[01:00.74]Good afternoon, everyone!
[01:03.36]This is the first seminar in preparation for our archaeological fieldwork in Namibia;
[01:08.86] we are fantastically lucky to have received partial research funding for this trip from our Institute, so I shall expect 200% attention and participation from you all.
[01:19.64] First in this seminar, I'm going to give a brief introduction to contemporary research on rock art, and in the second part I'm going to give you some do's and don'ts for our fieldwork trip in April - so please listen very carefully.
[01:35.98]I’m first going to focus on the interpretation of rock art in Namibia.
[01:41.10] We are very fortunate to be going to an area where you can find some of the most important sites in the entire world.
[01:47.47] And I hope to show you how easy it is for everyone to make mistakes in looking at cultures which are different from our own - the first and most important lesson we have to learn.
[01:57.42]In Namibia there are both paintings and engravings - that's where the surface of the rock is cut out.
[02:04.15] Many of the engravings show footprints of animals and most scholars used to think that the purpose of these was simple and obvious: this rock art was like a school book with pictures to teach children about tracks: which track belonged to which animal - giraffe, lion and so on.
[02:22.28]But there were some mysteries.
[02:24.44] First, when you look at a typical Namibian painting or engraving, you see the tracks are repeated, there are dozens of tracks for the same animal.
[02:33.55] You'd expect just one clear illustration if the reason - the aim - was to teach tracking.
[02:40.22]Now there were two more problems.
[02:43.80] Why are some of the engravings of animals very accurate as you'd expect - all clearly identifiable - and others quite unrealistic?
[02:52.66]And another mystery - some of these unrealistic animals - that's in the engravings - seem to be half human.
[03:00.83]Some, for example, have got human faces.
[03:03.59] Many researchers now think that these were pictures the wise men engraved of themselves.
[03:09.76] They believed they could use magic to control the animals they had drawn, so the hunters could then catch them for food.
[03:16.84]This shows you some of the dangers of coining from one culture to another, as we’ll be doing, without understanding it fully.
[03:24.86] Scholars imagined that children looked at rock art pictures to learn to track - just because they themselves had learnt skills from pictures;
[03:33.80] many researchers now believe that rock art had a much more complex purpose.
[03:38.19] And we’ll talk more about it next week!
[03:45.48]Now before I invite you to join in a discussion in this second part of the seminar, I'd like to make some very important points about our fieldwork - and in fact any field trip to look at rock art.
[03:56.99]We're going to a number of sites, and we won't always be together.
[04:01.20] The single largest problem faced by people who manage the sites is - yes, Tm sure you've guessed - damage caused by visitors, even though it's usually unintentional.
[04:12.12]Whenever you do go to a site, don't forget you can learn many things from observing at a distance instead of walking all over it.
[04:20.41] This can really help to reduce visitor pressure.
[04:23.56] People often say, 'Well, there's only two of us and just this one time’, but maybe thousands of people are saying the same thing.
[04:32.64]And then some basic rules to guide you - we'll have our own camp near a village, but remember never to camp on a site if you go on your own.
[04:42.85] It may be disrespectful to the people of that culture, and certainly don't make fires, however romantic it may seem.
[04:50.21] It's really dangerous in dry areas’ and you can easily burn priceless undiscovered material by doing so.
[04:57.27]So, how are we going to enjoy the rock art on our field trip?
[05:01.72] By looking at it, drawing it and photographing it – NEVER by touching it or even tracing it.
[05:08.93] Rock art is fragile and precious.
[05:12.14]Remember that climbing on rocks and in caves can destroy in a moment what has lasted for centuries.
[05:19.40] So no heroics in Namibia, please!
[05:22.13] Try to be extra careful and help others to be too.
[05:25.23]And lastly please don't even move rocks or branches to take photographs – you should leave the site intact–I’m sure I can rely on you to do that.
[05:36.71]Well, that’s about all I want to say before today's first discussion, but if you have any questions please ask them now - and don't forget you'll find some fascinating information about world-wide sites on the Internet.
[05:50.37] Right, first question then?
