Iconography without Texts

Iconographers normally use texts, either to locate the narratives that are illustrated in the images they are studying, or to deepen their understanding of the cultural milieux in which those images were produced. There are indeed some iconographers who would argue that, without texts, iconography is impossible. Are we then unable to study the iconographic themes of cultures that have left us few or no textual records? Some of the contributors to this volume have responded directly to this question, while others have expanded the terms of debate; but all the essays in this book will be found pertinent by art historians, archaeologists and anthropologists who are faced with the problem of interpreting visual artefacts that have become divorced from the cultural contexts in which they once had meaning.