Lorblanchet, Michel. 2018. Petroglyphs of Dampier—general conclusions. Chapter 9
Abstract
Lorblanchet, Michel, 2018. Petroglyphs of Dampier—general conclusions. In Archaeology and Petroglyphs of Dampier (Western Australia), an Archaeological Investigation of Skew Valley and Gum Tree Valley, ed. Graeme K. Ward and Ken Mulvaney, chapter 9, pp. 687–690. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum, Online 27: 1–690.
[Excerpt] … In 1974, fresh from the painted Palaeolithic caves of my country, [Michel Lorblanchet writes] I was first sent to Dampier by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies where I was employed as a research consultant. It is probably in part due to the extent of my ignorance that I allowed myself to take on this heavy responsibility. The institute expected from me nothing less than a total archaeological appraisal of the importance of the Dampier rock art, its potential for further research and future conservation measures, together with specific proposals on methods of study that might be undertaken! Without my knowing it, I had been sent directly to one of the more prestigious sites of world rock art! … The person who alerted the Institute the necessity of such a mission was Mr Enzo Virili, an engineer with the Dampier Salt Company. He had sent reports to the Institute, and had participated in a conference organized in 1974 by the Institute’s Principal, Dr Peter Ucko (Virili, 1974). … With the benefit of hindsight, what I have retained from my stay in Dampier and in Australia is firstly the tremendous scientific and human education that I received during my work on this continent and the friendly collaboration that I established with all the institutions and personalities I met, as well as with the members of my field team, in which I had for a time an Aboriginal assistant, ‘Ben’. …
