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Branwen wrote: I think Devereaux mentions that as editor for years he was reviewing such material all the time, and he just put it together for his book. Forget who he quoted as sources now, as I didn't do any more reading into the subject. Be interesting if people from lots of different disciplines sat down and tried to analyse symbology in ancient art and come to joint theories. The problem is that we have no way of knowing what non-representational motifs "mean" , if anything . Even representational iconic images may not be so obvious either , so often when contemporary engravers /artists are asked what x means it is often far from the obvious . Similarly a common symbol like a spiral can mean many different things depending on who or when it is asked There is still a tradition of engraving in Australia and North and South America (Strathmashie too , was there a stramash ?) and when asked for the meaning of a spiral various answers include ,watering hole , sun ,incest , camp site etc .That is why anyone who claims to know what a particular motif represents from a culture that is three thousand or much more years earlier than any written recording of that motif is dreaming/a charlatan . Anyone writing on the meaning will usually provide plenty of info on their preocupations but not the markings .Until any thories as to meaning can be formulated in a falsifiable setting rock art studies will avoit it and concentrate on stuff like context . Reply | with quote |  2nd October 2009ce 19:09 In reply to: Re: The drum carvings (Branwen) |
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