Rock Art and Regional Identity - by Jamie Hampson (Paperback)

About the Book

This unique volume demonstrates that there are archaeological and anthropological ways of accessing the past in order to investigate and explain the significance of rock art motifs, and highlights the importance of regional rock art studies and regional variations.

Book Synopsis

Why did the ancient artists create paintings and engravings? What did the images mean? This careful study of rock art motifs in the Trans-Pecos area of Texas and a small area in South Africa demonstrates that there are archaeological and anthropological ways of accessing the past in order to investigate and explain the significance of rock art motifs. Using two disparate regions shows the possibility of comparative rock art studies and highlights the importance of regional studies and regional variations. This is an ideal resource for students and researchers.

Review Quotes

"A book like this lifts rock art from anecdotal and disorganized research to genuine confrontation with underlying theoretical and empirical issues. On that account, it will be of interest to all archaeologists, not just rock art specialists."
David Lewis-Williams, University of the Witwatersrand"

"A welcome addition to rock art literature, addressing rock paintings and petroglyphs of little known regions in the Trans-Pecos of west Texas and South Africa, Hampson's provocative approach to meaning is certain to promote a continuing debate into the future on this challenging topic."
Polly Schaafsma"

Jamie Hampson has produced a landmark study of Trans-Pecos rock art that moves the field significantly further forward and will prove a key resource in North American and global rock art studies. Using a wide range of evidence, he convincingly shows how the art can most profitably be understood from an insider perspective grounded in the ethnography of relevant Native American groups and informed more broadly by parallel studies elsewhere in the world, notably southern Africa. Elegantly and accessibly written, it deserves a place on the bookshelves of anyone with interests in rock art or the North American past.
Peter Mitchell, University of Oxford"

What do rock art images and rock art regions amongst the most beguiling of all ancient traces actually mean? This central question is brilliantly explored and answered by Jamie Hampson s innovative and pioneering study. Hampson builds a secure basis for interpretation, with a focus on regionalism and also on the rhythms of ritual, and on embodiment. A remarkable study, imaginative and vivid, but always closely based on the field realities, just what is out there, just what it is we look at.
Christopher Chippindale, University of Cambridge"

"Jamie Hampson has produced a landmark study of Trans-Pecos rock art that moves the field significantly further forward and will prove a key resource in North American - and global - rock art studies. Using a wide range of evidence, he convincingly shows how the art can most profitably be understood from an 'insider' perspective grounded in the ethnography of relevant Native American groups and informed more broadly by parallel studies elsewhere in the world, notably southern Africa. Elegantly and accessibly written, it deserves a place on the bookshelves of anyone with interests in rock art or the North American past."
--Peter Mitchell, University of Oxford

"What do rock art images and rock art regions - amongst the most beguiling of all ancient traces - actually mean? This central question is brilliantly explored and answered by Jamie Hampson's innovative and pioneering study. Hampson builds a secure basis for interpretation, with a focus on regionalism and also on the rhythms of ritual, and on embodiment. A remarkable study, imaginative and vivid, but always closely based on the field realities, just what is out there, just what it is we look at."
--Christopher Chippindale, University of Cambridge

About the Author

Jamie Hampson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Western Australia and a Marie Curie Fellow (IOF: Stanford/York). He has a BA (Hons) and MA in Modern History from the University of Oxford, and two further degrees from the University of Cambridge: an MPhil in Archaeological Heritage and Museums, and a PhD in Archaeology. Jamie works primarily on rock art, identity, and visual heritage projects in western Australia, southern Africa, and the Greater Southwest USA.