TRACCE Online Rock Art Bulletin 38 – May 2016

 

TRACCE38logo# 38 – May 2016

TRACCE Online Rock Art Bulletin 38

––––––––––––––––––> by Footsteps of Man
edited by Le Orme dell’Uomo (Valcamonica – I)

38: 1 2 3 4


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Icons That Travel

The Atacama Desert and the Andes in South America are crisscrossed by myriads of paths and tracks. Often those tracks are easily seen in Google Earth as broad bands. Also rock art images narrate of such travels. They mainly depict camelids guided by people. In rare instances however a specific kind of traveller has been depicted on the rocks. I have labelled it ‘The Enigmatic Traveller‘. In this study I describe the distribution of this icon, compare it with similar images and try to explain the meaning of the enigmatic position of the arms of this figure.

By Maarten van Hoek


El Arpa en el Arte Rupestre Andino

Instrumentos musicales rara vez se han representado en el arte rupestre. Por lo tanto el descubrimiento de tres (quizás cuatro) petroglifos de arpas – en dos casos tocando por arpistas – en una pared de roca en el desierto de Atacama de América del Sur, es excepcional. Ciertamente son petroglifos de la época posthispana. Musical instruments have only rarely been depicted in rock art. The discovery of three (perhaps four) petroglyphs of harps – two played by harpists – on a rock wall in the Atacama Desert of South America is therefore exceptional. They certainly are Post-Columbian petroglyphs.

By Maarten van Hoek


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Valcamonica, fieldwork 2016

Tracing prehistory: from July 21 to August 11 2016 the annual archaeology field school at Paspardo will be open to archaeologists, scholars, students and enthusiasts. This area gives a great opportunity to learn, survey, photograph, draw and catalogue the rock engravings. The program involves field research, documentation, tracing, guided visits and lectures. Fieldwork is organised by Footsteps of Man, Valcamonica. Infos, poster and photo-galleries here available.

by Angelo Eugenio Fossati


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The Avian Staff Bearer

This paper investigates a well-known but rare icon from the rock art of the Atacama Desert. It concerns a group of anthropomorphic figures displaying a very specific bird-related element. For that reason Juan Chacama and Gustavo Espinosa speak of ‘hombres-falcónidas’, ‘raptor-men’, to describe this class of anthropomorphic figures. Remarkably, their interpretation seems to be generally ignored by several archaeologists and rock art investigators. This study presents a revaluation of the theory put forward by Juan Chacama and Gustavo Espinosa in 1997.

By Maarten van Hoek


TRACCE Online Rock Art Bulletin 38

May 2016

WP version, 2012-


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