ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests the need to re-evaluate methodologies and theories in the Tanzanian context, given its embryonic stage of study. As in South Africa, in Tanzania ethnography is critical to understanding the process and meaning of rock painting among the Sandawe, a click-language-speaking people who were traditionally hunter gatherers. One important difference between using Sandawe ethnography and that of the San used by South African researchers is that the Sandawe continue to maintain a painting tradition even though it is not a rock painting one. For purpose, one must look to the ethnography and how the Sandawe culturally construct their landscape. Among the data collected, there appear to be no distinguishing differences between sites chosen for rock art and other utilised rock shelters. The use of colour in iyari suggests a similar meaning for the choice of colour in rock art. The conclusion is based on combining formal and informal analyses grounded in archaeology and ethnography respectively.
