Safekipedia

Rock art

Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience

Rock painting of Mimi spirits by Australian Aboriginal artists in Kakadu National Park.

Rock art is a special kind of old artwork made by people long ago. It includes markings and pictures on natural stone surfaces, often on cave walls or under rock overhangs. These artworks are found all over the world in many different places and cultures.

There are several ways people made rock art. Some painted pictures on the walls, called cave paintings or pictographs. Others carved or scratched designs into the stone, called petroglyphs. There are also large carved scenes called rock reliefs and huge shapes made on the ground known as geoglyphs.

Fremont Petroglyph, in Dinosaur National Monument, attributed to Classic Vernal Style, Fremont archaeological culture, eastern Utah, United States

The oldest rock art we know of comes from a very old time called the Upper Palaeolithic period. It has been found in Europe, Australia, Asia, and Africa. Many indigenous communities see rock art as very important, like a key part of their history. These sites sometimes attract many visitors and are often shown in books, movies, and art because of how beautiful they are.

magico-religious cave painting rock shelters cave art petroglyphs rock reliefs geoglyphs human history art of the Upper Palaeolithic indigenous peoples sacred cultural tourism archaeology art rock [Rock Art (album)](/wiki/Rock_Art_(album)

Etymology

The word "rock art" began appearing in books in the 1940s. People have used many names for it, such as "rock carvings," "rock drawings," "rock engravings," "rock inscriptions," "rock paintings," "rock pictures," "rock records," "rock sculptures," cave art, and parietal art.

Background

Parietal art is a special kind of art found inside caves and under cliff overhangs, called rock shelters. People often call this "cave art." It is usually painted or drawn on the walls, but can also be on ceilings or floors.

Rock art is special because it is made directly on natural rock surfaces, like cave walls or cliff faces. You can find it all around the world. For many indigenous peoples, this art is very important to their history and culture.

Types

Paintings

Main article: Cave painting

Many old paintings are found in caves or under rock overhangs. These are often called "cave paintings," but some are on cliff faces. Long ago, people liked these spots because they gave shelter and let in light. Many more paintings may have existed in open areas, but they have disappeared over time. These paintings are called pictographs and are made using natural things like minerals. The main colors are red, black, and white. Red comes from a type of earth called ochre, black often comes from charcoal, and white is made from chalk or clay. The paint was mixed with liquids like water or egg and then put on the rock using fingers, brushes, or even a stamp.

Aboriginal rock painting of Mimi spirits in the Anbangbang gallery at Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu National Park.

One common type of painting is the hand print. There are three ways to make them: covering a hand in paint and pressing it on the rock, painting a design on the hand and then pressing it, or placing the hand on the rock and blowing paint onto it. This makes a print of the hand, sometimes called a stencil.

Petroglyphs

Main article: Petroglyph

Petroglyphs are pictures carved or scratched into rock surfaces. They are made using tools like a hard stone, called a hammerstone, that is hit against the rock. Sometimes, another stone is used as a chisel. These lines are often hard to see.

Bidzar Petroglyphs in Cameroon

Rock reliefs

Main article: Rock relief

Rock reliefs are large carvings made directly into cliffs or big rocks. They are often found in cultures that could write and are usually very big to be seen from far away. These carvings often look like other sculptures from the same time and place. They are mostly vertical, but can also be on flat surfaces.

Earth figures

Further information: Geoglyphs

See also: Land art

Earth figures are big designs made on the ground. Some are made by scraping away small stones to show a picture on the rock below, like the Nazca Lines in Peru. Others are made by piling up rocks to create a design.

Motifs and panels

In rock art, single markings are called motifs, and groups of these markings are known as panels. These panels are often found together at special places called archaeological sites.

Rock art appears in many different places and times, among many cultures. It might have been used to show ownership, to tell stories from the past, or to help with special rituals.

The pictures and designs from long ago had deep meanings.

Interpretation and use

Religious interpretations

Making rock art was often a special ceremony or ritual. People made these drawings and carvings as part of their spiritual practices and beliefs.

Regional variations

Europe

In Europe during the Upper Palaeolithic, rock art was created inside caves by hunter-gatherer peoples. The oldest known example is the Chauvet Cave in France, with others found in Lascaux in France, Alta Mira in Spain, Creswell Crags in Britain, and Grotta del Genovese in Sicily.

The late prehistoric rock art of Europe is divided into three regions. In Atlantic Europe, along the western coast stretching from Iberia through France to the British Isles, many rock arts were made from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Another area with significant rock art is Alpine Europe, especially in south-eastern France and northern Italy.

Africa

Balma dei Cervi post-palaeolithic rock paintings (Italian western Alps): anthropomorphic figures and dottings (DStretch enhanced)

North Africa

Western Africa

East Africa

Southern Africa

Cave paintings are found in most parts of Southern Africa that have rock overhangs with smooth surfaces.

Americas

The oldest reliably dated rock art in the Americas is known as the "Horny Little Man". It is a petroglyph depicting a stick figure and carved in Lapa do Santo, a cave in central-eastern Brazil. The most important site is Serra da Capivara National Park at Piauí state. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the largest collection in the American continent.

A moose in the rock paintings of Saraakallio in Laukaa, Finland

A site including paintings or pictographs that is under study in Colombia, South America at Serranía de la Lindosa was revealed in November 2020.

Rock paintings or pictographs are located in many areas across Canada.

However, cave art is not the only type of rock art. Figurines made of a rock material can provide insight on indigenous views towards their visual arts. Many sites along and off the California coastline, such as the Channel Islands and Malibu, have both realistic and abstract styles of zoomorphic effigy figurines.

These figurines provided context about spheres of interaction between tribal groups, demonstrate economic significance, and may have held a ritual function.

California

Little Lake is a complex of rock art located in Rose Valley, Inyo County. This site is important to understanding the symbolism and value of North American rock art because it is one of the largest collections of rock art unrelated to the Coso.

Asia

Central Asia

Figure of a woman at the Tassili n'Ajjer mountain range

East Asia

Further information: Gongshi, Suseok, and Suiseki

  • Bangudae Petroglyphs, in South Korea
  • Cheonjeon-ri in South Korea
  • Daegok-ri in South Korea
  • Fugoppe Cave petroglyphs on Hokkaido, Japan
  • Helankou in Yinchuan, China
  • Kangjia shimenzi in Xinjiang, China
  • Oponoho (Wanshan) petroglyphs in Taiwan
  • Temiya Cave on Hokkaido, Japan
  • Yinshan petroglyphs in the Yin Mountains, China
  • Zuo River Huashan rock art in Guangxi, China
  • Chifeng Petroglyphs in Inner Mongolia
  • Above 4000 meters above sea level high Tibetan plateau: possibly the oldest rock art, likely dating back to many years ago.

Southeast Asia

Further information: Austronesian peoples § Rock art

South Asia

Western Asia

Australasia

Australia

Long-horned cattle and other rock art in the Laas Geel complex

Further information: Indigenous Australian art § Rock art

Australian Indigenous art represents the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world.

The oldest firmly dated rock art painting in Australia is a charcoal drawing on a rock fragment found during the excavation of the Nawarla Gabarnmang rock shelter in southwestern Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

In 2008 rock art depicting what is thought to be an animal was discovered on the north-western coast of the Kimberley.

Miniature rock art of the stencilled variety at a rock shelter known as Yilbilinji, in the Limmen National Park in the Northern Territory, is one of only three known examples of such art.

The first European discovery of aboriginal rock paintings took place on 14 January 1803. While on a surveying expedition along the shores and islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria, British navigator and explorer Matthew Flinders made landfall on rugged Chasm Island off Groote Eylandt.

Within the island's rock shelters, Flinders discovered an array of painted and stenciled patterns.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, North Otago and South Canterbury have a rich range of early Māori rock art.

Studies

Rock art studies is a special part of archaeology. It looks at markings made on natural rocks. Experts like David S. Whitley say that studying rock art needs many different skills and ideas.

For a long time, many archaeologists did not pay much attention to rock art. But in the 1980s and 1990s, more archaeologists began to study it. They found that rock art could help us learn about old beliefs, how people lived together, and how cultures changed over time. One important person in this field was David Lewis-Williams. He studied rock art from southern Africa and shared many new ideas about its meaning.

People around the world are working on projects to share information about rock art. In 2011, a group from UNESCO met to talk about creating a big archive for rock art. Many projects are trying to make rock art easier to learn about and protect.

Images

Statues of the Buddha from the historic site of Gal Viharaya in Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka.
Ancient rock painting telling stories of the indigenous people of Canada.
Ancient rock paintings from the Cederberg Wilderness Area in South Africa, showcasing early human art.
Ancient rock paintings from the Chongoni Rock-Art Area in Malawi, showcasing beautiful historical art.
Ancient rock paintings from the Adi Alauti Cave, showing early human art from around 2500 BC.
Ancient rock paintings on a cave ceiling in Wyoming, showing early human art and history.
Ancient cave paintings from Bhimbetka showing early human life and animals, dating back to 1500-2000 BC.

Related articles

Cave painting
Indigenous peoples
Archaeology
World Heritage Site
Petroglyph
Baja California

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Rock art, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Images from Wikimedia Commons. Tap any image to view credits and license.