Paul Taçon

Early life and education Taçon earned a BA (Honours) at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, in 1980, followed by an MA in Anthropology from Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1984. In 1990 he was awarded a PhD from the Australian National University in Canberra, after a spell as professor at Trent University from 1989 to 1990.

Career He was based at the Australian Museum in Sydney from 1991 to 2005, acting as a principal research scientist in anthropology from 1999 to 2005

In 2005, Taçon joined Griffith University as Professor of Archaeology & Anthropology, taking the chair in Rock Art Research in 2011, a position he still holds . From 2008

He has pioneered the use of radiocarbon dating of beeswax rock art, and his research team was the first to use uranium-series direct dates for rock art in China.

Taçon established and became the Director of the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit (PERAHU) at Griffith University. The art includes 572 images across 87 sites in northwest Arnhem Land, from Awunbarna (Mount Borradaile) across to the Wellington Range. They are estimated to have been drawn between 6,000 and 9,400 years ago. The find is described as very rare, not only in style, but in their depiction of bilbies (not known historically in Arnhem Land) and the first known depiction of a dugong.

his research is focused on improving the placement of Australian archaeology and history of European contact in a regional context, in Southeast Asia. He involves Indigenous peoples (including Indigenous Australians) in his archaeological research, and is himself involved in collaborative research on human evolution research. in May 2011 with actor Jack Thompson. This campaign aims to create a fully resourced national archive to bring together information about rock art sites and a strategy for future rock art management and conservation, as well as raising general awareness about Australian rock art. 2016 – Australian Laureate Fellowship, a professorial research fellowship awarded by the Australian Research Council