Abstract:
This paper introduces to the Before Farming readership a selection of 14 rock-art-centric papers arranged
around three key human relationships. These comprise the relationships people have with other people
(colonialism), relationships people have with places (landscape), and relationships that people have with
other animals and with plants (ecology). Rock-art1 is a theoretically-informed artefact capable of illuminating
aspects of past and contemporary human behaviour in new and insightful ways. The papers presented in
this and the next two issues of Before Farming were originally presented at the Australian Rock Art Research
Association (AURA) conference held in Alice Springs, Australia, July 2000. The issues these papers address
represent and extend contemporary anthropological and archaeological concerns with time, place and
identity. We hope that the papers will also provide material for contemplation, contestation and questing.
