The Many Meanings and Uses of Tomo-Kahni Rock Art

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Rock Art Documentation, Research, and Analysis" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Certain current rock art debates involve methodological rather than empirical issues (as incorrectly but commonly assumed), reflecting researchers’ unfamiliarity with principles of symbolic analysis and the resulting functions and meanings of rock art sites. One key error concerns the fact that symbols are polysemous and always have multiple meanings. Another involves the distinction between the origin and initial purpose/meaning of the art versus subsequent secondary uses and meanings. Confusion on these symbolic characteristics and distinctions has been especially prominent in debates about shamanic rock art. The century-long ethnographic record for site CA-KER-508 (“Creation Cave” or “Teddy Bear Cave”) in Tomo-Kahni State Park, CA, illustrates the importance of recognizing how rock art sites were first made and then used by non-painters and thus the multiple meanings they embodied and purposes they served.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Interdisciplinary Approaches to Rock Art Documentation, Research, and Analysis   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36595.0