ARCH3316 Rock Art Field School B

2015

4.5

1 x 2-week field trip per semester

This topic is designed for students who wish to develop and apply their skills in community archaeology in Australia, including the recording and interpretation of rock art in its wider cultural, landscape and archaeological contexts.

Students who have completed a previous Rock Art Field School are required to undertake this topic at a different site, and with a different Aboriginal community, than they have worked with previously.

Fees will be charged to cover such things as transport, accommodation and food depending on the location of the field school.

Students should consult the topic coordinator before enrolling.

This topic aims to:

• extend students' awareness of the range of skills necessary to accurately and appropriately record rock art in Australia

• deepen students' awareness of the unique theoretical and political issues surrounding rock art research in Australia

• consolidate for students the practical and personal skills necessary to conducting field research with Aboriginal people in Australia

• further develop students' understanding of how to undertake ethical and culturally appropriate fieldwork in Aboriginal communities

On completion of this topic students will be able to:

• undertake ethical archaeological research with Aboriginal communities in Australia

• undertake advanced rock art recording

• demonstrate an advanced understanding of the range of rock art recording techniques and their limitations

• demonstrate an advanced understanding of the key theoretical and political debates surrounding rock art in Australia

• demonstrate an advanced understanding of the complexity of Aboriginal cultures and the role of rock art in these cultural systems

• return research findings to Aboriginal communities in culturally-appropriate formats