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BOOK REVIEWS
BELTRAN, A. 1982. Rock art of the Spanish Levant. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Price approximately R20,00.
LEROI-GOURHAN, A. 1982. The dawn of European art: an
introduction to Palaeolithic cave painting. Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press. Price approximately R20,00.
"The Imprint of Man" is a new series of books under the general
editorship of Emmanuel Anati. Each volume deals with the rock
art of a specific region and is lavishly illustrated with approximate-
ly sixty colour plates in addition to numerous monochrome text
figures. The first two volumes to appear in English deal with the
Palaeolithic art of western Europe and the probably Mesolithic art
of the Spanish Levant. Both volumes were first published in Ital-
ian by Jaca Book, Milan. Unfortunately, the translations have not
been well done, and some passages, especially in Leroi-Gourhan's
book, are far from idiomatic. Publication in more than one langu-
age probably also accounts for difficulty in relating some of Bel-
tran's captions to his colour plates. Nevertheless, the saving
effected by a single printing of colour plates for all language edi-
tions has resulted in two significant works on rock art being pub-
lished at a very reasonable price by today's standards, and the
minor defects to which I have referred, though sometimes irritat-
ing, can be overlooked.
Some other aspects of the books are less easily forgiven. For
instance, Leroi-Gourhan's map of Lascaux (fig. 23) is labelled in
German, and, disastrously for understanding his analysis of the
site, the entrance is indicated in the remote Chamber of Felines
(Divertikel der Katzen) instead of in the Rotunda (Rodonde der
Stiere). In his figure 25, items 15-18 (simplified claviforms) are not
mentioned in the caption. In Beltran's book, some of the plates
lack definition. It is also very troublesome to find that none of his
illustrations is numbered and, worse, that even the pages of colour
plates are unnumbered. Referring from the text to relevant illus-
trations is therefore time consuming and, moreover, sometimes
fruitless because important paintings which the text analyses in
some detail are not illustrated.
Nevertheless, Beltran's account of the Spanish Levantine paint-
ings is welcome because so little about this art has been published
in English. After a general introduction Beltran provides a valu-
able and detailed description of the art by categories of subject
matter - animals, human figures, weapons and equipment. Human
activities such as hunting, dancing, fighting, gathering food, and
the domestication of animals are all systematically described. In
moving to more controversial topics, Beltran gives interesting his-
torical accounts of debates which, as is often the case, have been
closely associated with forceful individuals and the positions to
which they irrevocably commit themselves. The Levantine art was
another field over which the Abbe Breuil exerted considerable but
not always useful influence. Despite the Abbe's advocacy, no one
today believes, for instance, the Levantine art to be Palaeolithic; it
is now seen as Mesolithic or even Neolithic. Jorda believes the
subject matter depicts an agricultural and herding community
which also practised hunting, while Beltran himself argues that the
Mesolithic hunting and gathering way of life depicted in the paint-
ings could have persisted in the mountains where the shelters are
situated, after neighbouring areas had adopted agriculture or even
metal-working.
Content, age, stylistic sequence and possible external influences
all feature prominently in Beltran's book. He is, in this respect,
adopting the traditional empiricist position. Moving on from these
issues to explanation, he concludes that "pictorial practice in Lev-
antine art was governed by considerations other than purely aes-
thetic" (p. 58). Among these considerations he includes hunting
magic and fertility rites. Certain heavily painted sites, he argues,
must have developed an "aura" and may have become true sanc-
tuaries; the one at Cogul, for example, may, if the Latin inscrip-
tion is taken into account, have retained its "potency" into
historical times. Within this proposed hunting-fertility cult certain
species, like bulls, seem to have achieved positions of dominance.
By repainting these images the artists attempted to perpetuate the
"ideal qualities" (p. 58) and power of the figures, sometimes
S. Afr. archaeol. Bull. 38: 100-101. 1983
The South African Archaeological Bulletin
modifying them in the process into different species. Over and
above these meanings Beltran suggests mythical or totemic epi-
sodes in which masked "sorcerors" participated and, more mun-
danely, "a commemorative, or narrative, component" (p. 60).
The "abstract symbols", on the other hand, remain entirely in-
comprehensible. In the last analysis, we are no closer to under-
standing the meaning of the art; we remain with the rather vague
traditional explanations.
Leroi-Gourhan emphasises the paramount importance of mean-
ing more than Beltran does; he sees all other aspects of research
as contributing to its clarification. His first thoughts on an explana-
tion were published in 1958, and since then his ideas have under-
gone constant refinement. His large and beautifully illustrated
book, The art of prehistoricman in western Europe, was published
in French in 1965 and presented a fully developed, though contro-
versial, statement of his hypothesis that the animals and the signs
can be divided into opposed groups, male and female. In 1968 he
proposed a third category of signs, the dots, which he believes has
since been confirmed. Four years later he published further re-
search into the links between components of painted panels. Since
then he has been considering the problems of the artists' use of
space and conventions such as juxtapositioning, superpositioning,
geometricisation, abbreviation, perspective and symmetry. This
new material, together with his current beliefs about the organiza-
tion of panels and caves, forms the substance of the present vol-
ume.
Leroi-Gourhan's new book is therefore a valuable statement
from the leading researcher in this field and will supercede his
previous publications in many respects, the most important of
which is that he now distinguishes four groups of animals based on
frequency of depiction. Group A (horse) comprises 30% of the
total number of parietal animals in all caves, Group B (bison and
aurochs) another 30%, Group C (stag, hind, mammoth, ibex and
reindeer) a further 30%, and, finally, Group D (bear, feline and
rhinoceros) 10%. Animals from these groups are, Leroi-Gourhan
believes, arranged in panels according to a formula which he
writes thus: A-B+C. This formula means that A and B animals
are placed together in the central parts of the painted panels,
while C animals are peripheral or complementary; Group D ani-
mals tend to be placed in remote areas.
This complex hypothesis involves numerous difficulties and a
close reader will find himself wrestling with a variety of problems
and anomalies. Not only are occurrences described as identical or
similar which in fact appear dissimilar, but making sense of the
formula as expressed in specific panels is sometimes impossible.
Leroi-Gourhan gets around some of these problems by admitting
that C can be entirely absent (e.g. Marcenac, La Madelaine); fur-
thermore, C comprises five species, only one of which need be
present for 'C' to appear in the formula of any given cave. The
difficulty of accepting that the artists worked to a fonnrmula is fur-
ther exacerbated by Leroi-Gourhan's statement that A, B, C and
D can be present in any proportions; the 30%, 30%, 30%, 10%
proportions relate only to all Palaeolithic parietal art combined.
The following examples are therefore all considered valid:
Pair-non-Pair A 2; B 2; C 6
Altamira A 2; B 18; C 5; D 1
Colvalanas A 1; B 1; C 17
Although the A-B combination, in whatever proportions, certainly
occurs very frequently, the fact that A and B together account for
60% of all depictions seems to weaken the argument that Palaeo-
lithic artists deliberately composed A-B groups; the possibility of
chance association is considerable, but Leroi-Gourhan does not as-
sess it by statistical means. Moreover, not even this fundamental
pairing is always present: the horse (A) is absent from La Vache,
the large ruminant (B) is absent from La Baume Latrone and La
For&t, and, though he does not mention it in the present book,
both A and B are absent from Cougnac. Leroi-Gourhan describes
these cases as "exceptions which bring out even more clearly the
remarkable uniformity of the A-B formula" (p. 50). His logic be-
comes even more strained when he tells us that the bison (B)
dominated panel at Altamira (A 2; B 18; C 5; D 1) is "validated"
The South African ArchaeologicalBulletin
by "an exactly inverse assemblage at Ekain (A 10; B 4; C 2; + 1
fish) where the horse (A) is numerically dominant" (p. 69).
Still further difficulties arise from the placing of the so-called
"marginal" or "complementary" Group C depictions and the "re-
mote" Group D animals. For instance, on the great ceiling at
Rouffignac there are three rhinoceros (D), one amongst a group
of bison (B), one among ibex (C), and only one is in a marginal,
though hardly remote, position. What Leroi-Gourhan regards as
interesting variations, in this and many other cases, will be seen by
his critics as counter instances.
Leroi-Gourhan's interpretation of the A-B+C formula is even
more controversial than the disposition of the elements. He for-
merly argued that the horse (A) symbolized masculinity and the
bison (B) femininity, and that the artists opposed and comple-
mented these two themes. Now, after much criticism, he places
less emphasis on sexual symbolism, though he still maintains that
the cave itself was essentially a female symbol (p. 58). In 1972 he
suggested that the formula expressed a whole range of binary op-
positions. The multivocality of symbols in many 'primitive' rituals
and iconographies is now not in question, so this proposition
seems more credible than his earlier, more specific, reading of the
formula. The present book is less emphatic than any of his earlier
statements on the meaning of the formula, and he notes that a
persistent symbol, like the horse, could have acquired and shed
many associations over a period as long as the Upper Palaeolithic.
Clearly, Leroi-Gourhan's stimulating argument requires more
detailed analysis than can be accorded it in a brief review; it would
be easy to do him an injustice. I therefore move on to the nature
of the arguments used by both Leroi-Gourhan and Beltran.
Leroi-Gourhan's quantified data appear to give him an advan-
rage over Beltran, but the presuppositions of their arguments are
ihe same. Both proceed on the assumption that the art must first
be described and categorized and that it will then be possible to
infer explanations. Beltran's inferences are more direct in that he
believes his categories (hunting, animals and so forth) point direct-
ly to "the reasons why the paintings were undertaken": "The most
appropriate method is through a simple, general assessment of the
themes and subjects" (p. 56). His "phallic dances", for instance,
"relate to fertility ceremonies" (p. 57). Leroi-Gourhan, on the
other hand, believes his categories suggest only the form, not the
content, of the "message". The problem with both arguments lies
initially in the construction of categories. Items can be categorized
only by selecting certain discriminating features from among the
many which each item possesses. It is therefore easy to construct a
system of classification based on trivial features or, rather, on fea-
tures irrelevant to the end in view. Indeed, a classification exists
only to elucidate a specific problem; other problems may require
other classifications. No classification is the only one possible, and
the discriminating features for a system must be explicitly chosen
in accordance with the end in view. From these considerations fol-
lows the sobering conclusion that there can be no single 'objective'
or 'unbiased' ordering of 'the facts'. Though a researcher must, of
course, be thoroughly conversant with his field, he must not sup-
pose that he can handle his data with a completely 'open mind'.
Furthermore, he must not suppose that his categorized data will
'speak to him' or reveal an explanation as a result of some logical
process; all too often workers have assumed that they can identify
'themes' or 'types of scene' in rock art and then infer motivations
from these categories.
Failure to recognize fully the problems of classification and in-
ference may be one of the reasons why both writers reach some-
what hazy conclusions. The categories they have created may
obscure, not clarify, the concerns of the art, and their inferences,
especially Beltran's, seem pedestrian in that both ultimately ac-
knowledge hunting magic and fertility rituals as motives for the
art. These well-womrn explanations require a good deal of refine-
ment; as Leroi-Gourhan himself remarks (p. 62), they tell us little.
The time has come to move away from hypotheses that are vague
enough to contain almost any and every explanation; their gener-
ality reduces their value,
Although one has the impression that Leroi-Gourhan in par-
ticular is on the brink of finding out what the art means, neither
author manages to propose a hypothesis which makes economical
S. Afr. archaeol. Bull. 38: 101. 1983
101
sense of all the diverse data. Perhaps the whole exercise of inter-
pretation must be started afresh with new theory, new dclassifica-
tions and new method. Nevertheless, the unsatisfactory resolution
of what are highly intractable issues does not in any way diminish
the value of these two books. Students of rock art, both the devot-
ed and the marginal, will wish to read them, admire the illustra-
tions and ponder anew the tantalizing questions they raise. They
will also look forward to succeeding volumes in this series which
will deal with other parts of the world.
J. D. LEWIS-WILLLAMS
University of the Witwatersrand
FOX, F. W. & NORWOOD YOUNG, M. E. 1982. Food from
the Veld: edible wild plants of southern Africa. Johannesburg:
Delta Books. Price approx R20,00.
This book consists of two main parts: a rather long introduction,
followed by an extensive list of plants utilized in southern Africa.
In the Preface it is stated that most of the information refers to the
Nguni and Sotho, but data from neighbouring states, including
Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and
Malawi are also used. In addition, some plants used by Bushmen
are listed, particularly those used as sources of water.
The introduction, though perhaps touching too briefly on too
many things, covers a variety of relevant aspects, including, inter
alia, knowledge of field botany, the reasons why particular plants
are chosen, nutritional and toxicological aspects, the plants most
commonly eaten, salt in the diet, beverages, plants as a source of
drinking water, the preservation of food and water, how to select
edible plants (with the necessary precautions), and a short list
showing the chemical composition of some well-known plant
foods.
The authors have compiled an extensive list of plants, with fam-
ilies presented in alphabetical order. In addition to their scientific
names, the local names of plants are also listed, including names
in English, Afrikaans, several South African Bantu languages, as
well as Lozi, Herero, Nama, Kwangali and some Bushman lan-
guages. The description of each plant and its distribution is fol-
lowed by a discussion of its use in terms of edible parts and
preparation. The list of plants is also accompanied by excellent
drawings and also several photographs, and technically it is a very
neat book.
It may be the result of the approach, which is general and not
particular (in terms of the societies covered), but to me the people
who use the plants are not visible enough, and I feel that the book
does not tell us enough about the subsistence role of particular
plants in particular societies. In that sense, it is primarily plant-
orientated and not people-orientated.
Food from the Veld is a most welcome and valuable contribu-
tion within the ethno-botanical field, and will not only be a very
useful reference work, but, with the aid of the illustrations and
local names, could also be used for identification of plant foods in
the field.
H. P. STEYN
University of SteUllenbosch
HEMMING, J. & RANNEY, E. 1982. Monuments of the Incas.
Boston: Little, Brown & Company; 228 pp., 157 black-and-
white photographs, 4 maps, 22 line drawings. Price: R65,25.
Although the Inca Empire of the Andes flourished for only about
a century before its conquest by Pizarro's Spaniards in 1532, it has
left us a remarkable architectural legacy which impresses modem
tourists as much as it did the conquistadores. The most famous
Inca buildings are constructed of tightly-fitting coursed or poly-