What is it about?
Shamanism is most probably a very old ritual practice and beliefs’ system, and prehistoric rock art (images painted on or engraved in rock) is one of unique sources to investigate its prehistory. One of the aspects of the relationship between rock art and shamanism concerns the intentional integration of the images with rock. Since it was observed in numerous shamanic rock-art contexts in different parts of the world, it has been proposed that such an association is of a universal nature, inspired by trance experience, and connected with the belief in otherworld to be found inside the rock. Rock face was then probably a kind of veil which shaman needed to cross to get access to the otherworld.
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Perspectives
This paper is part of a wider project on shamanism and rock art in Siberia and Central Asia. More detailed study can be found in forthcoming book: Rozwadowski, Andrzej (2017), Rocks, Cracks and Drums: In Search of Ancient Shamanism in Siberia and Central Asia. Budapest: Molnar & Kelemen Oriental Publishers.
Andrzej Rozwadowski
Uniwersytet im Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Travelling Through the Rock to the Otherworld: The Shamanic ‘Grammar of Mind’ Within the Rock Art of Siberia, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, February 2017, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s095977431700004x.
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