ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that experimentation and performance are two sides of the same coin and improvisation and experimentation yield important insights into the making process, and force archaeologists to think differently about representation. It looks at two well-known mortuary monuments and their accompanying art and artefacts: the tomb of the First Emperor of China and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. The chapter examines an array of case studies, covering Palaeolithic cave art in two continents, and the mortuary monuments of ancient China and Persia. The incorporation and embellishment of different aspects of cave formations are familiar components of Upper Palaeolithic cave art, with natural contours, bulges and projections in cave walls being used in making depictions. Nawarla Gabarnmang is one of many rock art sites in Jawoyn country, Arnhem Land, northern Australia. It is marked out both by its spectacular rock art and its unusual geological formation.
