Janette Deacon (née Buckland, born 25 November 1939) is a South African archaeologist specialising in heritage management and rock art conservation.
[2][3] From 1985, she located rock engravings at places where the /Xam informants of Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd lived in the nineteenth century.
Born Janette Buckland, on 25 November 1939 in Cape Town, she attended the Rustenburg School for Girls in Cape Town before graduating from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1960 with a BA, followed by a MA in 1969 and a PhD in 1982 in which she analysed later Stone Age assemblages from Nelson Bay Cave, Boomplaas Cave and Kangkara shelter.
During this time she represented the NMC at the Arts and Culture Task Group and the writing team for the National Heritage Resources Act No 25 of 1999.
In 2016, she was awarded an honorary doctorate in literature from UCT for her contributions to archaeology and rock art research.