Rock Art in the Mik Mountains, Namibia, in the context of settlement history and landscape

拟议的项目继续进行中的同名项目。这项研究的重点是纳米比亚西北部被称为米克山或多罗纳瓦斯(犀牛沙漠)的考古遗迹。完全干旱的气候和难以通过的岩石景观使该地区成为纳米比亚沙漠东部的一个极其偏远的地区。因此，对米克山的探索为人类在宜居世界的边缘提供了一个栖息地的例子。尽管米克山偏远，但数千年来，不同生存制度的人一直使用米克山。在岩石掩体中挖掘的5万年前的文物，以及可以追溯到石器时代中后期的散落在地表的文物，证明了猎人和采集者的存在。许多石质布景起源于最近史前时代的游牧民族。在考古发现中，岩石艺术尤为众多。到目前为止，已经记录了大约12,000张个人图像。它们来自222个地点的1000多块巨石。岩刻或岩画是最常见的。大多数描绘了生活在纳米布的动物及其足迹。一小部分由绘画组成。人类的表现在这里占主导地位。所有图像和站点都经过数字记录，以接近原始图像的质量进行进一步分析。岩画艺术研究的重点是版画的风格和主题。它们共同构成了三阶段年表计划的基础。岩画也包括在调查中。这里的一些发现表明，画家和雕刻家之间存在着冲突。这一点可以在被摧毁并覆盖着雕刻的绘画中令人印象深刻地看到。拟议项目的目标是从整体上观察史前占领。为此，将继续并完成对岩石艺术和其他考古遗迹的调查。此外，空间数据将在景观考古的背景下进行分析。这里的目的是了解以前的居民开发沙漠般的栖息地的概念。这与寻找岩石艺术目的的一种新的理论方法有关。岩石艺术不被理解为萨满在恍惚状态下的超自然体验的表达，这是通常的情况。这些地点集中在靠近水、食物和牧场的地方，这使得将其解释为领土标志和对这些基本资源的需求的迹象更有可能。

The proposed project continues an ongoing project with the same title. The research is focused on archaeological remains in a region of north-west Namibia called the Mik Mountains or Doro !nawas (rhinoceros desert). Fully arid climate and a rocky landscape that is difficult to pass make the area an extremely remote zone of the eastern Namib Desert. The exploration of the Mik Mountains therefore provides an example of human habitats on the edge of the habitable world.Despite their remoteness, the Mik Mountains have been used by people with different subsistence systems for thousands of years. The presence of hunters and gatherers is attested by artifacts up to 50,000 years old, which were excavated in rock shelters, and scatters of artifacts on the surface, which date to the Middle and Later Stone Age. Numerous stone settings originate from pastoral nomads of the most recent prehistoric era. Among the archaeological finds, rock art is particularly numerous. So far, around 12,000 individual images have been recorded. They come from over 1000 boulders at 222 sites. Rock engravings or petroglyphs are the most common. The majority depict the animals living in the Namib and their tracks. A smaller part consists of paintings. Human representations dominate here. All images and sites are digitally documented for further analysis in a quality that comes close to the original. The focus of the rock art study is on the style and motifs of the engravings. Together they form the basis for a three-phase chronology scheme. The rock paintings are also included in the investigations. Some findings here indicate that there have been conflicts between the communities of painters and engravers. This can be seen impressively in paintings that have been destroyed and overlaid with engravings.The goal of the proposed project is an overall view of the prehistoric occupation. For this purpose, the investigation of the rock art and the other archaeological remains will be continued and completed. In addition, spatial data will be analyzed in a landscape archaeological context. The aim here is to understand the concept of the former inhabitants to exploit the desert-like habitat. This is connected with a new theoretical approach in the search for the purpose of the rock art. Rock art is not understood as expression of supernatural experiences by shamans in trance, as is usually the case. The concentration of the sites close to the presence of water, food and pastures makes an interpretation as territorial markers and as signs of the demand for these essential resources more plausible.