Picture-Writing of Texas Indians
$20.00
1 in stock
Description
Author: Jackson, A.T. (Alvin Thomas) (1895-1974)
Publisher: University of Texas
Pub Date: 1938
Binding: Paperback (metal post)
Condition: Fair. Metal post binding tight. No tears, bends or folds. Previous owner’s name and mark on upper corner title page. This is a photocopy of the original 490 page, 1938 report. The text is fine, but most of the photos are muddy. Drawings and maps are okay, though some drawings are muddy. Stiff board report cover.
Notes: University of Texas Publication No. 3809, March 1, 1938. Anthropological Papers Volume II. Somebody spent a lot of time photocopying this 490 page beast. Two-sided pages. We’re talking almost a ream of paper. There are more than 320 known rock art sites throughout Texas, both prehistoric and historic. The rock art ranges in size from an inch to about 18 feet tall, which would have required a scaffold to produce. “Pigments were made from powdered minerals, sometimes mixed with animal fats, and consisted largely of earth tones. Black and red were the most commonly used colors, but white, yellow, orange, and brown were also used, sometimes singly but most often in combination. Subjects ranged from the whole human figure or just hands or feet, to animals of all kinds-deer, mountain lions, buffalo, snakes, and birds. Sun symbols, various kinds of weather, trees, weapons, and geometric shapes were also drawn. In later times Spanish and other non-American Indian figures were pictured. The purposes or meanings in the drawings cannot be positively determined, but some are clearly religious or ceremonial in nature, depicting what appear to be images of shamans. Some obviously show events occurring in a tribe or in the life of an individual, often hunting or warfare. Maps, dancing scenes, and tallies of some sort are recorded, as are stories or myths, and a few scenes appear to be intentionally humorous.” (Texas State Historical Association, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/indian-rock-art ) The author, Jackson, was a noted caver, and author of The Caves of Texas (Bulletin 10, National Speleological Society, 1948). For a brief biography of Jackson, see https://hall.cavetexas.org/Jackson.pdf
