ABSTRACT
Rock art ethnography, with its associated benefit of informed analysis, is obviously not available in all regions or for all time periods. So we turn to formal analyses for their etic (outsider’s) insight into the significance of rock art. Formal analyses are more varied in nature and concern than ethnographic analyses because they employ only general data and reflect a greater range of theoretical interests and analytical approaches. Despite the great utility of ethnography, it will never be the only data source that archaeologists can or should employ, even in cases where it is appropriate and available, because it is important to use multiple methods and data sets whenever possible.
