Visual Culture- Prehistory and Ancient Mediterranean Cultures

Ancient Egypt

Cave Paintings

http://www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/C/cave.html

The most known form of communication is Ancient Egypt is cave paintings. Usually they would be painted or drawn on the walls and ceilings of the caves and it was mostly done using charcoal and sometimes the images would be engraved into the stone before drawing over the top. Images that were usually drawn consisted of wild animals and the occasional human figure. It is said that the drawings were created by ‘respected elders’ and that they were drawn when the shaman would go into a trance and draw from their visions.

http://www.citrinitas.com/history_
of_viscom/images/rocks/15.html

http://www.citrinitas.com/history_
of_viscom/images/rocks/16.html

Petroglyphs

http://www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/rockandcaves.html

http://www.crystalinks.com/petroglyphs.html

Petroglyphs are images which are engraved into rock surfaces to communicate and to create some kind of ritual or language that are still not fully understood. These were mostly created by tribes and their images had cultural and religious significance relating to their beliefs. Because the drawings on the rocks are influenced by the surroundings of who draws them it has been found that images from different continents vary in style. Theories suggest that petroglyphs were made whilst using natural hallucinogens. This has been theorised because the patterns that are shown on the stones are what occur in the brain and create visual disturbances and hallucinations when using drugs.