One of the major challenges facing archaeologists and cultural heritage/resource managers is how to better approach and understand concepts of significance and value of archaeological features (e.g. stone tools, rock art sites, pottery, stone arrangements, shell middens) in contemporary Indigenous settings. In this article, I focus on exploring contemporary Indigenous engagement and interaction with one specific type of archaeological feature—rock art—to develop a better understanding of how significance and value are attributed to sites and motifs. Through the lens of affectual, relational, and cultural understandings of rock art in northern Australia and the American Southwest I examine the complex nature of encounters and responses (e.g. verbal and gestural) to sites and motifs to illustrate how concerns with significance go beyond the archaeological realm. Using Gell's (1992 The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology. In Anthropology, Art, and Aesthetics, edited by Jeremy Coote and Anthony Shelton, pp. 40–67. Clarendon Press, Oxford) ideas of agency and affect as a starting point, and then unpacking the responses that are elicited from visiting or viewing rock art, I focus on investigating the structure of the relationship between people and the contemporary social significance of archaeological features. A key outcome from this research is the realization that contemporary engagement with rock art is diverse and can be shaped by a variety of factors including ontological and epistemological understandings, emotional experiences (e.g. fear), social memory, and the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

中文翻译：

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当代土著与考古特征的关系：岩石艺术的代理、影响和社会意义

考古学家和文化遗产/资源管理人员面临的主要挑战之一是如何更好地处理和理解当代土著环境中考古特征（例如石器、岩画遗址、陶器、石头排列、贝壳堆）的重要性和价值概念。在本文中，我将重点探索当代土著人与一种特定类型的考古特征（岩画）的互动和互动，以更好地了解遗址和主题的重要性和价值是如何被赋予的。通过对澳大利亚北部和美国西南部岩石艺术的情感、关系和文化理解的镜头，我考察了相遇和反应的复杂性质（例如 口头和手势）到地点和主题，以说明对重要性的关注如何超越考古领域。使用 Gell 的（1992 The Technology of Enchantment and the Enchantment of Technology。在人类学、艺术和美学中，由 Jeremy Coote 和 Anthony Shelton 编辑，第 40-67 页。Clarendon Press，牛津）将代理和影响的想法作为起点，然后解开参观或观看岩画引起的反应，我专注于研究人与人之间的关系结构以及考古特征的当代社会意义。这项研究的一个关键成果是认识到当代对岩画的参与是多种多样的，可以受到多种因素的影响，包括本体论和认识论的理解、情感体验（例如恐惧）、