Indian Rock Art and Its Global Context

Book excerpt: This is a unique volume in the history of rock art studies, meant at once for the advanced scholar, serious student and the curious but conscientious layman, co-authored by K.K. Chakravarty and R.G. Bednarik, who co-chaired the Rock Art session of the World Archaeological Congress 3 at Delhi in 1994. It is a synoptic but comprehensive survey, illustrated by 221 photographs and sketches, including 172 photographs in colour. The two scholars have not only described the latest state of research on rock art, but also transported rock art studies into the realm of interdisciplinary, inter-cultural analysis. Buttressed by an indicative map of the rock art regions, a list of major up to date direct dating results on rock art, a glossary of keywords related to spatial, temporal, technological, managerial categories, and an index, this volume blends precise, dispassionate descriptions with eloquent evocations. It blends conclusions distilled from rigorous, hard headed field research with penetrating criticism and assessment of the evidence. It combines a ruthless brevity and density with extraordinary felicity and clarity of language. Above all, it is an wonderful attempt at dealing with the problems of understanding, which dog human attempts to comprehend the meaning and shape of human creativity.