A multi-technique characterization and provenance study of the pigments used in San rock art, South Africa

Journal of Archaeological Science

Volumn 39, Issue 2, 2012, Pages 287-294

  Bonneau, A ^a,b   Pearce, D G ^c   Pollard, A M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITÉ BORDEAUX MONTAIGNE   (France)

^c UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

Author keywords

Calcium oxalates; Carbon black; Clarens formation sandstone; Pigments; Red ochre; Rock art; South Africa

Indexed keywords

CALCIUM; IRON OXIDE; OXALATE; PIGMENT; PROVENANCE; ROCK ART; SANDSTONE;

SOUTH AFRICA;

EID: 82155168263     PISSN: 03054403     EISSN: 10959238     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2011.09.011     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. Abdel-Ghani M., Edwards H.G.M., Stern B., Janaway R. Characterization of paint and varnish on a medieval Coptic-Byzantine icon: novel usage of dammar resin. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 2009, 73:566-575.
2. Arocena J.M., Hall K., Meiklejohn I. Minerals provide tints and possible binder/extender in pigments in San rock paintings (South Africa). Geoarchaeology 2008, 23:293-304.
3. Barham L.S. Systematic pigment use in the Middle Pleistocene of south Central Africa. Current Anthropology 2002, 43:181-190.
4. Bonneau A., Brock F., Higham T., Pearce D.G., Pollard A.M. An improved pre-treatment protocol for radiocarbon dating black pigments in San rock art. Radiocarbon 2011, 53:419-428.
5. Du Toit A.L. The Geology of South Africa 1926, Olivier and Boyd, Edinburgh.
6. Eastaugh N., Walsh V., Chaplin T., Siddall R. The Pigment Compendium: a Dictionary of Historical Pigments 2004, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Amsterdam and London.
7. Garate D., Laval E., Menu M. Etude de la matière colorante de la grotte d'Arenaza (Galdames, Pays Basques, Espagne). L'Anthropologie 2004, 108:251-289.
8. Hall K., Meiklejohn I., Arocena J. The thermal responses of rock art pigments: implications for rock art weathering in Southern Africa. Geomorphology 2007, 91:132-145.
9. Hœrlé S., Sandt C.H., Bertrand L. Preliminary synchrotron study of paint samples for the conservation of Nomansland rock art. Synchrotron Radiation in Art and Archaeology (SR2A), Barcelone, Spain October 2008.
10. How M.W. The Mountain Bushmen of Basutoland 1962, Van Schaik, Pretoria.
11. Hradil D., Grygar T., Hradilova J., Bezdicka P. Clay and iron oxide pigments in the history of painting. Applied Clay Science 2003, 22:223-236.
12. Hughes J.C., Solomon A. A preliminary study of ochres and pigmentaceous materials from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: towards an understanding of San pigments and paint use. Natal Museum Journal of Humanities 2000, 12:15-31.
13. Lamb R.W. Acidification threatens southern regions. Environmental Conservation 1984, 11:261.
14. Lewis-Williams J.D., Pearce D.G. San Spirituality: Roots, Expressions, and Social Consequences 2004, AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek.
15. Mazel A.D. Unsettled times: shaded polychrome paintings and hunter-gatherer history in the southeastern mountains of southern Africa. Southern African Humanities 2009, 21:85-115.
16. Mazel A.D. Images in time: advances in the dating of Maloti-Drakensberg rock art since the 1970s. The Eland's People. New Perspectives in the Rock Art of the Maloti-Drakensberg Bushmen: Essays in Memory of Patricia Vinnicombe 2009, 81-97. Wits University Press, Johannesburg. P. Mitchell, B. Smith (Eds.).
17. Mazel A.D. Watchman A.L., Accelerator radiocarbon dating of Natal Drakensberg paintings: results and implication. Antiquity 1997, 71:445-449.
18. Menu M. L'analyse de l'art préhistorique. L'Anthropologie 2009, 113:547-558.
19. Menu M., Walter P., Vigears D., Clottes J. Façon de peindre au Magdalénien. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 1993, 90:426-432.
20. Pearce D.G. Conservation and management of collapsing rock paintings: three sites in Maclear district, eastern Cape Province, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 2010, 65:96-103.
21. Peisach M., Pineda C.A., Jacobson L. Nuclear analytical study of rock paintings. Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry 1991, 151:221-227.
22. Prinsloo L.C., Barnard W., Meiklejohn I., Hall K. The first Raman spectroscopic study of San rock art in the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park, South Africa. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 2008, 39:646-654.
23. Rudner I. Khoisan pigments and paints and their relationship to rock paintings. Annals of the South African Museum 1982, 87:3-268.
24. Stuart B.H. Analytical Techniques in Materials Conservation 2007, Wiley, Chichester.
25. Sumner P.D., Hall K.J., van Rooy J.L., Meiklejohn K.I. Rock weathering on the eastern mountains of southern Africa: Review and insights from case studies. Journal of African Earth Sciences 2009, 55:236-244.
26. Tournié A., Prinsloo L.C., Paris C., Colomban P., Smith B. The first in situ Raman spectroscopic study of San rock art in South Africa: procedures and preliminary results. Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 2011, 42:399-406.
27. Van Rijssen W.J. Analysis of South African rock art pigments by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDS). South African Archaeological Bulletin 1990, 45:58-59.
28. Visser D.J.L. The Ochre Deposits of the Riversdale District, Cape Province. Geological Series Bulletin 1937, vol. 9. Government Printer, Pretoria.
29. Watchman A.L. A summary of occurrence of oxalate-rich crusts in Australia. Rock Art Research 1990, 7:44-50.
30. Watts I. Ochre in the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa: ritualised display or hide preservative?. South African Archaeological Bulletin 2002, 57:1-14.
31. Wilson M.L., Van Rijssen W.J.J., Gerneke D.A. An investigation of the "Coldstream Stone. Annals of the South African Museum 1990, 99:187-213.