The Harare Style: Digitally-enhanced photography in pursuit of a San rock art regional variant, Zimbabwe, Africa

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Technique and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The painted parietal art of prehistoric San Bushmen of southern Africa has been in the public eye since the 1920s. Iconographic and stylistic differences within the San artistic corpus have been attributed to distinctions of time and space within and among the many centers of image concentration. Rock art found in the ravines of the Brandberg Massif, Namibia, for example, contrasts markedly from San art seen in the Drakensberg or Cederberg Mountains of South Africa, yet the primary defining characteristics prevail. Digital enhancement has increased the repertoire of San images found in understudied Zimbabwe and has prompted a more fine-grained analysis of regional variations. The distinct signatures of two extraordinary concentrations of Zimbabwean prehistoric art are revealed using digital enhancement. The better-known rock art found in the Matopos and environs on the west is contrasted to that known from the greater Harare area on the east and possible explanations explored.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Technique and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22793