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The death of trance: recent perspectives on San ethnographies and rock arts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2013

Anne Solomon
Anne Solomon*
Affiliation:
*Independent researcher, UK (Email: solomon.annec@gmail.com)
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Abstract

The argument that shamanism is the key that unlocks the hidden meaning of rock art continues to provoke debate over three decades after it was first proposed. In a recent article in Antiquity (86: 696–706), David Lewis-Williams and David Pearce defend the argument that nineteenth-century ethnographies provide evidence for a trance dance and shamanic healing that are vital to understanding southern African rock art. In this reply, Anne Solomon challenges the claim that the ethnographic evidence describes shamanism and trance healing and argues that elision of southern San (/Xam) and Kalahari San practices in a single narrative has obscured important differences. The author suggests that there is no evidence that dances or trance states were connected with healing in /Xam society. These confusions, it is argued, undermine key aspects of the shamanistic interpretation of rock art.

Keywords

southern AfricaSan/Xamshamanismhealingtrance dancerock art
Type
Debate
Information
Antiquity , Volume 87 , Issue 338 , December 2013 , pp. 1208 - 1213
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2013

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