In terms of the grand narrative of Upper Egypt’s expansion into, and unification with, Lower Egypt in the second half of the fourth millennium BC, substantial debate surrounds the processes of state formation. Referring to a recently discovered engraving near Aswan, the author argues that rock art has much to contribute to these discussions. Typological and comparative analyses of the engraving, which is interpreted as a processional boat bearing a seated human figure, are used to suggest that it was created at the dawn of the First Dynasty, thus adding to the limited corpus of political authority expressed in Protodynastic rock art.

YouTube video by Rock Doctor Adventures

The Pecos River murals are a stunning collection of monumental, multicolored rock paintings in limestone rock shelters across southwest Texas and northern Mexico. They depict human-like figures that r...

New radiocarbon work on the Pecos River murals reveals an artistic and philosophical lineage that outlasted empires, climate swings, and entire ways of life.