Women in Australian Rock Art Research: The Legacies ofAndrée Rosenfeld and Patricia Vinnicombe

Australian rock art research, management and advocacy have enjoyed significant shaping by female practitioners. The strong and enduring female participation and shaping of rock art research is a noteworthy feature in an otherwise historically androcentric archaeology, at least in the northern hemisphere in erstwhile colonial centres (cf. Fredengren 2018; Hays-Gilpin 2000). Significantly, as one moves away from Europe, female participation and shaping of archaeology in general, and rock art research in particular, is a hallmark of disciplinary development. Indeed, in the last decades this trend is marked (e.g. Mate and Ulm 2016, 2021; Ulm et al. 2013). We examine the lives and contributions of two remarkable rock art researchers – Andrée Rosenfeld and Patricia Vinnicombe. Both scholars were extremely good at what they did – though their expertise and opportunities differed. Their work offers insights into how today’s rock art research developed, and where rock art research may go in the future.