Data on the petroglyphs of the Eastern Desert of Egypt that have recently become available are collated and analysed in detail. Images of wild animals, domestic animals, anthropoids and boats, together with geometric patterns, are classified and analysed by statistical means to reach conclusions about the preferences of the artists in terms of subject matter, style, context and geographical distribution. Published data on the petroglyphs of the Nile Valley are analysed similarly but in less detail to permit comparison with the Eastern desert, identifýing many similarities but also significant differences. Petroglyphs from farther afield - the Western Desert, Uweinat and the Gilf Kebir, south-eastern Egypt, Sinai, the Negev and Arabia - are also compared. The general conclusion is that similarity decreases rapidly with distance, but there are also a few individual cases indicating that some of the artists were in contact No evidence of contact with Arabia is found. Dating of the Eastern Desert petroglyphs, both relative and absolute, by various methods, is reviewed. It is concluded that, while precision is not possible, it is reasonably certain that many of the animal images, in particular those of animals that require a relatively moist environment, and some of the boats and anthropoids, date to the fourth millennium BC, while other boats, anthropoids and desert animals are later. The significance of the petroglyphs to the artists who drew them is addressed. Various possible reasons for drawing them, such as religious, magical or shamanistic practices, are examined and it is concluded that in the majority of cases it is not possible to say what they meant, Only in the case of the boats is it possible to be reasonably sure that they had some sort of fimerary significance. The probability that many of the images had little or no significance to the artists is recognised. Nevertheless it is possible to deduce much about the artists and their communities. A series of propositions, each based on the analysis of the corpus of images and without any assumptions about meaning, is drawn up. Together these propositions form a partial description of the society that gave rise to the petroglyphs, although not its beliefs. This description is objective and free from conjecture.

This work investigates three key issues in Central Indian rock art research. The first is the question of chronology. How old is this art? I deployed state of the art dating techniques, namely V-series and screening methods, to assign an absolute chronology to the rock art of Central India, with special reference to Mirzapur and Rewa. Apart from absolute ages, the possibilities of relative dating techniques have also been explored, taking into consideration the techniques of superimposition and colour scheme. A case study has been included to support my hypothesis complementary to the existing framework of relative chronology in the region. The next issue is involved with mapping, where rock-shelter sites were mapped on the landscape creating several GIS models, land use models and finally predictive models to test a few hypotheses in Central Indian rock shelter archaeology. New techniques have been introduced here as well, to quantify the changing landscape along with archaeological record in the regions of Mirzapur and Rewa. This study helped to understand and indentify the threats related to the preservation of painted rock-shelters. Lastly several new sites were discovered over a period of a long field survey and this provided fresh data for Indian rock-shelter archaeology, facilitating the testing of several hypotheses, with a number of caveats, in terms of location and types of rock shelters and finally the role of descriptive statistics in rock art research. On the basis of my research, data collection, laboratory experiments, analyses and ultimately final results and data interpretation, I argue that rock art in some specific regions of Central India dates back to Late Pleistocene age and they are mostly made in red and various shades of red colour. Some of these rock art sites are in great danger because of mining activity, honey collection, fire making and camping activities within these precious sites. Apart from anthropogenic reasons, natural reasons, like the effects of desertification is also damaging this extraordinary corpus. Therefore, proper policy implementation is absolutely imperative to conserve and preserve the cultural heritage of this region.

Pictographs occur frequently in the landscapes of northern central British Columbia, but they have received modest academic attention. As a result, there is limited understanding of rock art as social practice and its significance within larger cultural landscapes. This research integrates First Nations traditional knowledge with archaeological data in order to investigate the waterscape context and iconography of pictographs across three First Nations traditional territories. The insights into the rock markings provided by First Nations elders offer important informed perspectives about the images and the landscape that, when combined with archaeological data and formal analytical processes, enable the study of the social understanding of rock art and its context within the expansive territories of this region.

This thesis presents a comprehensive review and analysis of the prehistoric rock carvings in the county of Cumbria in NW England. It builds upon Beckensall's Prehistoric Rock Art in Cumbria (2002), focussing on a substantial study area with diverse topography, and seeking to understand the rock art in relation to the natural landscape and known archaeology, and in the context of rock art traditions in neighbouring regions. Systematic evaluation of the database resulted in the exclusion of several panels of `rock art', which were determined to be of geological origin. Additional panels were sought by increasing public awareness and through direct field-survey, and six new panels were documented. Further examples were identified from literature sources, and all were collated in a revised dataset. From the landscape characteristics of known panels, predictive theoretical models were developed, and areas matching these models were field-surveyed. These demonstrated that the upland rock art tradition of NE England does not appear to cross into Cumbria, and that a very different, outcrop-based practice occurred in the central valleys. GIS was used to explore the updated dataset for relationships between rock art, topography, and archaeology. Three groups of panels with shared characteristics were further investigated, focussing on the materiality of the carved rocks, their accessibility within the landscape, their potential social and religious dimensions, and their extended biographies within multiple contexts. Connections with seasonal expeditions for the procurement of stone were explored and the notion of natural route-ways applied to account for the location of rock art at key communication nodes. Concepts of `natural monuments' and `ancestral art' were also considered, with topographical elements such as rivers and mountains, and natural features like fissures and solution hollows, argued to be integral to a social and sacred landscape, which was signified and enhanced by rock carvings.

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Rock art monuments provide a link to our ancient cultural pasts, they possess seeming permanence but are sensitive to their environment. The increasing emphasis on non-destructive testing and demand for thorough characterisation of cultural heritage material in situ requires the development of advanced diagnostic methods, providing the motivation for this work on the application of optical coherence tomography, hyperspectral imaging and nuclear magnetic resonance to rock art panels. Optical coherence tomography is shown to be an effective method to determine the grain size distribution and hydraulic conductivity of historic sandstone in situ. Studies were performed on historic sandstone headstones to demonstrate the relationship between the hydraulic conductivity of sandstone and the type and severity of weathering features present. A study of rock art panels in situ is given, to characterise the host rock and provide quantitative assessment of the vulnerability of the panels to weathering processes. The relative impact of natural weathering and anthropogenic damage is shown and a comparison between the characteristic of a proxy sample and the rock art panel itself is provided to highlight the importance of non-destructive in-situ methods for the monitoring and assessing of the vulnerability of rock art monuments. Hyperspectral imaging is demonstrated as an effective technique to determine the presence of moisture in stone, while nuclear magnetic resonance measurements show limitations for use in situ in open air locations.

This study aims to examine all aspects of Moroccan rock art and place it in an archaeological and environmental context. Almost 300 sites are now known but few have been studied fully. This work is the first overall analysis to be attempted. Data on climatic changes during the Holocene period, together with archaeological and faunal reports, provided the necessary background to the rock art. The distribution of engraved and painted sites in Morocco is very uneven. Animals were the most frequent themes, but a review of all the sites revealed great site and subject diversity. Four main types of engravings were Identified, their Characteristics described and their distribution plotted. Climatic fluctuations, new animal species, the introduction of meth weapons, the chariot and writing established a chronological framework. A critical appraisal of these events led to a tentative chronology for Moroccan rock art, thought here to have started around 2500 be. The situation of rock art sites showed that they were chosen for very specific reasons, some of them by nomadic pastoralists. Viewing rock art as a medium of communication, it was proposed that the images were messages defining territories, proclaiming ownership or commemorating heroes or battles. The images may have two levels of meaning: one easily understood by members of the group and by outsiders, the second, symbolic, less obviously comprehensible. Moroccan rock art was not an isolated phenomenon in north Africa. The rock art of Algeria, Libya and Mauritania showed both similarities and differences, IrnpMng a cultural link, albeit tenuous, between these countries. Available archaeological, environmental and rock art data revealed striking differences In information-availability between north and south Morocco. Archaeological research has established a chronologicaal nd cultural framework, in northern Morocco,to which rock art adds nothing. On the other hand, rock engravings of metal weapons are almost the only evidence of a Moroccan Bronze Age. In southern Morocco, the distribution of rock art sites reveals intensive human activity in an area little known from excavation. Rock art, archaeology and environment are thus related in this study to producea comprehensive picture of the past.