The archaeology of world rock art

A major way that archaeologists make sense of the past is through the images that people depicted on rocks and on cave walls: rock art is one of the most common, and most visually impressive kind of archaeological evidence. In this unit, you will learn about the history of modern humans from 60,000-40,000 years ago into recent times across the world, through the symbols and artworks they made and used. You will learn about what cave art looks like across different regions of the world and from different periods of time, and the different kinds of theories and approaches that archaeologists have employed to try to make sense of this imagery. You will learn and be encouraged to reflect about how those theories concern not just 'other' cultures past and present, but also how they reflect on the preconceptions of the researchers themselves and their own cultures. You will cover a range of topics from the earliest years of the discipline of archaeology to the latest writings on human symbolic behaviour, and from the Ice Age to more recent artworks.