Rock Art and its Legacy in Myth and Art - Petroglyphs from Eurasia, Arabia and Northern Africa

Rock art is mankind's oldest artistic expression. The first creation of rock carvings (petroglyphs) and rock paintings (pictographs) by Homo sapiens represented on multiple counts a quantum leap in mental performance.

In Rock Art and its Legacy in Myth and Art Christoph Baumer tells the story of these remarkable creations of early human imagination in Eurasia, Arabia and the Sahara. Petroglyphs not only reflect societal and economic adaptations to climate changes but also encapsulate the worldviews, myths and rituals that prevailed for tens of thousands of years, and even down to the present. In a final chapter the artist Therese Weber describes the work of contemporary artists from different cultures who engage with rock art and introduces her own work which is inspired by her exploration of petroglyphs. Vividly illustrated throughout with 340 full colour images and 10 maps, this book is a celebration of the legacy of petroglyphs as a means of expression and of recording events and coded messages, as well as a source of inspiration for modern-day artists.

I.Introduction
II.Frame of research, scope, methods and context
1.The conceptual grid: Climate, economy and beliefs
2.Making and dating of petroglyphs
3.Documenting petroglyphs
4.Threats and protection
III.The interpretation of petroglyphs
IV.Beyond petroglyphs
1.Rock art in ancient handicrafts and tattooing
2.The reception of rock art in modern and contemporary art
V.Rock art by major regions
1Central Asia (Mongolia, Minusinsk Basin, Xinjiang, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan)
2Himalaya and Karakoram (Ladakh, Gilgit)
3Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia)
4Europe (Karelia, Scandinavia, Italian Alps)
5Arabia (Saudi Arabia, Jordan)
6Sahara
VI.Conclusions
Appendices
Endnotes
Bibliography
Indices
Photo credits
Acknowledgements