DEBATING SHAMANISM IN SOUTHERN TIME TO MOVE ON

摘要

The shamanistic interpretation of southern African rock art has had a significant impact on the study of ruck art world-wide, as well as ;.' archaeology of southern Africa. Despite considerable theoretical ami methodological developments over nearly three decades the approach has retained its basis in Cartesian thinking and overstated the role of the shaman in the control of supernatural forces. By esdwwing Cartesian principles and resituating the shaman in an animic hunter-gatherer ontology, I propose a new direction for southern African hunter-gatherer rock art studies. I initiate this new approach here by drawing on a specific set of themes in rock art - those that still greatly influence the wider reception of hunter-gatherer arts, so-called images of daily life. The interaction of non-human animals and rock surfaces, rocks that have been rubbed smooth b/ rhinoceroses, is also considered. I argue that the control of supernatural potency ivas not the exclusive preserve of shamans, but that all human and non-human animals were involved in maintaining the continued circulation of these vital life forces through the various activities that constituted human and non-human beings' identities. The painting and engraving of these activities revealed a deeper understanding of the world to ensure its continued existence.