Contested Images: Rock Art Heritage on and off the Rocks

In many countries, cultural and socio-political identity is still shaped, manipulated, and presented through rock art. Both on and off the rocks, pictographs and petroglyphs are powerful tools. In this poster, I present results from ten years of fieldwork in southern Africa, northern Australia, and west Texas. I focus on re-contextualised rock art images, in commercial settings, in academic publications, and as integral components of national symbols. I also consider innovative new visitor centres concerned with conservation, job creation, promoting community archaeology, and – above all – challenging visitors’ preconceptions of rock art and of the Indigenous peoples who made it.