Abstract

Rock-art research has never been part of the intellectual mainstream in Canadian archaeology, although some discoveries and experiments have had important impacts on the international scientific scene during the last four decades. During the 1970's and 1980's, considered by some as a golden-age for rock-art research, hundreds of rock-art sites were reported throughout the country, and many were analysed according to scientific procedure proper to archaeological methods. However, the theoretical framework for interpreting the meaning content of those sites was not always explicit, and even sometimes lacking, due in part to the fact that no absolute dating methods could be applied for helping archaeologist to put this type of data in a more secure cultural timeframe. The last decade (the 1990's) has been a period of important changes in rock-art research in different parts of the world, thanks to the application of absolute-dating methods (especially through AMS) to rock-art sites, the interest for cognitive sciences and conservation issues, and, for some countries, efforts made for collaborating more closely with Native communities. Paradoxically, there has been a decrease of interest, as well as of means and resources, for studying rock-art sites in various part of Canada, in particular in the Provinces within the Canadian Shield. My paper will show how a more important consideration of current theories produced by specialists in that field around the world could help to revive this interest in rock art among Canadian archaeologists, and how current and future research projects held in Canada will allow to better contribute to theoretical debates here and abroad.