L'art des origines au Yemen.

L'art des origines au Yemen. The French publishers Seuil have treated us to a series of glossilyillustrated books on Palaeolithic art over the last couple of years. Twomore have graced the ANTIQUITY shelves this quarter. The first,MICHELALAIN GARCIA & MADIHA RACHAD'S L'art des origines auYemen (98 pages, 104 colour & black & white illustrations. 1997.Paris: Seuil; 2-02-032278-1 hardback FFr245) is a geographical review The Geographical Review is an academic journal of the American Geographical Society. Currently published quarterly in January, April, July, and October, the first issue was printed in 1916. ofa series of art sites surrounding the cities of Sanaa, Reda and Sueda.Pecked and painted figures of animals and humans cover exposed wallsurfaces, some pecked still deeper by the bullet holes of theYemen's recently troubled past. Four style periods now date thisart from the last ancient hunters (the representation of aurochs aurochs:see cattle. aurochsor aurochExtinct wild ox (Bos primigenius) of Europe, the species from which cattle are probably descended. The aurochs survived in central Poland until 1627. It was black, stood 6 ft (1. )through the crafted Neolithic engravings of naturalistic nat��u��ral��is��tic?adj.1. Imitating or producing the effect or appearance of nature.2. Of or in accordance with the doctrines of naturalism. animalgroupings, to the painted figures of the Bronze Age Bronze Age,period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the to more peckedfigures of such scenes as camel-trains accompanied by Arabicinscriptions. The colour plates are gorgeous, and not just those of theart (though no scales here!) but also and especially those of the Yemenitself. Meanwhile JESUS ALTUNA's L'art des cavernes en PaysBasque: les grottes d'Ekain et d'Altxerri (200 pages, 211colour & black-&-white illustrations. 1996. Paris: Seuil;2-02-032340-0 hardback FFr295) will perhaps bring to greater attentionthe art from these two important Basque sites, previously published inthe excellent, but hard to get hold of journal Munibe. The bulk of thisbook provides a guide to these two sites: maps, illustrations and colourplates are included, and as one might expect of such a renowned faunalanalyst, ALTUNA provides us with photos of these same animals stillliving for comparison. Ekain is above all a place of horses, whilstAltxerri is a cave of bison. JESUS ALTUNA was one of the first scholarsto recognize that the animals depicted were not those most often hunted;fittingly, the last chapter is devoted to this difference betweengraphic and gastronomic gas��tro��nom��ic? also gas��tro��nom��i��caladj.Of or relating to gastronomy.gastro��nom representation not just at Ekain and Altxerri,but also at other sites in northern Spain, such as Santamamine and TitoBustillo.Completing a trio of art books is PAUL G. BAHN & ANGELOFOSSATI's edited volume Rock art studies: news of the world. (Oxbowmonograph 72. x+229 pages, numerous plates and figures, 1996. Oxford:Oxbow; 0-900188-21-x paperback 30), a series of invited papers with thepurpose of setting out recent developments in the study of rock art.Twenty-two papers consider world rock-art research developments from1990 to 1994 by region. BAHN & FOSSATI hope that this is thebeginning of a series with similar review volumes appearing perhaps atfive-year intervals from henceforth.