Saharan Rock Art, Archaeology of Tassilian Pastoralist Icongraphy [Paperback]

Augustin F.C. Holl (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0759106053 | ISBN-13: 978-0759106055 | Publication Date: July 2004

The Neolithic rock images of Iheren, Algeria are the starting point for Augustin Holl's careful analysis of the iconography of Saharan rock art. Created in the third millennium B.C., the Iheren murals are over 3 meters wide and contain multiple compositions that present an allegorical depiction of the lifeways of Tassilian pastoralists in the Sahara. Holl approaches his task as an archaeologist, examining the various strands of evidence--icons, ideas, motifs, colors, and sizes-and weaving them together into a story that offers a window on the pastoralist worldview through the semiotics of their art. His deconstruction and synthesis of this corpus of material should be of interest to African archaeologists, rock art specialists, art historians, and cultural anthropologists alike.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Holl's book opens up Saharan art to the Anglophone world, and we can anticipate much greater debate on its interpretation, and perhaps engagement with the ethnographic record. (Journal Of African Archaeology )

About the Author

Augustin Holl is Professor of Anthropology and Afro-Ameican and African Studies at the University of Michigan and a Curator at the University's Museum of Anthropology. He is author of five books on African archaeology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Altamira Press (July 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0759106053
• ISBN-13: 978-0759106055
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,042,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What's in a title, May 8, 2007

By 

M. van Aalst "Miles" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saharan Rock Art, Archaeology of Tassilian Pastoralist Icongraphy (Paperback)

I bought this book hoping to find an overview on the rock art of the Tassili n'Ajjer in the Sahara as I hope to visit there, but found something else and of less value.
Professor Holl does not write about the whole of Tassilian rock art at all, but only on ONE set of compositions called the Dr. Khen Shelter of the Iheren complex. He has not seen the site himself but has based his findings not even on photographs but on drawings made in the '60s by an artist with the expedition of Henri Lhote who discovered Iheren. He has made himself dependent on this artist interpretation.
Moreover, as I was given to understand by a friend who has seen this site for himself, the Dr. Khen Shelter containes many more paintings than those interpreted by Professor Holl. They surround the parts interpreted in this book and should not be separated from them.
And what of the interpretations themselves? They are of course of an artform made by a civilisation long gone, but seem mostly plausible. But because of all the problems stated above, I have no idea how seriously one can take these findings.
This book is therefore not only not about Saharan or Tassilian rock art in toto as stated in the title, it isn't even about the whole of one shelter in one complex.
I found it a wasted chance.