Format: Open Discussion
Convenors:
Dawn Green , University of Cape Town, South Africa, dgreen@eci.co.za
Sven Ouzman, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, sven.ouzman@uwa.edu.au
Rock art workers are often leaders in theoretically informed and creative endeavours, while facing multiplex internal and external challenges. Very few platforms exist for them to share their inspiration and problems in a safe and supportive space. Influenced by calls for a ‘slow science’, this session aims to begin a process whereby rock art workers can meet and share their learning, workshop solutions, model best practice and establish relationships leading to future collaborations. Some of the problems we face include racism, sexism, ageism, disparate ontologies, funding, audit cultures, war, mining and human exceptionalism, while potentials include establishing collectives which animate and synergise rock art’s agency and unique social impacts. Recognising the relationality between humans, animals and multiple landscapes will profoundly affect future work. We encourage students, researchers, Indigenous people, government officials and anyone interested in establishing safe and sustainable rock art research and conservation to come together in a community of supportive practice.
Participants will have two to three minutes to present their topic during the session. The aim of this session is to recognise that rock art research is more than an academic exercise. Establishing an international network of support for the multiple issues and successes we experience can improve our practice and collaboration.
Discussion Participants:
Camille Bourdier, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, UMR 5608 TRACES, France; University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
North-South Collaborative Research in the Matobo Hills. Potentials and Achievements, Problems and Fights
Research not only requires interdisciplinarity but also interculturality. This exposure to different conceptual views, approaches, methods and practices is crucial to the renewal of knowledge-making about rock art, and beyond to Archaeology to be incorporated as relevant and valuable by the people. Such engagement implies mutual open-mindedness and understanding, change in scientific expectations and habits, hence time and negotiation from which many other challenges arise: with the academic/scientific agendas in each partner’s community, with the funding and funders’ expectations, or also regarding global warming and long-distance travels. These are the issues we’ve been facing within the framework of our French-Zimbabwean rock art research program, that we would like to discuss.
A Story of Endurance—Aboriginal Heritage and Survival in Northern Sydney
Phil Hunt, Senior Archaeologist, Aboriginal Heritage Office, NSW, Australia
Kyle Nettleton, Museum and Education Officer, Aboriginal Heritage Office, NSW, Australia
Susan Whitby, Heritage and Volunteer Coordinator, Aboriginal Heritage Office, NSW, Australia
Beneath swimming pools, beside roads and footpaths. Under powerlines and light poles. Water pipes and sewer lines, stairs and park benches. Aboriginal sites in Sydney are surviving them all.
The Aboriginal Heritage Office helps look after 800 sites (360 with pigment or petroglyphs). Most are not ones you would put on a calendar. They are battlers, showing scars of being in Australia’s oldest city, facing the longest period of invasion, colonisation and neglect. They are like the Aboriginal community here. Survivors. Not always noticeable, keeping under the radar, standing proud but sometimes unsure of their footing in a changing landscape. At the AHO we love these embattled sites and challenge those who would say they have less significance because they are damaged. In so many ways they are miracles in the landscape!
Working Alone Underground: Documenting Rock Art in Solitude
Barbara Oosterwijk, University of Exeter, UK
Some rock art research—especially in caves—is conducted alone, raising practical and methodological challenges rarely discussed. How do we document complex, large-scale panels without access to high-tech tools or collaborative teams? Do we approach them type by type, or as holistic surfaces? This short reflection considers how working solo shapes what and how we record, and invites discussion on developing low-tech, slow, and reflective practices. Can we share methods for visualising and analysing data when resources are limited? How can we connect isolated fieldwork with broader, collaborative knowledge-making in rock art research?
Journey of Konkan Geoglyphs: Discovery, Awareness and Conservation Efforts
Tarkik Khatu
Sneha Dabadgaon
Divyansh Kumar Sinha
Renuka Joshi
Raghunath Bokil
Madhusudhan Padebettu
Rutwij Apte
Sudhir Risbud
Dhananjay Marathe
The recent discovery of geoglyphs in the Konkan region of the western coast of India has made a significant contribution to the field of rock art studies. This pioneering work, initiated by the NGO Nisargayatri Sanstha Ratnagiri, resulted in the identification and documentation of over 2000 new geoglyphs on the lateritic plateaus of the western coast of India. This paper/discussion primarily focuses on the tireless efforts of Nisargayatri Sanstha in various aspects, including research, public awareness, and conservation, for the protection of this invaluable rock art treasure.