Abstract

Author:
Xiang Wan, Keying Chen

Doi: 10.7508/jra.02.2024.52.56

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

This review consists in the written scholarship in honor of the Professor Robert G. Bednarik, which is published in Study of Palaeoart of the World: A Quest for Understanding the Evolution of Human Constructs of Reality under the editorship of Giriraj Kumar. This collection of papers is not only an academic book, rather it is an homage to one of the pioneering researchers in rock art, integrating various regions and literatures on palaeoart. The review also highlights the multidimensional coverage of the book, such as the achievements of Bednarik and his personal life, and his impact, if any, on the methods of rock art dating. Furthermore, it addresses the new geographical and thematic areas and approaches covered in the work, revealing the state of the art and technological advances in palaeoart. Moreover, the review illustrates why the work is crucial to both specialists and the general public in that it connects the audience to the past via the analysis of rock art as a pathway to the development of the mind of modern human beings. It concludes by commending the editors and contributors for their efforts towards the production of an informative and durable book about the legacy of rock art and all those who have striven to understand this art form throughout history.