Termites of the gods : San cosmology in Southern African rock art / Siyakha Mguni.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mguni, Siyakha, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rock paintings--Africa, Southern.

Rock paintings.

Art, San.

Cosmology, San.

San (African people)--Africa, Southern.

San (African people).

Termites--Symbolic aspects.

Termites.

Africa, Southern--Antiquities.

Africa, Southern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxix, 202 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Johannesburg : Wits University Press, 2015.

Summary:

In Termites of the Gods, Siyakha Mguni narrates his personal journey, over many years, to discover the significance of a hitherto enigmatic theme in San rock paintings known as 'formlings'. Formlings are a painting category found across the southern African region, including South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, with its densest concentration in the Matopo Hills, Zimbabwe. Generations of archaeologists and anthropologists have wrestled with the meaning of this painting theme in San cosmology without reaching consensus or a plausible explanation. Drawing on San ethnography published over the past 150 years, Mguni argues that formlings are, in fact, representations of flying termites and their underground nests, and are associated with botantical subjects and a range of larger animals considered by the San to have great power and spiritual significance. This book fills a gap in rock art studies around the interpretation and meaning of formlings. It offers an innovative methodological approach for understanding subject matter in San rock art that is not easily recognisable, and will be an invaluable reference book to students and scholars in rock art studies and archaeology.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Maps

Explanatory notes

Preface: Searching the pasts

Introduction

Chapter 1: Ancient mysteries on rocks

Chapter 2: Meaning in San rock art

Chapter 3: Tricksters, potency and dance

Chapter 4: Ways of seeing San rock art

Chapter 5: Probing deep into formlings

Chapter 6: Formlings and San cosmological belief

Chapter 7: Symbolic theatres of San cosmos

Notes

List of maps and figures

Picture credits

References

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-196) and index.

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 09 May 2018).

ISBN:

9781868147779

1868147770

OCLC:

1016779191