About the speaker: Robert Bednarik is an expert in rock art around the world. He came to Australia 42 years ago as an Austrian migrant and became fascinated with the Pilbara and Dampier Archipelago of Western Australia and its rock art. Robert's pioneering work in the region led to his development of a new dating technique that enables him to put an age on ancient rock art.

For Robert, the Dampier Archipelago petroglyphs and rock art around the world, tell the story of the development of human creativity. Using his microerosion analysis technique, Robert has estimated the petroglyphs of other sites in the Pilbara are 27,000 years old, which is the time of the last Ice Age. If Robert's dating is correct, then the Pilbara rock art could be the largest collection of Ice Age rock art in the world.

However, Dampier rock art is under severe threat of destruction through industrial development and almost 25 per cent of rock art on the main island, Murujuga (Burrup) has already been destroyed. It now faces the establishment of a huge petrochemical complex and acidification of the atmospheric environment.

The traditional owners of this rock art, the local Aboriginal people, were given no control over their cultural property until 2003. They have been joined by conservationists, by the local population, by politicians of all parties, and even by some of the companies involved in the planned expansion, to have the new industrial development relocated to an industrial estate, the nearby Maitland Estate on the mainland, away from the rock art.

He is Convener, President and Editor, International Federation of Rock Art Organisations (IFRAO); Secretary and Editor, Australian Rock Art Research Association, Inc. (AURA); Managing Director, Archaeological Publications Inc.; Managing Director, Archaeological Soil Lab; Patron, Life Member, Honorary Member or Member of various scholarly associations world-wide; Permanent Chairman of the AURA Congress; Webmaster of AURANET, the home-page of the Australian Rock Art Research Association, Inc. (AURA); National Co-ordinator of CAR, International Comité pour l'Art Rupestre, ICOMOS; Chief Scientist, The First Mariners Project and the Nale Tasih Expeditions; Director, International Institute of Replicative Archaeology; and Associate Member, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

He has over 480 refereed scientific publications in 32 languages, mostly in cognitive epistemology and palaeoart studies, also general and replicative archaeology, soil science, speleology, deontology, semiotics and geomorphology. In all about 1050 publications, including several books. He has appeared in 19 film documentaries and he has presented about 170 papers at professional meetings and invited lectures.

Bednarik has done field research in various thematic and geographical areas, especially in central, northern, eastern, western and southern Europe; Siberia, India, China, Arabia, Indonesia, Canada, USA, Mexico, Caribbean, various South American countries, southern Africa, Morocco, all regions of Australia.

Innovations: first in the world to date rock art directly with radiometric methods (reprecipitated carbonates in Malangine Cave, Australia); developed first non-interfering rock art dating method (microerosion method, first applied at Lake Onega, Russia); introduced advanced statistics in Australian archaeology (Brainerd-Robinson method). Developed new techniques for assessing weathering of silica minerals, and for studying cave climate; invented an instrument to measure the porosity of rock; conducted first comprehensive study of wall markings in caves, first to investigate Pleistocene seafaring. Responsible for major scientific discoveries in various countries, including oldest known rock art in the world, first Palaeolithic art of China, most cave art of Australia. Founded Archaeological Soil Lab in 1980, Archaeological Publications and AURA in 1983, and co-founded IFRAO in 1988. Campaigned actively for Aboriginal control of sites of indigenous heritage.

His Specific projects include: Promenadensteig Cave 1960-1966; Gudenus Cave 1963 - ongoing (oldest known occupation site of Austria); Discovery of largest helictite concentration in the world (Excentriques Cave, Austria), 1963; Discovery of the major Pilbara rock art concentrations in Western Australia 1967-1970; Parietal Markings Project 1975 - ongoing (cave art in Australia and abroad, included the discovery of 37 of the 40 known sites of Australian cave art); Cave habitability and speleoclimatic study project 1980 - ongoing; Patination of sedimentary silicas and other minerals 1973 - 1981; Numerous geomorphological and sedimentary/pedological projects 1962 - ongoing; Dating of Australian cave art and of petroglyphs generally 1980 - ongoing; Portable Palaeolithic art of Eurasia, and beginnings of art and symbolism 1971 - ongoing; Pleistocene underground mining evidence of the world 1979 - 1992; Paroong Cave Preservation Project 1986 - 1988; Colour calibration and re-constitution by computer 1991 - 1995; Co-operative project with Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, India 1994 - 2000; Pleistocene seafaring and maritime replication studies 1994 - ongoing; Early Indian Petroglyphs (EIP) Project 2000 - ongoing; Survey of Saudi Arabian rock art 2002 - ongoing Editing and publishing of three scientific periodicals (Rock Art Research, AURA Newsletter and Cave Art Research) and two monograph series 1983 - ongoing. Editing and publishing of three scientific periodicals (Rock Art Research, AURA Newsletter and Cave Art Research) and two monograph series 1983 - ongoing.

Bednarik is a member of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (Founder, Secretary and Editor, Past President), Rock Art Society of India (Patron and Life Member), ICOMOS-CAR (National Co-ordinator), Rock Art Research Association of China (Editorial Board Member), Centro Studi e Museo d'Arte Preistorica, American Rock Art Research Association, American Committee to Advance the Study of Petroglyphs and Pictographs, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, Australian Archaeological Association, Sociedad de Investigación del Arte Rupestre de Bolivia, Southern African Rock Art Research Association.