Bushman Art: Rock Paintings of South-West Africa, based on the Photographic Material collected by Reinhard Maack

Abstract

TO the student of cultures and culture contacts a people's art is of particular importance. When objects made for purely utilitarian purposes, such as tools and weapons, are alone available for comparison, the sceptic can often argue that similar implements made by two peoples in widely separated areas are merely the results of similar needs engendered by somewhat similar conditions of life, and that therefore no cultural relationship between the peoples concerned need be postulated. When, however, the artistic productions of two such widely separated peoples manifest striking similarities of style and technique, it becomes difficult to deny some definite cultural connexion. The study of primitive art groups, both modern and prehistoric, in different regions of the world, is thus of vital importance in the elucidation of human history.

Bushman Art: Rock Paintings of South-West Africa, based on the Photographic Material collected by Reinhard Maack.

Hugo Obermaier Herbert Kühn. Pp. xii + 70 + 39 plates. (London: Oxford University Press, 1930.) 84s. net.