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Topic · Archeology

Archaeology and Rock Art Studies

Archaeology and Rock Art Studies is a research topic within Archeology. Science Explorer counts 6.7k research works in it since 1950. 10.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers encompasses a wide range of topics related to archaeological research in Southern Africa, including the study of rock art, cultural landscapes, the San people, indigenous knowledge, heritage management, social complexity, and the Iron Age. It explores the historical and cultural significance of the region and its inhabitants, shedding light on various aspects of pre-colonial societies and their material culture.

  • Southern Africa
  • Archaeology
  • Rock Art
  • Cultural Landscape
  • San People
  • Iron Age
  • Indigenous Knowledge
  • Heritage Management
  • Social Complexity
  • Ethnographic Context
Research works
6.7k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
702
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+9%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
28% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Archaeology and Rock Art Studies

Which countries lead Archaeology and Rock Art Studies research?

By volume, the United States and South Africa publish the most (299 and 215 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 299 works
  2. 2 South Africa 215 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 143 works
  4. 4 France 112 works
  5. 5 Australia 80 works
  6. 6 Germany 54 works
  7. 7 China 42 works
  8. 8 Spain 42 works
  9. 9 Canada 41 works
  10. 10 Russia 35 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 28.1%South Africa: 20.3%United Kingdom: 13.4%France: 10.6%6 others listed: 27.6%28%largest
United States299 · 28.1%South Africa215 · 20.3%United Kingdom143 · 13.4%France112 · 10.6%6 others listed294 · 27.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Archaeology and Rock Art Studies research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Archaeology and Rock Art Studies research, followed by University of the Witwatersrand and University of Johannesburg.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 57 works
  2. 2 University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 41 works
  3. 3 University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 29 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 22 works
  5. 5 University of South AfricaSouth Africa 19 works
  6. 6 University of PretoriaSouth Africa 18 works
  7. 7 University of Cape TownSouth Africa 15 works
  8. 8 Department of ArchaeologySri Lanka 15 works
  9. 9 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 15 works
  10. 10 Nelson Mandela UniversitySouth Africa 14 works

Who are the leading researchers in Archaeology and Rock Art Studies?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Archaeology and Rock Art Studies include Robert A. Holt, Meinrat Otto Andreae and F. Barone.

  1. 1 Robert A. Holt Canada 156k citations
  2. 2 Meinrat Otto Andreae Germany 105k citations
  3. 3 F. Barone Italy 99k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Archaeology and Rock Art Studies?

The most cited paper in Archaeology and Rock Art Studies is "The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior" (Sally McBrearty, Alison S. Brooks, 2000), with 2,725 citations. Next come "Occult economies and the violence of abstraction: notes from the South African postcolony" (1,531) and "Archaeology as Anthropology" (1,495).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior Sally McBrearty, Alison S. Brooks · Journal of Human Evolution Nov 2000 2,725
2 Occult economies and the violence of abstraction: notes from the South African postcolony Jean Comaroff, John Comaroff · American Ethnologist May 1999 1,531
3 Archaeology as Anthropology Lewis R. Binford · American Antiquity Oct 1962 1,495
4 Archaeological Context and Systemic Context Michael Brian Schiffer · American Antiquity Apr 1972 1,136
5 Emergence of Modern Human Behavior: Middle Stone Age Engravings from South Africa Christopher Stuart Henshilwood, Francesco d’Errico, Royden Yates et al. · Science 15 Feb 2002 992
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Archaeology and Rock Art Studies research done?

The largest centres of Archaeology and Rock Art Studies research in 2022-now are Johannesburg (South Africa), Pretoria (South Africa), Paris (France) and Oxford (United Kingdom). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 JohannesburgSouth Africa 72 works
  2. 2 PretoriaSouth Africa 43 works
  3. 3 ParisFrance 40 works
  4. 4 OxfordUnited Kingdom 25 works
  5. 5 LondonUnited Kingdom 24 works
  6. 6 Washington D.C.United States 17 works
  7. 7 ColomboSri Lanka 17 works
  8. 8 RondeboschSouth Africa 15 works
  9. 9 MelbourneAustralia 15 works
  10. 10 ToulouseFrance 15 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. JohannesburgZA · 72.1 works41×
  2. PretoriaZA · 43.3 works24×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Archaeology and Rock Art Studies than the world average.

See Archaeology and Rock Art Studies on the map

Where is the best place to study Archaeology and Rock Art Studies?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Johannesburg, University of Tübingen and University of the Witwatersrand score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%30%mean 11.06%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →University of TübingenUniversity of Johann…University of the Wi…University of Oxford
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1University of JohannesburgSouth Africa 67.913.8%36.6×29 +68.9%
2University of TübingenGermany 67.227.8%16.5×9 +18.9%
3University of the WitwatersrandSouth Africa 61.812.2%74.5×41 -30.8%
4University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 52.19.4%8.3×15 +56.0%
5University of Cape TownSouth Africa 49.811.3%34.3×15 -5.3%
6University of South AfricaSouth Africa 41.86.8%34.6×19 +53.4%
7Stellenbosch UniversitySouth Africa 37.24.6%23.4×12 +19.5%
8Nelson Mandela UniversitySouth Africa 36.53.4%100.0×14 +231.7%
9University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 35.515.2%6.9×11 -16.8%
10University of PretoriaSouth Africa 34.36.1%31.6×18 -40.2%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Archaeology and Rock Art Studies, country by country

Is Archaeology and Rock Art Studies research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 9% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Archaeology and Rock Art Studies.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Archaeology and Rock Art Studies as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.0053% in 2024.

still counting0.0050%0.010%Archaeology and Rock Art Studies0.0068% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Archaeology and Rock Art Studies over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Archaeology and Rock Art Studies10.5% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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