Synopses & Reviews
The rock art panels of North America have for too long been treated as mere artifacts, their aesthetic power and beauty not completely appreciated by those who have never visited the sites. In pursuit of this often hidden photographic subject, David Muench has searched the American southwest. The superb reproductions convey this art in the manner of a fine museum portfolio.
Anthropologist Polly Schaafsma's introduction and text provide background on the people who created the art and the world they inhabited. This comprehensive survey of rock art of America's ancient civilizations staggers the beholder in its beauty and absorbing interest.
Synopsis
Two hundred color photographs by David Muench show rock paintings and petroglyphs in the arid regions of western North America, extending from Baja California north to Washington and from Wyoming west to California. The photographs are organized into ten geographically-based styles. Anthropologist Polly Schaafsma describes the cultural and physical context of each of these stylistic traditions, which range in age from six thousand years ago to the historic era.