From Prehistoric Rock Art to Cubism: Social and cultural aspects of seeing time in space
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2019-02-14

One of the most interesting aspects of rock art is its power to visually communicate time and space. The implicit messages embedded in rock art compositions give us clues as to the perception of the passing of time, and the way the imagery of events indicates passing time through cyclicity and renewal. At the same time the duration of events can be seen in space as a ‘Cubist’-like projection, in which time stands still and the viewer is taken to a different space, creating a very sophisticated visual narrative where the viewer is led by the carver/artist to see what has happened in different parts of the landscape at the same time. The social and cultural aspects of such visual communication will be discussed in the context of prehistoric rock art of the White Sea, Northern Russia, and contemporary/our visual ways of seeing time and space. To visualise the presented ideas I will show short films based on the visual interpretation of the prehistoric rock art as a way of seeing time in space. 

Liliana Janik (University of Cambridge)