Robert G. Bednarik


Robert G. Bednarik is an Austrian prehistorian and cognitive archeologist.
Robert Bednarik moved from Austria to Australia in 1966. Bednarik, who considers himself an autodidact, is an expert in the fields of rock art and paleolithic portable art. He conducts experimental archaeology and edits four scientific journals.
According to Bednarik, he has published more than 1,450 scientific articles since 1965. He is professor at the International Centre of Rock Art Dating at the Hebei Normal University in Shijiazhuang.
Bednarik's principal research interest is the origins of the human ability to create constructs of reality; consequently, his research focuses on the origins of art, language, and the development of humanoid technology.

Publications (selection)

; Books Rock art science: the scientific study of palaeoart. IFRAO-Brepols Series 1, Brepols, Turnhout 2001,.The human condition. Springer, New York 2011,.Creating the human past. Archaeopress, Oxford 2013,.
  • : The origins of modern human traits. Nova Press, New York, NY. 2013, ; darin S. 1–58: The psychology of human behaviourThe first mariners. Research India Press, New Delhi 2014,.Myths about rock art. Archaeopress Archeology, Oxford 2016,.Palaeoart of the Ice Age. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne 2017,.Tribology in geology and archaeology. Nova Science Publishers, New York 2019.The domestication of humans. Routledge, London and New York 2020,.Gudenus Cave: The Earliest Humans of Austria. Archaeopress Archaeology, Oxford 2022,.
; ArticlesOn the cognitive development of hominids. In: Man and Environment 15, 1990, S. 1–7.Palaeoart and archaeological myths. In: Cambridge Archaeological Journal 2, 1992, 27–43.Concept-mediated marking in the Lower Palaeolithic. In: Current Anthropology 36, 1995, 605–634.The ‘australopithecine’ cobble from Makapansgat, South Africa. South African Archaeological Bulletin 53: 1998, 4–8.The dating of rock art: a critique. In: Journal of Archaeological Science 29, 2002, 1213–1233.The oldest surviving rock art: a taphonomic review. In: Origini 24, 2002, 335–349.The earliest evidence of palaeoart. In: Rock Art Research 20, 2003, 89–135.Children as Pleistocene artists. In: Rock Art Research 25, 2008, 173–182.The domestication of humans. In: Anthropologie 46, 2008, 1–17.The mythical Moderns. In: Journal of World Prehistory 21, 2008, 85–102.A cause of hominid behaviour. In: HOMO — Journal of Comparative Human Biology 63, 2012, 319–335; doi:10.1016/j.jchb.2012.07.004The tribology of cupules. In: Geological Magazine 152, 2015, S. 758–765; doi:10.1017/S0016756815000060The science of cupules. In: Archaeometry 58, 2016, S. 899-911; doi: 10.1111/arcm.12216Compressive-tensile rock markings. In: Geological Magazine 156, 2019, S. 2113-2116; doi:10.1017/S0016756819001079Archaeotribology: the interaction of surfaces in relative motion in archaeology. In: Tribology International 141; doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106198About the origins of the human ability to create constructs of reality. In: Axiomathes; doi:10.1007/s10516-021-09537-8