Study of Palaeoart of the World: A Quest for Understanding the Evolution of Human Constructs of Reality (A Volume in Honour of Professor Robert G Bednarik)

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Study of Palaeoart of the world: A quest for understanding the evolution of human constructs of reality is a volume in honour of Professor Robert G. Bednarik, Convener, International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO). It is to felicitate him on his birthday on 6th April 2024 when he is turning 80. The volume consists of 28 articles by 25 experienced scholars most of whom have worked with Robert. The articles have been presented in two parts. Part I comprises 11 articles highlighting the personality, contributions, and achievements of Robert G. Bednarik in the field of Palaeoart research and sweet memories of working with him by different scholars from all over the world. Part II contains 17 articles by veteran scholars who are highly knowledgeable and experts in their field of research. The areas covered are rock art research, the cognitive and cultural development of humans, the development of the brain, cognitive capabilities, language, different aspects of the cultures of humans and their reflections in rock art, Stone Age art and communication design, scientific dating and other areas of rock art science such as protection, conservation, and management of rock art heritage sites, etc. The articles echo the life-long experiences and in-depth study of the subjects in Palaeoart by the scholars from different parts of the world.

The papers in this volume reflect the dedication and deep involvement of the scholars for understanding the development of cultural landscape and human behaviour as an integral part of the nature through Palaeoart. The volume is like a nectar of the experiences and learnings of highly experienced scholars. Going through it takes the reader to different horizons of understanding the concepts of reality in the journey of human evolution. The volume highlights the expeditions of the scientific research and development made in the discipline of research during the last four and half decades. The vision and mission presented in this volume are going to give a new direction and energy to Palaeoart research in the world.

Prof. Robert G. Bednarik from Australia is an inspiration to many scholars working on the scientific study of Palaeoart and allied disciplines in all the continents of the world except Antarctica. He is highly respected and loved by scholars of all ages, having immensely contributed to establishing the rock art discipline on a scientific footing and securing its steady growth.

Prof. Giriraj Kumar, born at Baran, Rajasthan in India on 01 January 1953, is a veteran scholar of Rock Art Science and Indian Culture. His field work and research in Palaeoart during the last 45 years have established Rock Art Discipline on scientific footings in India. He has brought out 7 books and published nearly 140 research papers in national and international peer reviewed journals. Out of these Rock Art of India (2015) and Chaturbhujnath Nala: A magnificent rock art gallery in India are his outstanding books close to his heart.

In order to promote scientific rock art research in India at par with the global developments he founded Rock Art Society of India (RASI) and its peer reviewed international journal Purakala in 1990, and has been serving the both since then till present, in the capacity of the Secretary General and Editor, RASL. He is the President of RASI since 01 April, 2023. He has edited and brought out 31 volumes of Purakala. He has participated in and organised many national and international conferences in India and abroad.

His research has established the existence of Ostrich in India in the late late-Pleistocene period, discovered many rock art sites and conducted a no. of scientific expeditions. He was the close student of late Dr V. S. Wakankar, the father of Rock Art Discipline in India. With him he carried out excavations at Bhimbetka, the Stone Age rock art site in the Vindhyas (1977), Mandsaur (1978), Dangawada (1979, 1980, 1982) and Runija (1981), the chalcolithic sites in Chambal Valley in Madhya Pradesh. The excavations at Daraki-Chattan Cave in river Chambal basin and his seminal research on it together with Prof. Robert G. Bednarik and Dr Ram Krishna through the EIP Project established unambiguously the Lower Paleolithic antiquity of the cupules and petroglyphs at Daraki-Chattan Cave, for the first time in the world. It is 3-10 times much older than that of Europe. Daraki-Chattan Cave is an early Paleolithic cupule site at Indragarh, Bhanpura in district Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, India. It also proved that India in Asia, not the Europe was the epicenter of early cultural development in the world. It is a great contribution to rock art and archaeology during the last 100 years.

Prof. Giriraj Kumar, for his extraordinary contributions in rock art and archaeology, was awarded with the prestigious Dr V. S. Wakankar award 2017-18 by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in 2021. He was invited by the UNESCO/WHC/SpaFIT/Prehistory_3 as the Asian Expert to participate in the, "Prehistory and the World Heritage Convention: Towards an Action Plan and the related thematic studies, 3-4 November 2008, UNESCO, Paris.

Study of Palaeoart of the world: A quest for understanding the evolution of human constructs of reality is a volume in honour of Professor Robert G. Bednarik, Convener, International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO). It consists of 28 articles by 25 experienced scholars, which have been presented in two parts. Part I comprises 11 articles highlighting the personality, contributions, and achievements of Robert G. Bednarik in the field of Palaeoart research and sweet memories of working with him by different scholars from all over the world. Part 11 contains 17 articles on study of Palaeoart of the world by veteran scholars who are highly knowledgeable and experts in their field of research. The areas covered are rock art research, the cognitive and cultural development of humans, the development of the brain, cognitive capabilities, language, different aspects of the cultures of humans and their reflections in rock art, Stone Age art and communication design, scientific dating and other areas of rock art science such as protection, conservation, and management of rock art heritage sites, etc. The articles echo the life-long experiences and in-depth study of the subjects in Palaeoart by the scholars from different parts of the world.

Study of Palaeoart of the world: A quest for understanding the evolution of human constructs of reality is a volume brought out in honour of Prof. Robert G. Bednarik, Convener, IFRAO, It is a result of the contributions and cooperation made by many scholars on my invitation; hence, it is my duty to acknowledge them. My foremost and heartfelt thanks go to Prof. Robert G. Bednarik himself who kindly accepted my proposal to bring out a felicitation volume in his honour. He also helped me to contact the right persons from all over the world who have been working in different fields of learning about understanding the evolution of human constructs of reality through rock art. Most of them worked with Robert and some of them were familiar with him through his scholarly work. All of them were very happy with the idea and most of them lovingly contributed their personal experiences of working with Robert and their scholarly articles to this volume. Some of the senior scholars faced difficulties in meeting the editorial norms. But, all of them cooperated affectionately. Hence, I express my deep gratitude to all of them. My apology to be strict to get them to follow the editorial norms. It was all because I wanted to see the wonderful results in the form of the present volume.