Perspectives on Differences in Rock Art - Jan Magne Gjerde
Skills and Traces: Imagining Differences in Engravings, Northern Cape, South Africa
Perspectives on Differences in Rock Art - Jan Magne Gjerde
Silvia Tomaskova [+]
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Description
The majority of analyses of ancient petroglyphs, regardless their location, have focused on the content of the images, seeking traces of meaning, social practices, belief systems, or long-distance travel. By contrast this project in the Northern Cape pays attention to the material aspect and production techniques of prehistoric engravings. Recent theoretical debates on the materiality of practice emphasize how manufacture is embedded in social worlds and simultaneously creates subjects who shape the social realm. My investigation of the details of image manufacture at Wildebeest Kuil aims to attend to production, specifically time investment and levels of skill, necessary to make a petroglyph. The central research question is: can we recognize apprenticeship, learning and mastery by studying the techniques of image making? The broader frame of the project addresses the interpretation of a range of skills of making petroglyphs, and whether we can make inferences about the social context of learning and mastery in prehistoric contexts.