AFRICAN ROCK ART: PAINTINGS AND ENGRAVINGS ON STONE

First Edition: 189 colour photographs, 120 line drawings, 7 maps, a very good copy in the dust jacket.

Editor's note: 'In the most remote corners of Africa’s landscape, masterpieces from an almost forgotten age decorate boulders, cliffs, and rock shelters. Over 12,000 years ago, when the last Ice Age came to an end, and the Sahara became more fertile with wild game grazing the banks of winding rivers, people were painting and engraving on rock. These artists are now gone, but much of their magnificent and mysterious work remains.

African Rock Art: Paintings and Engravings on Stone is the first comprehensive illustrated book on the rock art of Africa. From the spectacular mountains of the central Sahara, to the arid plateaus of South Africa, home to a vast array of extraordinary art, photographer David Coulson and co-author Alec Campbell have explored the farthest reaches of this vast continent to deliver an astonishing collection of nearly 400 colour photographs and line drawings.

Long considered primitive, and mere curiosities, those works are now receiving the attention and study they deserve. This fascinating book divides Africa into its distinct rock art regions and discusses each in detail, providing unique insights into peoples’ earliest perceptions of reality. From oversized depictions of large animals and humans to delicate geometric patterns, many of these images are imbued with a spiritual significance that relates to symbolic rituals and shamanistic beliefs. We can only guess today whether the art stood alone or formed part of a broader ceremonial structure.

The paintings and engravings adorning the shelters and rock faces are the most prevalent of Africa’s ancient art forms. A glimpse into the past, the art speaks of a time when the natural environment was a potent medium for human expression. However, these magnificent works are fragile and, in the end, perishable. The many millennia of exposure to the sun, rain, and wind have already taken their toll on some of them, while others increasingly become prey to human development, theft, and vandalism. African Rock Art: Paintings and Engravings on Stone is a remarkable testimony to the importance and beauty of this art, which may soon be lost to us forever.'