242 Rock Art Research 2008 - Volume 25, Number 2

2. Involvement of children in palaeoart production The subject of authorship of rock art and portable Global Rock Art palaeoart has been considered from a variety of International IFRAO Congress perspectives, usually derived from the perceived National Park Serra di Capivara, motivation of the artists or the purported purpose of the palaeoart. This has led to many fruitless speculations, 29 June to 3 July 2009 including a search for evidence of shamanism, religious explanations, totemism, supplication hypotheses, and ADVERTISED SYMPOSIA many others. However, forensic studies have shown 1. Recent trends in world rock art research that there are a few forms of palaeoart evidence that During recent years numerous developments have permit empirical identifi cation of the ages of the artists taken place in rock art research throughout the world, involved. These show consistently that in those cases for example in the scientifi c development of a rock art that can be determined, children or adolescents seem discipline through IFRAO’s development of a manual to be the main agents. This is particularly evident of rock art science, standard glossary, standard colour in the art of Europe. It would then seem scale and Code of Ethics for the study, conservation and premature to suggest that all other forms of rock art popularisation of the rock art heritage of humankind. must necessarily be the work of adults. We propose to Recent research on rock art throughout the globe has conduct a symposium of research results that provide changed our perception about the abilities and cultural evidence capable of shedding light on this question. A and cognitive development of early hominins, such particular focus on Pleistocene palaeoart forms may as the proposal of the earliest fi gurative art in Europe be of interest, but it would be hoped that similarly being the creation of Neanderthals; that most of the based reviews of other, more recent traditions can palaeoart of Australia is Middle Palaeolithic; that also be att racted for this symposium. The co-chairs iconic art is preceded by non-iconic art throughout the invite the submission of papers addressing this topic world, etc. Moreover, unambiguous evidence about from any researcher willing to contribute to this the Lower Palaeolithic petroglyphs from excavations investigative direction. Please submit prospective has come to light from central India. This is for the fi rst titles of presentations, together with abstracts of time in the history of world archaeology that antiquity approximately 100 words in one of the four languages of rock art has been established to Lower Palaeolithic of the Congress either to: age. These evidences from diff erent parts of the world Robert G. Bednarik (Australia), [email protected] have shatt ered all simplistic diff usion theories. Thus, or to Professor Kevin Sharpe (), many established myths are being replaced by a [email protected] new vision of the human past. Many more such new evidences from many countries may be available about which we still know litt le. This symposium 3. Rock art and museum will provide a platform for all such groundbreaking The name ‘rock art’ is traditionally att ributed to all new discoveries, ideas and achievements in diff erent non-utilitarian anthropic markings on rock surfaces; fi elds of the discipline of rock art research. It will the term ‘art’ is utilised latu sensu, without aesthetic provide an opportunity to present a comprehensive implications, according to the Latin etymology that picture of global developments in rock art research and defi nes the human activity of producing artefacts, encourage constructive debate of them. We expect that hence the derivation of the words artisan, artifi cer, it will be a stimulating and inspiring experience. artist. Rock art is today only the ‘residue’ of ancient We invite research papers from scholars who have cultural complexes, conserved over time, while songs, made such contributions in rock art research. You can prayers, dances, gestures, votive off erings etc. are send abstracts of your paper(s), of not more than two unrecoverable. hundred words, to one of the following: The keen interest in rock art derives from its relative Dr Giriraj Kumar (India), [email protected] rarity, as sites that externalise the cognitive dimension Robert G. Bednarik (Australia), [email protected] of man; the main problem facing us now is conservation, Rock Art Research 2008 - Volume 25, Number 2 243 protection and communication. To identify the best residues, the application of methods of the forensic procedures for a valid protection it is necessary to plan sciences, or any other topic related to the scientifi c monitoring with instruments recording the variability analysis of rock art and rock art-related entities. in the environmental parameters and the impact on We invite contributions from any discipline that the rock art monuments. could conceivably help in enhancing the eff ectiveness This symposium will critically consider the pro- of analytical eff orts in rock art research. Contributors priety and feasibility of treating rock art of the past as a are invited to submit titles of their presentations, source of knowledge for the contemporary interpreter, together with abstracts of up to 100 words, to one of examine the possibility that such knowledge may be the following: distorted by subjective ethnocentric perceptions, and Robert G. Bednarik (Australia), [email protected] explore the necessity of evolving museological models, Judith Trujillo (Colombia), judithtrujillotellez@hotmail. which can present and conserve rock art without com refl ecting current prejudices and predilections. The symposium will also focus att ention on the existing and pristine relation of the rock art landscapes with adjacent landscapes, humanised by local communities. An att empt will be made to assess the possibility of restoring the custodial interest, if any, of such Pleistocene Art of the World communities in the rock art landscapes; and to re- IFRAO Congress, Tarascon-sur-Ariège and Foix, cognise the constructive, constitutive and creative France role of rock art and the associated folklore in the 6–11 September 2010 conservation and replenishment of such landscapes. The contributors may like to address the question This major palaeoart congress will be held in of inter-institutional co-operation around the globe the heartland of the Franco-Cantabrian cave art for a quest into appropriate ways of documenting traditions, at the foot of the French Pyrenees. It is and presenting rock art within a museum, for expected to become a major benchmark event in the promoting aesthetic, technical, ecological, cultural discipline. It will be hosted by IFRAO in conjunction and touristic interest of visitors, and for fulfi lling with the at Banat. Fieldtrip programs convergent objectives of conservation, education, will include privileged visits to Palaeolithic cave art research or appreciation. Rock art museums, projects sites in France. or institutions, in open air or indoors, as cultural interpretation of reality, are a form of cultural heritage CONGRESS RATIONALE conservation technique. Museology and museography The existence of Pleistocene rock art, fi rst proposed of rock art should be sciences devoted to the survival by Marcelino de Sautuola in 1879, was slowly accepted of this spiritual legacy of humanity. in the late 19th century. Since then, investigation of Professor Dario Seglie (Italy), [email protected] this phenomenon has been largely focused on a small Robert G. Bednarik (Australia), [email protected] region of western Europe, which has yielded over 300 Dr Georges Dimitriadis (Greece), giorgio.dimitriadis@ cave sites of the most exquisite Palaeolithic rock art. cheapnet.it Over the subsequent century, an elaborate stylistic chronology of this corpus, featuring naturalistic animal depictions and semiotic motifs, was developed. It also 4. Analytical rock art research became the template of Pleistocene rock art in guiding The scientifi c study of rock art is not possible the search for such phenomena in other regions of the without the methodology of an archaeometry- world, prompting many reports of such rock art as like analytical branch of the discipline. In recent well as portable art from across Eurasia. Research in decades this specifi c fi eld has gained considerable recent decades has suggested that most Pleistocene momentum and has gradually expanded its store of palaeoart of the world may not be fi gurative, and knowledge and routine methods. We hope that this most may be of Middle rather than Upper Palaeolithic development will be refl ected in the presentations of modes of production. New evidence suggests there this symposium. Such contributions could include appears to be almost no fi gurative graphic art of the reports about any analytical work with rock art, such Pleistocene outside of western Europe. Typically, as att empts of direct dating, digital image processing graphic Pleistocene art of Asia and Australia seems and manipulation, the identifi cation of a variety of to be non-fi gurative (with very few exceptions), and residues and inclusions in rock art, nano-stratigraphy the corpus of Australian Pleistocene rock art, which of paints or patination skins, chemical analysis of some assume to be the largest in the world, is entirely paint residues and pigment sources, ‘internal analysis’ of Middle Palaeolithic traditions. Palaeoart of the fi nal of marking sequences, discrimination of anthropic Pleistocene seems to occur in North America and may and non-anthropic rock markings, the technology of also yet be found in . Finally, India has rock art production, colorimetry of patinae and paint yielded rock art even of the Lower Palaeolithic, and 244 Rock Art Research 2008 - Volume 25, Number 2 similarly ancient palaeoart may conceivably occur in Applications of forensic techniques to Africa. Pleistocene palaeoart investigations This scenario differs so significantly from the In recent years scientifi c investigations in palaeoart popular model of Pleistocene art that a congress have increasingly been relying on methodologies should be dedicated to this subject, addressing and techniques borrowed from the fi eld of forensics. questions of dating, of the defi nitions of palaeoart, For the most part, the pioneering researchers and and of regional distribution of evidence in each scientists have operated on the margins of an ill- continent, re-evaluating the topic of the global defined discipline. This symposium will provide phenomenon of Pleistocene palaeoart traditions. We an opportunity for these researchers and scientists invite contributions on all aspects of this subject. to present their work and establish the preliminary Congress chairmen Jean Clott es, Giriraj Kumar and foundation for a standardised methodology based in Robert Bednarik the applications of forensics techniques in the study of Pleistocene palaeoart. Submissions of papers are invited on a large range of subjects, and may include, FIRST SYMPOSIA PROPOSED: but not be limited to, the following: Pleistocene art of Asia Reconstruction of the gestures and kinetic activities Recent discoveries and scientifi c investigations involved in the production of palaeoart have yielded new evidence about the Pleistocene art of Aspects of behaviour at rock art sites deducable from Asia, the most signifi cant of it being produced by the empirical evidence multidisciplinary project ‘Early Indian Petroglyphs: Analyses of macroscopic and microscopic traces of Scientifi c Investigations and Dating by an International palaeoart production Commission’ (EIP Project). It has demonstrated the Sequencing of behaviour traces at sites occurrence of numerous exfoliated petroglyphs, and Behaviour traces in the context of site properties the hammerstones used in making the rock art, in Empirical evidence and site taphonomy Lower Palaeolithic strata at central Indian sites. Other Controlled replication experiments of palaeoart pro- but much more recent evidence of Pleistocene art, duction always in the form of mobiliary palaeoart, has been Analyses concerning the ages of palaeoartists reported sporadically from , , Japan, Analytical studies of the tools and materials used in Afghanistan, Israel and also India. Therefore, palaeoart palaeoart production has been in use for a great length of time in Asia, but Other forensic studies of rock art sites or portable relatively litt le evidence of it has been reported so far, fi nds especially in comparison to Europe. It is the purpose Prospective contributors to this pioneering sym- of this symposium to place the extraordinary fi nds posium are invited to submit the titles of their pre- from India within a pan-continental perspective, to sentations, together with abstracts of approximately disseminate new claims for Pleistocene palaeoart, 100 words, either to: and to consider the limited available data in the Dr Yann-Pierre Montelle (New Zealand) or Robert G. context of scientifi cally based models of the cognitive Bednarik (Australia); e-mails [email protected] and cultural development of hominins. The 2010 and [email protected] IFRAO world congress on the global palaeoart of the Pleistocene off ers a unique opportunity to consider these subjects in a comprehensive form. Research papers on the above and related topics Prehistoric art: signs, symbols, myth, ideology are invited from the international community of palaeoart researchers. Subjects of interest include rock This symposium is an important occasion for art as well as mobiliary palaeoart of Pleistocene Asia; bringing together new ideas, researches, opinions, materials and techniques used in their production; fi nd theories, hypotheses and information on Pleistocene contexts and dating issues; what this corpus might art, in connection with the study of Homo’s metaphysics tell us about the development of art-like practices and ideology. The symposium provides the opportunity in Asia; patterning in the way graphic evidence to discuss the role played by iconography and myth, appears to present itself temporally and spatially; and the aid to the study coming from the traditional and how it might relate to palaeoart. Please cultures of people still having a living heritage. In send the titles of proposed contributions, together particular, the following aspects will hopefully be with abstracts of about 100 words, to one of the two addressed: chairmen of this symposium: New problems of archaeological documentation and Dr Giriraj Kumar (India), e-mail: [email protected] excavation of art sites, also in connection with the Robert G. Bednarik (Australia), e-mail: auraweb@ palaeoanthropological data; hotmail.com Correlations, synchronism and diachronism, of palaeo- ethnocultural areas of diff erent periods and places Rock Art Research 2008 - Volume 25, Number 2 245 Iconography of Pleistocene art as a refl ection of palaeo- Dr Jean Clott es ethnic traditions IFRAO President Ritual aspects and meaning; possible roles of Pleisto- 11, Rue du Fourcat cene art (religions, eco-social-cultural changes etc.) 09000 Foix, Hypothetic links between ancient literature, poetry, France myth and Pleistocene art iconography E-mail: j.clott [email protected] The relations between native groups, art sites and their environment Robert G. Bednarik Problems in studying sites that are still ‘cult places’ IFRAO Convener Submissions and suggestions are invited, to be P.O. Box 216 addressed to one of the following chairmen: Caulfi eld South, VIC 3162 Australia Professor Dario Seglie, Centro Studi e Museo d’Arte E-mail: [email protected] Preistorica, Pinerolo (TO), Italy, [email protected] Professor Luiz Oosterbeek, Instituto Politécnico de The web-page of the 2010 IFRAO Congress Tomar, Portugal, [email protected] Professor Marcel Ott e and is at htt p://mc2.vicnet.net.au/home/pawc/web/ Dr Laurence Remacle, Service de Préhistoire, index.html Université de Liège, Belgium, [email protected]

Submissions of papers for the above symposia are encouraged. In addition to the above, symposium Archaeology and Rock Art proposals are also invited on the following topics, and addressing any other subject directly related to 25 years SIARB the congress rationale: La Paz, Bolivia, June 2012 Bolivian Rock Art Research Society (SIARB) Pleistocene art in Africa National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore Pleistocene art in the Americas (MUSEF) Pleistocene art in Europe International Federation of Rock Art Organisations Pleistocene art in Australia (IFRAO) Defi ning palaeoart Dating palaeoart Introduction Taphonomy of Pleistocene art In the last twenty years, international meetings in South America contributed to the scientifi c study of rock art and the collaboration between scholars The IFRAO Congress will take place from 6 to worldwide. Symposia or congresses were organised 11 September 2010 in Ariège-Pyrénées (France), by the Bolivian Rock Art Research Society (SIARB) essentially in Tarascon-sur-Ariège and Foix. Its base in Bolivia in 1988, 1989, 1991, 1997 and 2000. Other will be the Prehistoric Park at Banat (near Tarascon- meetings took place in Jujuy (Argentina) in 2003, sur-Ariège), whose team, led by Pascal Alard, will see in Cusco (Peru) in 2004, and in Arica () in to the logistics. Address: Congrès Art Pléistocène dans 2006. National archaeological congresses frequently le Monde, Parc de la Préhistoire, 09400 Banat, France. include sessions dedicated to rock art studies. E-mail: [email protected]; Tel. +33 561 055 040. SIARB wishes to continue the success of previous Hotel information and bookings: Centre départe- meetings and is making eff orts to organise a new mental du Tourisme ‘Loisirs Accueil’. Reservations congress which will take place in June 2012. Matt hias will be accepted from December 2009 at e-mail ifrao. Strecker, General Secretary of SIARB, is in close contact [email protected] with numerous colleagues and scientifi c institutions Visits of caves (Niaux, Bédeilhac, Le Mas d’Azil, in South America and worldwide and has already Gargas) and Palaeolithic art museums (Le Mas d’Azil, received many lett ers of support from colleagues who Musée Bégouën) will be organised both during (on wish to participate in this conference. Besides, the 8 September) and at the end of the Congress (on 11 International Federation of Rock Art Organisations September). (IFRAO) is supporting this event, the annual meeting Congress offi cial languages will be English, French of IFRAO Representatives will be held during our and Spanish (no instant translation). congress. Congress registration fee: 100 euros for participants; 60 euros for accompanying persons and for students. Organisation of the congress Proposals for symposia of the ‘Pleistocene Art of The general subject of the congress will be the World’ (PAW) Congress of 2010 can be submitt ed ‘Archaeology and rock art’. The organisers believe to either of these addresses: that it is most appropriate to analyse the relation 246 Rock Art Research 2008 - Volume 25, Number 2 between archaeological investigations and rock art of preparing the congress. It consists of Lic. Freddy studies; the relation between archaeologists and rock Taboada (SIARB President), Dr Claudia Rivera (SIARB) art specialists; the way rock art sites may be integrated and Matt hias Strecker (SIARB Secretary and Editor). into a regional archaeological framework; regional chronologies including rock art traditions; the policies Publication of congress papers of surveying, recording, and preserving sites etc. As on previous occasions, SIARB will publish There will be up to twelve sessions during four days. reports on the congress in its annual journal and will Each session should have two or more chairpersons, edit and publish at least one session in a volume of preferably including a rock art specialist. There will the series Contribuciones al Estudio del Arte Rupestre also be a possibility to present exhibits (posters) and Sudamericano. Due to our economic limitations as sell publications. a private scientifi c society, we cannot publish a Offi cial languages of the congress will be Spanish, large part of the transactions. However, we are in Portuguese and English. However, in exceptional contact with colleagues and other institutions in the cases, a presentation may be in a diff erent language neighbouring countries and are confi dent to receive as well. their support with the publication of other sessions. Before and aft er the academic program there will In this respect, chairpersons of the sessions will play be rock art excursions. The detailed excursion program an important part. will be defi ned later. We expect to be able to off er Tentative schedule: trips to archaeological and rock art sites in the Lake 2008–2012: up-to-date information about the congress Titicaca region and in other parts of Bolivia, such as on web-page Santa Cruz and Tarij a. 2010, June: last date for proposals of sessions This congress will be organised by SIARB (see web- 2011, October: last date for proposals of papers (title page: www.siarb-bolivia.org) and the National Museum and summary) of Ethnography and Folklore (Museo Nacional de 2012, end of June: congress Etnografía y Folklore, MUSEF, see web-page: htt p:// www.musef.org.bo/) and will take place in the museum. Contact address: We expect that some other institutions in La Paz will also SIARB support us, such as the Department of Anthropology- Casilla 3091 Archaeology of the UMSA University (Carrera de La Paz Antropología-Arqueología de la Universidad Mayor Bolivia de San Andrés, UMSA). Tel./Fax: (591) 2 - 2711809 The society has formed a committ ee in charge E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

The fi rst quarter: an editorial footnote

And here ends the fi rst quarter of a century of colleagues felt one might proceed in this. I had tried to Rock Art Research — the journal that epitomises the secure a sample that was as representative as possible, discipline it helped defi ne. It has been published every including not only practising academic scholars, May and November since the fi rst issue appeared but also representatives of relevant public agencies, in May 1984, preceded by the publication a year interested amateurs, retired academics and innovative previously of a Newslett er of the Interim Australian Rock young researchers. I also took care to include people Art Research Association (which became the AURA from all States and Territories of Australia. It is from Newslett er). This newslett er of May 1983 refl ected a the responses of these thirty Australians that I gauged survey I had conducted in late 1982 and early 1983, interest and sought direction, and the eventual format, to determine the feasibility of establishing a rock art structure and operation of AURA are largely an out- research association in Australia. I had designed a come of the advice I received through this process of questionnaire comprising sixteen questions and had consultation. sent it to thirty Australian researchers who in my view The responses were extremely varied, ranging were likely to be interested in such an endeavour. The from the predictable to the astonishing. Nevertheless, purpose was to ascertain, quasi-democratically, what there was surprising consistency in the reactions to direction Australian rock art studies should take, with the more important points raised. For instance, the an underlying agenda of also determining how my last question, would the respondent be likely to join Rock Art Research 2008 - Volume 25, Number 2 247 such a rock art organisation, should it be formed, in December 1969, seemed to be a suitable model. It was answered affi rmatively by twenty-nine out of had been producing the Canadian Rock Art Research thirty people. Other interesting trends emerging Associates Newslett er since 1974, which in November from this survey were that an unequivocal majority 1982 ended with Number 18. It was to be replaced with believed that archaeological institutions in Australia the Canadian Journal of Rock Art in 1983, but this never failed to fully appreciate, or were indiff erent to, the eventuated and instead, CRARA disintegrated and importance of rock art research; and that the formation became defunct in that year. The Rock Art Association of an association would be of profound benefi t to the of Manitoba Newslett er (1988 to 1989) and the Rock discipline. Respondents also overwhelmingly felt that Art Quarterly (1990 to 1992), both edited by Maurice public awareness of rock art and of the need for its Lanteigne, enjoyed even shorter lives. The same fate conservation was inadequate, as was its coverage in struck the Newsletter of the American Committee to education curricula. Advance the Study of Petroglyphs and Pictographs, edited Enthusiasm was expressed by many, but important by Joseph J. Snyder (from 1980 to 1983), and a much were also the more sceptical observations. For more ambitious project by Snyder in 1984, the refereed instance, one comment was: ‘Given the quality and journal Rock Art, remained stillborn. These are not the quantity of rock art research being undertaken I think only rock art publishing initiatives of the 1980s and that talk of forming an association and producing a 1990s that enjoyed short lives, usually not exceeding journal is premature’. Several commentators decried four years; there were several more, in Europe as well the lack of suitable publishing venues in Australia, as in Africa and Asia. having had to publish signifi cant research fi ndings By contrast, the American Rock Art Research Asso- and discoveries abroad, in some cases after local ciation (ARARA), founded by Klaus F. Wellmann and archaeological serials had rejected them. It was also to some degree modelled on CRARA, had fl ourished noted how diffi cult it is to have descriptive papers with for several years. It had been formed on 12 May 1974 adequate illustrations published in existing journals, at Farmington, New Mexico, and it produced its fi rst due to the high costs of illustrations. In the early 1980s, newslett er, La Pintura, just two months later. Similarly, there were no desktop computers; journals were still Emmanuel Anati’s Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici, printing illustrations with the old metal plates and based in Capo di Ponte in the Valcamonica, northern bromides were expensive. These conditions are hard Italy, had begun a successful publications program that to imagine nowadays, but this last quarter of a century in many ways led the way in the discipline. However, has witnessed revolutionary changes in the printing it was not managed as a learned society, but in the industry equal to those when Gutenberg introduced fashion of an institution that depended on various the printing press in 1446. types of governmental support. Seen in this context, my proposal of producing in I came to the conclusion that an independent scho- my living room a refereed academic journal for the larly society that was academically elitist would tend international discipline seemed a trifl e audacious, and to be of limited relevance. I favoured inclusiveness the scepticism of my advisers was amply warranted. and growth through diversity and pluralism — and Looking back, I agree with their reservations; I would an emphasis on high academic standards that, I not recommend this course of action to any sane perceived, would most benefi t the discipline. The person. In the 1980s, producing a journal such as principal disadvantage of the ‘open society’ model RAR on a shoestring budget, without any institutional is that it can only succeed in the long term if there support, involved many hundreds of hours of work a are individuals of long-term commitment to ensure year just in producing adequate artwork and preparing continuity of purpose, tradition and dedication. No plates. And that came on top of the work in refereeing scholarly society has ever survived beyond the initial and editing papers, of re-writing them, and oft en years of enthusiasm without individuals who have of producing the illustrations from scratch because the required perseverance. That applies even more to the submitt ers were unable to provide drawings that the production of a scholarly journal. were adequate for reproduction. Add to this the I founded the Australian Rock Art Research Asso- distribution and correspondence, and the workload ciation in October 1983, and the fi rst issue of RAR is formidable. appeared in May 1984. At that time, most studies of rock Fortunately I did not know what was in store for me, art around the world were conducted by researchers or I would have quickly abandoned the plan to found who had limited contact with others in their chosen a rock art journal. The results of my questionnaire fi eld. If they produced publishable work, most of it was showed that there was both enthusiasm for my plan, necessarily scatt ered over the proceedings of several and reservation about its practicability. I had just disciplines. Their own discipline lacked the focus of travelled to Canada and Italy, to learn how other a refereed academic journal, and although there had rock art societies operated, to become acquainted been some collaboration between CRARA and ARARA, with their strengths and weaknesses. The Canadian in general there was surprisingly litt le contact between Rock Art Research Associates (CRARA), founded by organisations around the world that were involved Selwyn Dewdney at Lakehead University, Ontario, with rock art (e.g. those of central Europe). RAR 248 Rock Art Research 2008 - Volume 25, Number 2 established its pre-eminent position easily, elevating journals. It is the antidote to academic stagnation or AURA to the world’s largest rock art organisation ossifi cation, it presents the reader with a range of within four years. By 1988, AURA’s confi dence allowed possibilities from which natural selection eliminates it to host the fi rst major international meeting for the the inexpedient, and it forms the very core of a vibrant world’s rock art researchers. scientifi c journal. For most of the over 350 international delegates A quarter of a century ago, the scientifi c study of of this event, held in Darwin, this was the fi rst time rock art had not yet emerged as a distinctive discipline. they had met their colleagues. Some have defi ned this A few individual but isolated researchers had begun event as the birth of the discipline, and in a sense that eff orts in that direction, but most rock art organisations is a valid statement. For instance, when it was noticed of that time were fl oundering, lacking direction and that the presidents or secretaries of no less than nine focus. Rock art literature of the early 1980s conveys rock art organisations were present at the Congress, the impression that there was certainly enthusiasm someone sensibly suggested that they might like to about studying rock art, but there was also a sense hold an informal meeting at the conclusion of the of ambivalence over how to proceed in this. ‘Direct event to discuss future co-operation. That meeting dating’ had not yet been developed; the use of forensic was held on 3 September 1988. Within its fi rst minute techniques was in its infancy at best; theory consisted it was proposed and accepted that a federation of rock largely of redundant speculations about meaning and art organisations be formed immediately, and what interpretation; there was no collective approach to its name should be. In the meeting’s second minute it issues of rock art protection; many of the recording was put to a vote that I be elected the Convener of this methods were detrimental to the rock art and there was body. Such was the enthusiasm in those heady days of no bench mark to refer to; and countless idiosyncratic 1988. Later in that meeting, it was decided that RAR terminologies rendered communication frustrating. would be the offi cial organ of the federation, and for Last vestiges of this latt er state can still be observed the fi rst time in history, rock art specialists discussed today, when individual researchers use diff erent names the possibility and practicalities of proceeding globally to describe the same phenomenon, without realising and as a united discipline. the redundancy of their eff orts. But these cases have IFRAO has come a long way since. With thirty-six become the exception nowadays, and in general they member organisations by the end of the millennium, are no longer about substantive misunderstandings, it today represents practically all rock art researchers but about such matt ers as the placement of a hyphen. of the world (about 7500), and it has had indelible These last twenty-five years have witnessed the eff ects on such issues as protection of rock art and eradication of all inappropriate recording methods standardisation of research, methods and terminology. and the establishment of ethical standards. They As an advocacy lobby for rock art preservation, it has have also seen the creation of a discipline of rock art had successes in all continents except Antarctica, some science, through the proliferation of methods and of which were played out against spectacular odds. theories underpinning such a scientifi c framework. RAR has grown with IFRAO, and its principal role has In all these developments, RAR has been a pioneering been to set scientifi c and academic standards in the infl uence, through the consistently high academic and discipline — precisely as I had intended twenty-fi ve intellectual quality of its contributions. years ago. Together with the many other periodicals This new discipline has also intervened in hundreds of the IFRAO members, particularly INORA, Purakala of cases around the world in actions to preserve and the SIARB Boletín, it has decisively helped in threatened rock art, through the establishment of a shaping the discipline. Among the almost 900 signed global support network. Again, RAR has been deeply contributions RAR has published since 1984 are most involved in several of these actions. In some parts of the seminal papers that defi ne modern rock art of the world, the organisations seeking to preserve studies. rock art and related cultural monuments have found The perhaps most characteristic feature in RAR themselves bitt erly opposed by local archaeological has been the emphasis on open debate: every single establishments that had traditionally facilitated the contribution appearing in RAR is off ered for debate, destruction of such heritage. These confrontations and there have been numerous substantial debates have as yet not been resolved entirely; there remains over the years. The guiding editorial policy has always much resistance from the rock art vandals, who have been to use open, unfett ered discussion as a means of for a long time profi ted from their operations and who fast-tracking the development of the discipline. That strenuously object to any curtailing of their power. Just policy has paid handsome dividends, because such as in the eradication of improper recording techniques, debate facilitates a much deeper appreciation of the RAR is spearheading the campaign to eliminate site full complexities of specifi c issues than the simple destruction by archaeological consultants. This may presentation of one-sided views of one author or take some more years to accomplish. group of authors. RAR Debates have covered every It is an unresolved issue to be taken care of in the conceivable aspect of rock art research, and this second quarter of a century of RAR. Robert G. Bednarik debate format has since been adopted by other learned RAR 25-893