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Our Approach

We typically build on research already undertaken, expanding the depth and scope of our understanding. All research is undertaken in concert with the Prescribed Body Corporates, Aboriginal Corporations and Indigenous Protected Area Ranger programs as well as industry stakeholders to ensure engagement, cultural relevance and compliance.

Appropriate selection of projects is essential to ensuring our research program is well integrated. We work collaboratively and respectfully with Traditional Owners and their communities.

Research Themes and Priorities

Eight priority research themes reflect leading questions in rock art research and guide us in identifying and funding research projects:

  • Interpret and understand Australia’s rock art and the people and cultures that produced it.
  • Reconstruct past climate and environments.
  • Understand the production and composition of Australia’s rock art.
  • Develop methodologies and treatments to understand, protect, and conserve the durability, resilience, and preservation of rock art.
  • Establish the antiquity of engraved and pigment art in Australia and understand its variability across space and time.
  • Investigate the timing and patterns of human occupation in Australia using archaeological, genetic, and other relevant data.
  • Establish educational approaches to share and promote the research and cultural stories of rock art.
  • Engage with local and Indigenous communities to ensure research aligns with cultural aspirations, supports community-led management efforts, and fosters mutual benefit through knowledge sharing and capacity building.
RESEARCH PROJECTSRESEARCH FUNDING

Prof Andy Gleadow discusses the initial results of groundbreaking academic research across the Kimberley region.

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