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CRAR+M researchers have excavated some of Australia’s oldest archaeological sites, undertaken programmes to directly date paintings, analysed the role of symbolic behaviour in human evolution, explored the nature of contact era rock art, investigated rock art as a social information in arid and coastal Australia, collected baseline data on rock art and Tjukurrpa from the Canning Stock Route, prepared of management plans for rock art regions (e.g. Sydney, Port Hedland) and specific sites (Whale Cave), and undertaken the scientific assessments for National Heritage Listing and World Heritage nominations.

UWA archaeologists are also involved in early Upper Palaeolithic art research in central Europe, as well as comparative studies in North America, South Africa and China. They are leaders in the development, refinement, and application of digital recording and enhancement techniques of heavily deteriorated rock-paintings and engravings.

Current Projects

Dating Murujuga's Dreaming

This project will bring innovative science to understand the age of the rock art and stone structures of Murujuga, reconstructing and modelling Holocene occupation and voyaging around the Dampier Archipelago.

Desert to the Sea

This Project will expand our understanding of Aboriginal settlement and land-use in north-west Australia by investigating how the mythological narratives of Australia’s deserts enable the transmission of knowledge in water-limited environments.

The Project will bring together Indigenous knowledge and western scientific approaches to improve management outcomes for Indigenous ranger groups managing vast cultural estates with significant rock art.

Rock Art Field School

The Rock Art Field School is a unit offered at The University of Western Australia to train undergraduate students in the rock art methodology deployed by CRAR+M researchers.

476629563 Centre for Rock Art Research M

Mailing Address:

Centre for Rock Art, Research + Management,

School of Social Sciences,

M257, 32 Stirling Highway, Perth WA 6009

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All imagery on this website is the IP of CRAR+M and ICIP of the collaborating Aboriginal Organisation.

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