Overview

San rock paintings, scattered over the range of southern Africa, are considered by many to be the very earliest examples of representational art. There are as many as 15,000 known rock art sites, created over the course of thousands of years up until the nineteenth century. There are possibly just as many still awaiting discovery. Taking as his starting point the magnificent Linton panel in the Iziko-South African Museum in Cape Town, J. D. Lewis-Williams examines the artistic and cultural significance of rock art and how this art sheds light on how San image-makers conceived their world. It also details the European encounter with rock art as well as the contentious European interaction with the artists' descendants, the contemporary San people.

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Making sense of these fascinating artifacts as a novice requires the assistance of an informed guide and Lewis-Williams' credentials speak for themselves.... This deceptively ordinary-looking book is a fascinating read and will spur you on your travels to view as many San paintings as you can at close-hand, fuelled by your newfound knowledge of the complexity of the beliefs, rituals, and practices of the first inhabitants of South Africa. <br><br>-- Sunday Tribune , Sunday Magazine , South Africa

Making sense of these fascinating artifacts as a novice requires the assistance of an informed guide and Lewis-Williams' credentials speak for themselves.... This deceptively ordinary-looking book is a fascinating read and will spur you on your travels to view as many San paintings as you can at close-hand, fuelled by your newfound knowledge of the complexity of the beliefs, rituals, and practices of the first inhabitants of South Africa. <br><br>Sunday Tribune -- Sunday Magazine , South Africa

Making sense of these fascinating artifacts as a novice requires the assistance of an informed guide and Lewis-Williams' credentials speak for themselves.... This deceptively ordinary-looking book is a fascinating read and will spur you on your travels to view as many San paintings as you can at close-hand, fuelled by your newfound knowledge of the complexity of the beliefs, rituals, and practices of the first inhabitants of South Africa. -- Sunday Tribune , Sunday Magazine , South Africa

Author Information

J. D. Lewis-Williams is Professor Emeritus and former Director of the Rock Art Research Institute at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He has written more than 135 articles in a wide variety of academic journals as well as authored or coauthored more than sixteen books. His recent books include the award-winning The Mind in the Cave; Inside the Neolithic Mind, co-authored with David Pearce; and Conceiving God: The Cognitive Origin and Evolution of Religion.

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