Paul Bahn to Talk Prehistoric South American Rock Art
November's meeting of the Art Society South West London
Mummies and llamas feature in the art of the Chilean desert
The next meeting of the Arts Society South West London will be a talk on the prehistoric rock art found in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
The location is not only the driest place on earth, filled with spectacular landscapes, but also home to two kinds of prehistoric rock art. First, rock paintings and engravings (often very beautiful and mostly depicting llamas) and second, the world's greatest collection of 'geoglyphs' - huge drawings made on the landscape. They include the ‘Giant of the Atacama’, by far the biggest human depiction known from prehistory.
The talk by Paul Bahn titled “Art of the Atacama Desert: Mummies, Llama Herds and the World’s Tallest Giant” presents the best examples of the Atacama's art and discusses what is known of the purposes of these enormous drawings.
Mr Bahn studied Archaeology at Cambridge University and wrote his PhD thesis on the Prehistory of the French Pyrenees. He has held post-doctoral fellowships, at Liverpool and London, plus at the J. Paul Getty fellowship in the History of Art and the Humanities. His main interest is prehistoric art (especially rock art) most notably of the Palaeolithic era. In 2003, he led a successful search for the first Ice Age cave art in Britain.
The lecture takes place on Monday 13 November at 8pm at Dryburgh Hall. You can also register to view via Zoom on the society’s web site.
If you have never attended an Arts Society lecture before you are urged to join and find out about your local Arts Society. Visit the society’s website for further details.
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October 13, 2023