Siyakha Mguni is the Project Manager of the International Rock Art Collaboration coordinated from the Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

This book has the potential to change the public perception of San rock art as a relatively trivial pastime and replace it with convincing evidence that many images and themes are in fact based on sophisticated religious symbolism that permeated all aspects of San life over thousands of years. It is a milestone in rock art interpretation because it focuses specifically on the complexity of one particular theme, the elusive formlings, which have challenged rock art specialists for decades.- Janette Deacon, co-author of Human Beginnings in South Africa: Uncovering the Secrets of the Stone Age.

• Foreword: David Lewis-Williams; Preface: Searching the pasts; Introduction; Ancient mysteries on rocks; Meaning in San rock art; Tricksters, potency and dance; Ways of seeing San rock art; Probing deep into formlings; Formlings and San cosmological belief; Symbolic theatres of San cosmos.

Siyakha Mguni is the Project Manager of the International Rock Art Collaboration coordinated from the Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

This book has the potential to change the public perception of San rock art as a relatively trivial pastime and replace it with convincing evidence that many images and themes are in fact based on sophisticated religious symbolism that permeated all aspects of San life over thousands of years. It is a milestone in rock art interpretation because it focuses specifically on the complexity of one particular theme, the elusive formlings, which have challenged rock art specialists for decades.- Janette Deacon, co-author of Human Beginnings in South Africa: Uncovering the Secrets of the Stone Age.

• Foreword: David Lewis-Williams; Preface: Searching the pasts; Introduction; Ancient mysteries on rocks; Meaning in San rock art; Tricksters, potency and dance; Ways of seeing San rock art; Probing deep into formlings; Formlings and San cosmological belief; Symbolic theatres of San cosmos.

Siyakha Mguni is the Project Manager of the International Rock Art Collaboration coordinated from the Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He holds a PhD from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

This book has the potential to change the public perception of San rock art as a relatively trivial pastime and replace it with convincing evidence that many images and themes are in fact based on sophisticated religious symbolism that permeated all aspects of San life over thousands of years. It is a milestone in rock art interpretation because it focuses specifically on the complexity of one particular theme, the elusive formlings, which have challenged rock art specialists for decades.- Janette Deacon, co-author of Human Beginnings in South Africa: Uncovering the Secrets of the Stone Age.

• Foreword: David Lewis-Williams; Preface: Searching the pasts; Introduction; Ancient mysteries on rocks; Meaning in San rock art; Tricksters, potency and dance; Ways of seeing San rock art; Probing deep into formlings; Formlings and San cosmological belief; Symbolic theatres of San cosmos.