New Perspectives on Moche Political Organization Book

This is fascinating and wide-ranging discussion of cave art, and a great introduction to the subject. David Whitely's own work as an archaeologist offers an authoritative viewpoint to the discussion, although the tone of the book is certainly accessibly, and frequently conversational, though no less serious for it. He offers a view of the exploration of cave art, introducing many of the players of modern archaeology in this area, to demonstrate the story of human innovation, discovery and scandal, which opens up into a dramatic soap opera. In addition, we hear many of the author's own personal views on the origins of cave art, and some in-depth discussion (which I did not always follow in full) of the scientific approaches to dating artefacts and paintings.

In many places, David Whitely provides a balanced discussion, never more so in reflecting on scholarly disagreements within the field, although in places does not fully acknowledge his own prejudices. His overall conclusion that cave art has its origins in shamanistic visions, as resulting from the mental illness of shaman's is well discussed - he mentions his own bias of inheritance in the discussion of transferring art between American and European cultures, as a note of caution, and yet in the discussion of mental illness, uses his own experiences as proof that a shaman could be both active and productive whilst being mentally unwell. A similar note of caution would have helped to provide some balance to the discussion here, in case the author be guilty of the common fault of seeing himself in the art, allowing this to cloud the interpretation.

The argument, nevertheless, is well made, and the scope of the book is large, with the multiple disciplined approach to the subject offering a perfect intelligent but accessible understanding of cave art and late-20th century archaeological scholarship in this area.