Interpretative Frameworks and the Study of the Rock Arts

Abstract

This chapter explores issues regarding the interpretation of rock art. The chapter considers what interpretation is about, how we define and identify it, and what various ways rock art researchers have engaged with interpretation. Here we mention how they have drawn on concepts of style, structuralism, or shamanism as well as on formal and/or informed methods. There is consideration of the uses of analogy and the direct historical method. Overall, the chapter is framed within the question of what constitutes an ‘authorized’ interpretation and how might we evaluate various interpretations for their validity and insights.