Rocks, Cracks and Drums

Although Siberian shamanism has been extensively studied historically and ethnographically, its archaeology still remains under-researched. This study looks at shamanism from the perspective of rock art – engraved and painted images on rocks – which is richly represented throughout Siberia and Central Asia, from prehistory up to historical times. To what extent and how is this ancient imagery related to shamanism? To consider this question, the book brings together new information gathered by the author during his research in Central Asia and Siberia, which is discussed in terms of recent advances in the theory of how to read of rock art. Linking data from archaeology, mythology, ethnography and neuropsychology, it shows that, although the examples are not numerous, shamanism can indeed be deciphered in ancient imagery. The volume is a contribution to recent lively debate on the prehistory of shamanism, which has been mostly focused on Africa, North America and Europe; this study provides a new look at this issue as it relates to an area which, from the perspective or rock art, is still little known, but where shamanism enjoys a particularly vivid tradition.

Andrzej Rozwadowski, Associated Professor, is an archaeologist and lecturer at the Institute of Eastern Studies ot the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. He has studied extensively (with fifteen expeditions, and heading three research projects) and published on rock art in Central Asia and Siberia. He was a visiting Fulbright scholar at the Arizona State University and a visiting fellow at the Rock Art Research Institute at the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg.