Rock Engravings of Southern Africa by Dowson, Thomas A

(Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1992) 1868141209. Oblong 4to (248 x 347 mm); pale brown glacé cloth, lettered in dark brown to spine and upper cover; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pictorial endpapers; pp. xii + 124; photographs, largely in full colour; line drawings; map. Fine condition. "Over the centuries, in the central parts of Southern Africa, Bushmen artists engraved images into the patina of dolomite rocks. The beauty and variety of these engravings is illustrated for the first time in the magnificent collection of colour photographs, rubbings and drawings in this book. The skill and eye of the Bushman artist created masterpieces in the veld. We see the detail in the twist of the horns of an animal in a meticulously observed engraving, and in the intricacy of a geometric design perfectly fitting the angular face of a rock. In the accompanying text, Thomas Dowson gives an insight into the meaning and significance of the engravings. Some of them are thought to have been made over ten thousand years ago; others were carried out as recently as the nineteenth century. The author's research suggests that engravings have ritual associations and that they were executed by shamans whose trance experiences are reflected in the designs and depictions on the rock." .