Powerful Images

Instead of choosing an image from creativecommons.org, I used a photo that I took this summer in South Africa. As we are studying archaeology and working with our students to develop analytical and interpretive skills, I placed this image on my blog.

I asked students to look at the image (actually several images) of the rock carving and the surrounding environment and to, without any context of geography or time period, try to interpret what this image could tell us about the people who did the carving.

Students used the image of the carving, the medium of stone and the background (arid, desert-like conditions) to come up with reasonable arguments about the people who created this work.

Students theorized that:
the creators of this work hunted animals;
the creators of this work worshipped animals;
the creators of this work carved these images in honour of the animals they hunted;
the creators of this work had 'primitive tools';
the creators of this work did not have many vegetables to eat;
the creators of this work followed the animals they hunted over large distances;
and the creators of this work left these images as a map to find animals later.

Several aspects of their predictions are/were accurate. Most importantly what they said allowed us to talk about the perspective of archaeologists and historians. As these carvings were made by San/Bushmen hunters between 2000-5000 years ago, the investigation into their origins offers many clues as to how/why we interpret images.

Early researchers saw these carvings as 'primitive' art. They believed that the San people made simple images because these animals were important to them in some way. Subsequent research found that the carvings were made as tracking and teaching tools. The animals were depicted to help teach young hunters how to identify and find food sources.

The use of this (and the other) images provided a powerful starting point to a discussion about archaeology and our (human) penchant for bringing our own perspectives and biases into our interpretations. Without this image, our discussion would have been both more forced (in our search for context) and less related to their own interpretations of historical artifacts.