The cutting edge : : Khoe-San rock-markings at the Gestoptefontein-Driekuil engraving complex, North West Province, South Africa / / Jeremy Charles Hollmann.

• Superior document: Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology ; v.97
• VerfasserIn: Hollmann, Jeremy C.,
• Place / Publishing House: Oxford, England : : Archaeopress Publishing Limited,, [2017]; ©2017
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English
• Series: Cambridge Monographs in African Archaeology
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (414 pages)

This book addresses rock engravings on the wonderstone hills just outside Ottosdal, South Africa. Much of the rock art has been destroyed due to mining activities, with very few records and the largest remaining outcrop is still threatened. The study hopes to bring this situation to the attention of the public and the heritage authorities.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Preface -- I Introduction -- 1 What this all means -- 1.1 Understanding the GDC `phenomenon' -- 1.2 The sites -- 1.3 Wonderstone -- 1.4 Archaeology of the GDC -- 1.5 Local history -- 1.6 Authorship and age of the art -- 2 Research context -- 2.1 Authorship -- 2.2 Clothing motifs -- 2.3 Geometric motifs -- 2.4 Landscape -- II The rock art of the GDC -- 3 Gestural markings -- 3.1 Aspects of performance -- 3.2 Rubbing the rocks -- 3.3 Hammering the rocks -- 3.4 Cutting the rocks -- 4 Anthropomorphs and zoomorphs -- 4.1 Khoe-San beliefs and feelings about animals -- 4.2 Anthropomorphic motifs in southern African rock art -- 4.3 Anthropomorphs in the GDC -- 4.4 Zoomorphs in the GDC -- 5 Decorative designs and patterns -- 5.1 Contexts for Khoe-San designs and patterns -- 5.2 Decorative designs and patterns in the GDC -- 5.3 Beaded designs -- 5.4 Painted designs -- 5.5 Tattoos -- 5.6 Patterns on implements, ornaments and other items -- 5.7 Filled recesses and facets -- 6 Ethnography -- 6.1 Leather clothing -- 6.2 Hide preparation -- 6.3 `Listen to the ornaments' -- 7 Depictions of clothing in the GDC -- 7.1 The geometry of clothing motifs -- 7.2 Apron motifs -- 7.3 Karosses -- 7.4 Spread-eagle motifs -- 8 Ornaments and decorations -- 8.1 Beads -- 8.2 Bracelets -- 8.3 Belts -- 8.4 Hair ornaments and headdresses -- 8.5 Necklaces and neck ornaments -- 8.6 A colonial hat -- 8.7 Spiders, or a vanity bag and a tortoiseshell container? -- III Khoe-San womanhood -- 9 Girls' puberty rites -- 9.1 Life in transition -- 9.2 Rites of incorporation -- 9.3 Good and bad luck -- 9.4 Women and water -- IV Back to the hills -- 10 The significance of gestural markings -- 10.1 Clusters of scratches and grooves -- 10.2 Activity and scratch rocks -- 10.3 Sliding into womanhood -- 11 Themes in referential art.

11.1 Zoomorphs, clothes, ornaments and decorations -- 11.2 Women and rhinoceroses -- 11.3 The story of the blue crane -- 11.4 Eland, facial designs and aprons -- 11.5 Woman and the Rain -- V Conclusion -- 12 The value of the GDC study -- Bibliography -- Appendix -- A A kind of torture: the GDC survey -- A.1 Data collection -- A.2 Mapping the GDC -- A.3 The potential of GIS.