International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO)
Encyclopedia
The International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO) is a coordinating body of 44 organizations concerned with prehistoric rock art
.
, Australia
on 3 September 1988, during the first major international academic conference dedicated entirely to the study of prehistoric rock art. Nine rock art organizations formed this international federation of independent national or regional bodies. At the founding meeting, it was decided that IFRAO should be a common forum and initiator of policies, projecting or representing the common interests of member organizations without interfering in their autonomy. It would operate as a democratic advisory body in which each member organization would hold one vote, exercised by an official representative. International meetings would be held by nominating suitable rock art conferences as official IFRAO congresses at regular intervals.
Over the subsequent twelve years, the number of affiliate members quadrupled to almost 40, and the current 43 members of IFRAO cover most of the world. The combined memberships of these organizations include about 7,000 rock art specialists, which is practically all such specialists in the world.
Until the late 1980s, individual rock art researchers as well as rock art organizations around the world operated largely without being aware of the work conducted in other parts of the world — sometimes even in their own country or region of activity. As a result, the discipline experienced a great diversity of research approaches and terminology, reflected in a multitude of idiosyncratic constructs, sequences, chronologies, names and definitions. Therefore, one of IFRAO’s initial principal concerns was the standardization
of those aspects of the discipline that are essential for effective communication and collaboration: methodology
, terminology
, ethics
, and the technical standards used in analysis and recording. These subjects were addressed through extensive consultation of specialists and, where appropriate, the deliberations of appointed subcommittees.
, the official organ of the federation. IFRAO has been particularly effective in the area of rock art protection and preservation, achieving sometimes spectacular successes, such as the electoral defeat of recalcitrant governments in 1995 and 2002. The federation has become the principal international body pursuing the conservation of prehistoric rock art effectively. Another of its greatest achievements to date has been its successful campaign of empowering traditional indigenous societies to secure the return of rock art sites into their care and possession.
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
.
History
The IFRAO was formed in DarwinDarwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on 3 September 1988, during the first major international academic conference dedicated entirely to the study of prehistoric rock art. Nine rock art organizations formed this international federation of independent national or regional bodies. At the founding meeting, it was decided that IFRAO should be a common forum and initiator of policies, projecting or representing the common interests of member organizations without interfering in their autonomy. It would operate as a democratic advisory body in which each member organization would hold one vote, exercised by an official representative. International meetings would be held by nominating suitable rock art conferences as official IFRAO congresses at regular intervals.
Over the subsequent twelve years, the number of affiliate members quadrupled to almost 40, and the current 43 members of IFRAO cover most of the world. The combined memberships of these organizations include about 7,000 rock art specialists, which is practically all such specialists in the world.
Until the late 1980s, individual rock art researchers as well as rock art organizations around the world operated largely without being aware of the work conducted in other parts of the world — sometimes even in their own country or region of activity. As a result, the discipline experienced a great diversity of research approaches and terminology, reflected in a multitude of idiosyncratic constructs, sequences, chronologies, names and definitions. Therefore, one of IFRAO’s initial principal concerns was the standardization
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....
of those aspects of the discipline that are essential for effective communication and collaboration: methodology
Methodology
Methodology is generally a guideline for solving a problem, with specificcomponents such as phases, tasks, methods, techniques and tools . It can be defined also as follows:...
, terminology
Terminology
Terminology is the study of terms and their use. Terms are words and compound words that in specific contexts are given specific meanings, meanings that may deviate from the meaning the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language. The discipline Terminology studies among other...
, ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, and the technical standards used in analysis and recording. These subjects were addressed through extensive consultation of specialists and, where appropriate, the deliberations of appointed subcommittees.
Objectives
The IFRAO members produce about twenty specialist periodicals, whose flagship is Rock Art ResearchRock Art Research
Rock Art Research is the journal of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations and of the Australian Rock Art Research Association Inc - . Based in Melbourne, Australia, and founded in 1984, it has since been the world's premier academic journal in the fields of pre-Historic art...
, the official organ of the federation. IFRAO has been particularly effective in the area of rock art protection and preservation, achieving sometimes spectacular successes, such as the electoral defeat of recalcitrant governments in 1995 and 2002. The federation has become the principal international body pursuing the conservation of prehistoric rock art effectively. Another of its greatest achievements to date has been its successful campaign of empowering traditional indigenous societies to secure the return of rock art sites into their care and possession.
Members
- American Committee to Advance the Study of Petroglyphs and Pictographs
- American Rock Art Research Association
- American Centre of Prehistoric Art Study
- Asociación Arqueológica Viguesa
- Asociación Cultural ‘Colectivo Barbaón’
- Asociación de Estudios del Arte Rupestre de Cochabamba
- Associação Brasileira de Arte Rupestre
- Associação Portuguesa de Arte e Arqueologia Rupestre
- Association des Amis de l’Art Rupestre Saharien
- Association Marocaine de l’Art Rupestre
- Association pour le Rayonnement de l’Art Rupestre Européen
- Australian Rock Art Research Association
- Cave Art Research Association
- Centro de Investigación de Arte Rupestre del Uruguay
- Centro Studi e Museo d’Arte Preistorica
- Comité de Investigación del Arte Rupestre de la Sociedad Argentina de Antropologia
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Petroikonologie e. V.
- East African Rock Art Research Association
- Eastern States Rock Art Research Association
- Gesellschaft für Vergleichende Felsbildforschung
- Grupo de Investigación de Arte Rupestre Indigena
- Hellenic Rock Art Centre
- Institutum CanariumInstitutum CanariumInstitutum Canarium is an academic association founded in 1969 concerned with the cultural history of the Canary Islands and the neighbouring cultures of the Mediterranean region.The headquarters are in Vienna.It publishes two periodicals:...
- Japan Petrograph Society
- Mid-America Geographic Foundation, Inc. (MAGF)
- Moscow Centre of Rock Art and Bioindication Research
- Nevada Rock Art Foundation
- Northern Cape Rock Art Trust
- Pictish Arts Society
- Prehistory Society of Zimbabwe
- Rock Art Association of Manitoba
- Rock Art Research Association of China (RARAC)
- Rock Art Society of India (RASI)
- Siberian Association of Prehistoric Art Researches
- Sociedad de Investigación del Arte Rupestre de Bolivia
- Società Cooperativa Archeologica Le Orme dell’Uomo
- Societé Préhistorique Ariège-Pyrénées
- Southern African Rock Art Research Association
- Tadjik Centre for the study of Petroglyphs
- Trust for African Rock Art (TARA)
- Upper Midwest Rock Art Research Association
- Verein Anisa
- Welsh Rock-art Organisation