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Eland, Hunters and Concepts of ‘Sympathetic Control’: Expressed in Southern African Rock Art

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2005

J. Francis Thackeray
J. Francis Thackeray
Affiliation:
Transvaal Museum, Northern Flagship Institution, P.O. Box 413, Pretoria 0001, South Africa; [email protected]; [email protected].
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Abstract

Depictions of wounded or dying eland, juxtaposed with images of human or therianthropic figures ‘dying’ in trance or symbolically ‘wounded’, are discussed in the context of ‘sympathetic control’ expressed in southern African rock art. It is suggested that the development of concepts of control included the use of skin costumes in hunting contexts and in ritual, linked to concepts associated with trance.

Keywords

rock art, South Africaelands, rock arthunters, rock artshamanismtherianthropic figures, rock art
Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , April 2005 , pp. 27 - 34
Copyright
2005 The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

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