Different Methods for Different Strokes: Petroglyphs in the Northern Cape, South Africa

Summary

Our 2017 fieldwork in the Northern Cape, South Africa presented us with a dilemma: how do methods of rock art research aimed at studying image making help us understand petroglyphs that may not be "images". The site Wildebeest Kuil near Kimberley, Northern Cape has two discrete areas of engravings: an area covered with distinct images of animals, humans, "geometric patterns" (80% of engravings), and a second adjacent area covered with peckings and stone modifications that do not easily translate into images (90% of engravings). The presentation addresses (and interrogates) archaeological methods as guiding principles that may have to be broadened or adjusted in the face of different kinds of data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Methodology and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art   •
• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 19920