Prehistoric Rock Art: Polemics and Progress

Prehistoric rock art is the markings – paintings, engravings, or pecked images – left on rocks or cave walls by ancient peoples. In this book, Paul G. Bahn provides a richly illustrated overview of prehistoric rock art and cave art from around the world. Summarizing the recent advances in our understanding of this extraordinary visual record, he discusses new discoveries, new approaches to recording and interpretation, and current problems in conservation. Bahn focuses in particular on current issues in the interpretation of rock art, notably the “shamanic” interpretation that has been influential in recent years and that he refutes. This book is based on the Rhind Lectures that the author delivered for the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 2006.

Paul G. Bahn is one of the world's leading scholars and popularizers of archaeology. The author or co-author of more than thirty books, he is the author of The Cambridge Illustrated History of Prehistoric Art. His articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines, including Nature, and he is an editorial consultant to Archaeology Magazine, DIG, and Antiquity.