Glossary

Cave art Rock art occurring in caves.

Petroglyph A rock art motif that involved a reductive process in its production, such as percussion or abrasion.

Pictogram A rock art motif that involved an additive process in its production, such as the application of paint, dry pigment, beeswax.

Pleistocene The geologic timescale from 1 808 000 to 11 550yearsBP.

Rock art A somewhat arbitrary term describing nonutilitarian humanly made markings on natural rock surfaces.

‘Rock art’ is a somewhat arbitrary term describing nonutilitarian human-made markings on natural rock surfaces, made either by an additive (the application of material) or by a reductive process (the removal of rock material). The former result is called a pictogram or rock painting and this form includes also pigment drawings, stencils, and beeswax figures; the latter is a petroglyph or engraving, sometimes called carving. The term rock art is usually not applied to human markings on prepared or dressed stone surfaces, such as may be found on buildings or rock-hewn structures. Nor does it include human-made but unintentional rock markings (such as those occasioned by bulldozers), utilitarian rock markings (e. g., drainage channels on ax grinding panels) or markings made by nonhuman animal species, even if made ‘deliberately’ (e. g., certain forms of cave bear claw marks in European caves). Broadly speaking, the term rock art refers to anthropic (humanly made) markings on natural rock surfaces; they may be prehistoric or historic, and they may occur in caves or out of caves.

Rock art is a very widespread phenomenon on our planet, occurring in nearly all countries. Its uneven distribution across all continents except Antarctica is, however, not so much attributable to differences in cultural conventions, as primarily a taphonomic attribute, that is, a result of preservation bias. For instance, the high-pH and low precipitation regimes of arid and semi-arid regions have greatly facilitated the preservation of rock art in various parts of the world, such as the Sahara, Arabia, Central Asia, the American Southwest, Peru, and Australia. Another major determinant of rock art distribution is geology. Some of the largest surviving concentrations are those found in the sandstone facies of the former Gondwana plate, that is, in southern Africa, India, Australia, and northwestern Brazil. These sandstone deposits have facilitated the formation of rock shelters that provide excellent preservation conditions, especially for rock paintings. Similarly, the practice of Upper Palaeolithic rock artists to place some of their productions in deep limestone caves has significantly helped the survival of some of that period’s rock art.

Prehistoric rock art represents by far the largest body of evidence we possess of humanity’s cultural, cognitive, and artistic beginnings. Through its relative permanence, it has profoundly influenced the beliefs and cultural conventions of subsequent societies up to the present. It is therefore an integral part of humanity’s collective memory, and the greatest surviving witness of our cultural evolution.