The Archive has established standards for three basis levels of site documentation. These levels, in turn, facilitate corresponding levels of research.

LEVEL ONE Content: Site Records (Location)

“Low-order meaning” is the minimum interpretive level at which rock art sites may be regarded. Usually, it is based upon observation of location, rock art type description, rock art production type description, and suggested or accepted ethnic or cultural group boundaries. It requires only minimum documentation, including a site record with basic identifying information. If objective criteria are employed as part of the site record description, rock art element forms are sometimes ordered into types and/or other categories. Statistical analyses are rare at this level. Level One consists of Site Records, which The Archive holds for virtually every county in California in which rock art sites are located. This is the minimum documentation required by the State of California for an archaeological site of any type, and must include the state trinomial designation, site name if known and a USGS map reference if possible, If the site is recorded for the first time, a site number must be assigned after a records search. A sketch map is also useful. If the site is out of state, the prevailing standards in the area apply. If the site is in Mexico, jurisdiction and standard are set by INAH and copies of these standards are on file.

Level One Access: Basic Search Request
Users may make a Level One search request by contacting the UCLA Rock Art Archive by telephone, post, or email during regularly scheduled hours. Staff will search Site Records and Site Reports if given the site name, county or country location, and/or site number identification, and will provide a description of the types of documentation on file, as well as the quantity and quality of that documentation. An index of unpublished manuscripts and books in the UCLA Rock Art Archive library may be consulted in person. There is a limit of three sites for remote search requests.

LEVEL TWO Content: Site Report (Location & Preliminary Analysis)

“Higher-order meaning” level of documentation requires a site report including a large sample of rock art and as near to 100% recording of that found on a single site as is possible. This enables statistical analyses, and types may be ordered into increasingly more refined, distinctive, and appropriate categories and inventory media. Similarities and differences are defined across time and space and patterns may be sought.The Archive holds Site Reports for many (but not all) rock art sites for which we hold Site Records. Site Reports constitute our Level Two standard of documentation, and always contain a copy of the State of California site record (if within the state). If not, the prevailing state standards apply. If in Mexico, INAH standards apply. This level of documentation includes everything that makes up a site record, but may also include elaboration of maps to include loci designations; map records search data; drawings of individual elements or compositions of elements; site overview photos; photos or drawings of elements, compositions, loci relationships, video documentation. These data also provide a descriptive analysis of content based upon isolating and describing forms using objective criteria, and then order them into types or other categories. Statistical analysis may or may not be employed and the sample should be large, with as near to 100% of the content as possible recorded.

Level Two Access: Search Request Procedure
Users may make a Level Two search request by contacting the UCLA Rock Art Archive by telephone, post, or email during regularly scheduled hours. Staff will search Site Records, Site Reports, and Collections if Level One information is provided along with further description consisting of panel numbers, element numbers, element categories, published or unpublished references, or other data specifically identifying the panel or element being searched. An index of unpublished manuscripts and books in the UCLA Rock Art Archive library may be consulted in person. There is a limit of three sites for remote search requests.


LEVEL THREE Content: Analysis and Interpretive Research

“Highest-Order Meaning” level of documentation includes a site record and an elaboration of a site report at the dissertation or publication level, and includes as near to 100 % field documentation of the rock art as is reasonably possible. The Archive holds a large collection of several thousand unpublished documents in our Manuscript Bibliography File. These materials are, in general, highly variable in type and rather uneven in quality. Descriptive analyses are sophisticated and refined to the level of objectively defined taxonomy. Historical and ethnographic analyses might be included, as might highly objective distribution studies, environmental/cultural analyses, etc. Metaphor (as understood from direct historical or ethnohistorical analyses) is employed to elaborate the patterns of motif similarities and differences. In the opinions of some researchers, this level of analysis is only reached when objects or symbols are observed in performance contexts.

Level Three Access: Search Request Procedure
Level Three data is available through a research visit to the Archive. Users may make a Level Three access request by contacting the UCLA Rock Art Archive by telephone, post, or email during regularly scheduled hours. Level Three access requires a site visit to the UCLA Rock Art Archive after downloading, signing, and returning the Access Form and providing the requested recommendations. An index of unpublished manuscripts and books in the UCLA Rock Art Archive library may be consulted in person. Notes to User and a Fees Schedule for copying or using Archive materials is provided.