Rock Art Management Research Articles

Amplifying Indigenous Australian Voices in the Conservation and Management of Rock Art

ABSTRACT Rock art is internationally recognised as a tangible connection to cultures past, whose conservation, and management programmes should be developed accordingly. When these heritage places are located within living cultural landscapes and are part of the continuing culture of First Nations people as they are in Australia, there is a fundamental requirement for programmes to be owned and implemented by the relevant communities. However, giving primacy to the voices of those with cultural authority and agency does not always amplify these efforts. To address this challenge, Traditional Owners came together, supported by a land management agency and researchers, to stage a rock art forum for Indigenous Australians in early 2023. This ground-breaking initiative is significant, because the first manual on conserving and managing rock art that gives primacy to the worldviews of Australia’s First Peoples will be an output from the forum. Past Australian publications om this subject have been authored by non-Indigenous scholars and practitioners who considered only an international framework for conserving and managing rock art as a cultural treasure. This paper considers discussions from the forum and the developing manual as shared stories of resilience to manage, protect and celebrate rock art through Indigenous-led initiatives to inform the present and prepare us for future advances in the discipline.

Hyperspectral Imaging Techniques for the Study, Conservation and Management of Rock Art

Paleolithic rock art is one of the most important cultural phenomena in the history of mankind. It was made by making incisions and/or applying natural pigments mixed with water or organic elements on a rock surface, which for millennia has been subjected to different factors of natural and anthropogenic alteration that have caused its deterioration and/or disappearance. The present paper shows a methodology that employs hyperspectral technology in the range of visible light and the near infrared spectrum, providing a scientific and non-destructive way to study, conserve and manage such a valuable cultural heritage. Recognition of coloring matter, formal recognition of the figures, superposition of forms and documentation of the state of conservation are relevant topics in rock art, and hyperspectral imaging technology is an efficient way to study them. The aim is to establish a method of creating pigment cartography and enhancing the visualization of rock art panels. Illumination sources, spectroradiometry measurements and camera adjustments must be taken into account to generate accurate results that later will be pre-processed to derive reflectance data, and then pigment analysis and enhanced visualization methods are applied. This methodology has allowed us to obtain 76% more figures than using traditional techniques throughout the case study area.

Designing Digital Recording for Volunteers in Rock Art Surveys, Management Plans and Public Outreach in the Cederberg, South Africa

The rock art survey and recording project described in this paper was designed for volunteers and heritage professionals involved in locating and mapping the position of rock art and other archaeological sites in the field, recording basic details for conservation and management, and making these details accessible in digital format for researchers who might want to undertake further investigation. An OpenDataKit (ODK) App with a digital site recording form was designed for mobile phones to be used in the field and to send data directly to the digital inventory of the South African Heritage Resources Information System (SAHRIS). The inventory has accumulated over 3000 sites with Later Stone Age rock paintings in the mountainous terrain of the Cederberg, a region that includes properties in the serial Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site in the Western Cape Province. More than a third of these rock art sites have been added to the database since 2007 by the members of the South African Archaeological Society. The information forms the basis for rock art management plans that are given to property owners to guide them in maintaining the value of the rock art. Interpretation of the information has raised awareness of the significance of the rock art in its historical and landscape setting with a trail and information boards. Local residents and CapeNature staff, who have received training in rock art monitoring and tourist guiding, play a key role in implementing the management plans for CapeNature properties, and monitoring individual sites and trails. The broader international context of volunteer programmes for archaeological site recording suggests that this type of programme has the potential to raise awareness of rock art beyond books and visits to museums and public lectures.

Burning Images: A Critical Review of Rock Art Conservation in Zimbabwe

Rock art is the most easily accessible of archaeological material. In Zimbabwe, there are thousands of sites, mostly in open-air environments which can be accessed and enjoyed by many people without any restrictions. Yet, rock art is also easily damaged and therefore requires conservation. Social, political and economic challenges in the last two decades have had profound effects on the conservation status of this particular cultural heritage. This paper examines the state of conservation of rock art, conservation approaches and challenges in Zimbabwe. It also discusses possible solutions especially as the country is making frantic efforts at international re-engagement. The story of rock art conservation in Zimbabwe is similar to what is happening in many neighbouring developing countries such as Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. Therefore, the discussion in this paper also informs on general issues in rock art management and conservation in Africa.

The Rock Art of the Matobo Hills World Heritage Area, Zimbabwe: Management and Use, c 1800 to 2016

The Matobo Hills World Heritage Area in southern Zimbabwe is an acknowledged treasure trove of rock art sites. Despite a century of research and management, there remains much to be done to conserve these sites for future generations. Following a chronological approach, this paper reviews a century of research and conservation efforts, detailing various strategies and achievements by individuals, government agencies, and affiliated organisations. Zimbabwe’s recent economic collapse and ‘land reform’ programme had fundamental impacts on the appreciation and protection of the rock art sites by tourists, local communities, international organisations and government agencies, all of which are explored. The article ends with brief suggestions on how to potentially improve and expand the management of rock art in the Matobo Hills area.

Contributions of a Heritage Values-based Approach to Rock Art Management. Lessons from the Maloti-Drakensberg World Heritage Site, South Africa

This paper is based on rock art sites of the Maloti-Drakensberg massif (South African part), where more than 600 decorated shelters have thus far been identified. Being both institutionalised heritage sites open to the public and living heritage sites associated with various social practices and utilizations, their preservation requires us to consider the complexity of the values attributed to them. Combining a multidisciplinary and empirical approach, our paper highlights the processes of hybridization between attributed values, which therefore do not adhere to a strict category approach. Being strongly linked to the contexts in which they are articulated, their identification is coupled with a consideration of the macrodynamics in which rock art sites are integrated, as well as an analysis of the links between these different contexts and the value systems identified. In conclusion, the operational dimensions of such a methodology is questioned and some initial possibilities for action are proposed.

Community involvement and heritage management in rural South Africa

ABSTRACTLocated in the former Transkei homeland of the apartheid era, now the Eastern Cape Province, Matatiele is one of many disadvantaged though culturally rich communities in South Africa. Both the government and academics have neglected the region for decades. The Matatiele Community and its Mehloding Community Trust needed to understand community views about a proposed heritage centre. Therefore, I conducted research (including interviews) to understand the various communities’ perceptions of what they regard as heritage, including their views on heritage management and the significance of rock art. In this paper, I outline the complexities of rock art management within an area whose inhabitants do not relate to the ‘western’ meaning of heritage, as well as the significance of involving community perspectives to achieve a better understanding of the dynamics surrounding heritage and its management. Communities’ perspectives this study have informed heritage management strategies that are relevant for Matatiele.

The global rock art database: developing a rock art reference model for the RADB system using the CIDOC CRM and Australian heritage examples

Abstract. The Rock Art Database (RADB) is a virtual organisation that aims to build a global rock art community. It brings together rock art enthusiasts and professionals from around the world in one centralized location through the deployed publicly available RADB Management System. This online platform allows users to share, manage and discuss rock art information and offers a new look at rock art data through the use of new technologies in rich media formats. Full access to the growing platform is currently only available for a selected group of users but it already links over 200 rock art projects around the globe. This paper forms a part of the larger Rock Art Database (RADB) project. It discusses the design stage of the RADB System and the development of a conceptual RADB Reference Model (RARM) that is used to inform the design of the Rock Art Database Management System. It examines the success and failure of international and national systems and uses the Australian heritage sector and Australian rock art as a test model to develop a method for the RADB System design. The system aims to help improve rock art management by introducing the CIDOC CRM in conjunction with a rock art specific domain model. It seeks to improve data compatibility and data sharing to help with the integration of a variety of resources to create the global Rock Art Database Management System.

Monitoring change at Indigenous rock art sites in Australia

Change operates constantly on Indigenous rock art sites, caused by a range of natural and artificial agents. It is important for site managers to be aware of, understand and monitor natural processes in order to protect sites and prevent further deterioration. It is equally important to monitor changes in visitor pressure at sites, including the seasonality of visitation, visitor profiles and visitor attitudes towards sites. This paper outlines and critically reviews five main methods for monitoring change at rock art sites. Each method is illustrated using Australian examples, and the implications of these studies for site protection and management highlighted. It is argued that methods for monitoring change need to be carefully selected and applied by site managers according to the goals of management, especially given the limited availability of funds and expertise. Site histories, a critical component of site monitoring, should be adopted as standard practice for rock art management across Australia.

A Companion to Rock Art Edited by JoMcDonald and PeterVethWiley Blackwell, 2012 ISBN 978‐1‐4443–3424‐1. Pp. xxxiv+680. €133.30.

A Companion to Rock Art Edited by Jo McDonald and Peter Veth Wiley Blackwell, 2012 ISBN 978-1-4443-3424-1. Pp. xxxiv+680. 133.30 [pounds sterling]. This international volume on rock art provides a complete, comprehensive and up-to-date overview of most of the main research theories and methods used, and the research questions addressed, in current archaeological debates on rock art, be they global or regional. It was conceived by the editors as a tool teaching the next generation of rock art researchers in a 13-week semester cycle. But this volume is more than a collection of educational materials. It gathers research papers addressing some key topics in rock-art studies, and thus becomes essential reading for anyone interested and/or conducting rock-art research today. The 37 contributions by 57 international scholars from five continents are structured into 11 meaningful sections, with two to four papers per section. While the chapters in each section are intended to address a specific issue, well defined by the section headings (I. Explanatory frameworks; II. Inscribed landscapes; III. Rock art at the regional level; IV. Engendered approaches; V. Form, style and aesthetics; VI. Contextual rock art; VII. The mediating role of rock art; VIII. Rock art, identity and indigeneity; IX. Rock art management and interpretation, X. Dating rock art, XI. Rock art in the digital age), some key questions are explored recursively across the volume. This shows their significance for achieving a more complete understanding of rock art, as a tool for exploring past and present human behaviour and cultural practices. Questions of time (relative or chronometric), place, past and present as well as individual and group identities, function and/or meaning are explored through the systematic deconstruction and analysis of the motifs, themes and panels, their patterns of variation, the context and/or the landscapes, from a variety of international perspectives and backgrounds. Case studies from Australia and the Pacific, Northern and Southern America, Siberia, Europe, Africa and India, and a wide range of periods, from the European Upper Palaeolithic to current Australian rock art, fully illustrate these questions. All these studies remind us once more that rock art is not only about the decoration of passive surfaces with beautiful images, as emphasised by Blinkhorn et al. in chapter 11. Rock art is an alternative source of information about human behaviour and practices, and can be used to explore continuities and discontinuities, human interaction, past territoriality, group mobility, symbolic behaviour and so forth. The large number of chapters prevents us from briefly summarising each of them, but some key issues for current debates are worth mentioning. Of special interest for interpretative approaches is Lewis-Williams' reflective contribution (chapter 2) on the misinterpretation and misuse of his concept of to universally interpret rock art. As he states, shamanism is only one of the many potential interpretations of rock art, and thus it cannot be systematically used to interpret past arts. While past interpretative trends used to emphasise a unique function for Pleistocene art (for a brief summary of past interpretative schools, see Moro and Gonzalez, chapter 15), current studies recognise the multiple functions of past and present imagery and the variety of social contexts (religious, social and political) in which art operates. Take as an example the multiple functions of Western Desert People's rock art, summarised by McDonald and Veth (chapter 6: 96), which includes marking place and individual's affiliation, storytelling or instructive purposes, initiation ceremonies, visual representation of an ancestral being or event, and so forth. It is fully accepted throughout the volume that only through a thoughtful analysis and understanding of the context of rock art (the walls, the surrounding archaeological site, the geographical context, the acoustic or other sensorial properties, etc. …

Public archaeology and political dynamics in Portugal

The two hardest-fought rock art conservation battles in the history of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations have been the campaigns to save the petroglyph sites in the lower Côa valley of northeastern Portugal and in the Guadiana valley in southeastern Portugal. They have become test cases of rock art conservation and site management issues. This paper summarizes the history of these campaigns and the effects they had on rock art management practices in Portugal. Specific attention is given to the responses of the public archaeologists in this controversy, and to some specific and generic aspects of the issue that are in a general sense relevant to the sociology of state-funded agencies charged with the protection of archaeological resources.

Public archaeology and political dynamics in Portugal

The two hardest-fought rock art conservation battles in the history of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations have been the campaigns to save the petroglyph sites in the lower Côa valley of northeastern Portugal and in the Guadiana valley in southeastern Portugal. They have become test cases of rock art conservation and site management issues. This paper summarizes the history of these campaigns and the effects they had on rock art management practices in Portugal. Specific attention is given to the responses of the public archaeologists in this controversy, and to some specific and generic aspects of the issue that are in a general sense relevant to the sociology of state-funded agencies charged with the protection of archaeological resources.

Using the Rock Art Stability Index to facilitate management of rock art in Wadi Rum, Jordan

The Wadi Rum Protected Area (WRPA) in Jordan, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an iconic desert landscape and significant for both its natural and cultural heritage. The most notable form of cultural heritage in the Wadi are the thousands of petroglyphs on the local Umm Ishrin sandstone. Tourist activity, however, poses a threat and potentially accelerates the decay of this resource beyond natural rock decay rates. Therefore, in an effort to better manage this cultural resource, a large sample of these rock-art panels have been examined by an international team funded under the USAID/SCHEP program, and scored based on the degree of decay they have undergone using the Rock Art Stability Index (RASI). RASI has five general categories that rate geological stability, rock decay processes - past, present and impending - and rock-coatings; the variables within each category are scored on a scale of zero to three, corresponding to “Not Present”, “Present”, “Obvious,” and “Dominant”. This method of scoring is suitable for use by experts and non-experts alike, and data collection can be conveniently accomplished using ESRI’s Survey123, a form-centric and field-friendly mobile application. Through the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) such as ArcGIS Online, these data can then easily be organized, analyzed, represented, and shared. In an effort to better direct attention to those panels that need the most immediate care, and to validate the RASI methodology, my research focuses on using statistical analyses of correlation to highlight any relationships between processes of decay.