How are pictographs made?
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Finger-painted pictograph.
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American Indians used paints and dyes to decorate pottery, to color woven basketry and textiles, for quillwork and designs on skin clothing, as body paint, and no doubt many other purposes. Paint for rock art was made by mixing ground-up pigments such as hematite, limonite, or charcoal with an organic binder such as blood, animal fat, egg white, fish oil, or plant oil. Archeologists excavating at The Narrows, a rock art site in northwest Arkansas, found some small pitted stones that were used to grind mineral pigments. Some pictographs in Arkansas were made by finger painting while others appear to have been brush painted. Frayed twig brushes have been found at many dry rock shelter sites. A rare type in Arkansas are human hand images made by pressing paint-covered hands against the rock surface, or by blowing paint around a bare hand held against the rock to create a stenciled effect.
5. What is the difference between rock art and graffiti? |
