical (mostly profile), Narrative (scene), and Performative (frontal). At the same time Patricia Dobrez has added two possible classes represented by hand traces and by tracks. In this paper I will give an account of this categorization, focussing on the idea of a scene. I would also like to ask whether any of the above classes might claim historical priority, whether any might have some sort of originatory claim, and whether any might offer specific insights into human cognitive or aesthetic development.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Not Just Good to See: Global Perspectives on Scenes in Rock Art

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14667