ICREA Research Professor at the University of Barcelona since 2010 and Vice‑President of the World Archaeological Congress (2017–2026), Inés Domingo is an internationally recognized expert in rock art. Her research advances the ‘Archaeologies’ of rock art through interdisciplinary methods that integrate fieldwork, digital technologies, archaeometric approaches, heritage studies, and ethnography. She has led major collaborative projects funded by the ERC, national and regional programs in Spain, and competitive Australian grants. Working across Europe and Australia, she combines archaeological and ethnoarchaeological perspectives to reveal dimensions of rock art and symbolic behaviour often invisible in the material record. She has curated major exhibitions, including Art Primer. Artistes de la Prehistòria and Art Rupestre a la Terra d’Arnhem, Austràlia, that have broadened public engagement with prehistoric and Australian Aboriginal art.
Research interests
My research investigates prehistoric art, particularly the exceptional Spanish Levantine rock art, inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1998, through an integrated scientific and heritage‑based perspective. I aim to bridge archaeological inquiry with heritage science, digital technologies, and ethnoarchaeology to develop a holistic understanding of how images were produced, used, and experienced in the past. Supported by major international and national funding, including an ERC Consolidator Grant (2019–2024), my work applies multi‑scale approaches ranging from micro‑analytical techniques to landscape‑level studies. This integrative framework seeks to unlock the informational, cultural, and cognitive value of prehistoric art: to illuminate past lifeways, contribute to debates on the evolution of creativity and human cognition, inform contemporary heritage practices, and ensure the preservation and relevance of rock art for future generations.
Selected publications
– Roman D, Domingo I, Aguilella G, Armellini J & Sánchez-Hernández A 2025,’Les Coves Llongues (Sorita, Els Ports, Castelló). Un nuevo yacimiento del Neolítico antiguo en el norte del País Valenciano. Munibe Monographs. Anthropology and Archaeology Series, 3: 107-114.
– Sánchez-Hernández A., Román D, Javadi P & Domingo I 2025 ‘Leveraging GIS and SfM photogrammetry for monitoring and risk assessment of rock art sites‘. Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 37 – e00413.
– Roman D, Domingo I, Fullola-Isern J, Alcàntara R, Armellini J & Sánchez-Hernández A 2025, ‘New insights into the end of Palaeolithic Cultures in Mediterranean Iberia: The Sauveterroid occupations of Coveta de la Foia (Vilafranca, Valencian Country)‘, Journal of archaeological science-reports, 66 – 105330.
Selected research activities
This year I contributed extensively to scientific dissemination and outreach, co‑chairing a theme and a session on rock art at WAC‑10 (Darwin, Australia), presenting two communications and one invited talk at the same congress, co-authoring two oral communications at the II Simposi Internacional d’Interdisciplinarietat en les Humanitats (UJI, Castelló), giving an invited lecture at the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid), and participating in the podcast Desenterrando el Pasado, episode 10: “El arte rupestre, una ventana a nuestro pasado: arte, humor y huella humana” (Fundació Palarq, National Geographic), as well as contributing to press releases and giving a school talk on women in science. I also took part in the outreach project Viajes a la Prehistoria de Castelló, an initiative aimed at bringing Castellón’s prehistoric heritage to wider audiences, where we produced two new documentary films focused on the sites of Diablets and Mas de la Rambla, the latter featuring a newly discovered Levantine rock art site.