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Boundaries, Connections and Cultural Heritage Management Challenges: the Rock Art of the Chillagoe – Mungana Limestone Belt, Queensland, Australia

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Boundaries, Connections and Cultural Heritage Management Challenges: the Rock Art of the Chillagoe – Mungana Limestone Belt, Queensland, Australia Boundaries, Connections and Cultural Heritage Management Challenges: The Rock Art of the Chillagoe – Mungana Limestone Belt, Queensland, Australia Author Winn, Nicola Bliss Published 2016 Thesis Type Thesis (PhD Doctorate) School School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science DOI https://doi.org/10.25904/1912/1261 Copyright Statement The author owns the copyright in this thesis, unless stated otherwise. Downloaded from http://hdl.handle.net/10072/366036 Griffith Research Online https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au Boundaries, Connections and Cultural Heritage Management Challenges: The Rock Art of the Chillagoe – Mungana Limestone Belt, Queensland, Australia Nicola Bliss Winn BA (Hons), MA School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science Griffith University Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2016 Abstract This PhD thesis focuses on the rock art found along the Chillagoe-Mungana limestone belt, 170 kilometres west of Cairns, in the semi-arid interior of Queensland. The Chillagoe-Mungana limestone belt borders the traditional estates of three Aboriginal groups, the Wakaman, the Wakara, and the Kuku Djungan. This project investigates the rock art found along the common boundaries of these territories, specifically examining what social and economic information the rock art encodes about the Aboriginal groups of north Queensland prior to European contact. The Chillagoe-Mungana district is ideally placed for an investigation into junction zone rock art. Not only does the limestone belt intersect the territory of multiple local Aboriginal groups in the late Holocene, it also serves as the transitional boundary zone between two of the major rock art provinces in Queensland, the intersection between the North/Central Queensland Highlands region and Cape York Peninsula. Analysis of temporal and geographical changes in the distribution of the motifs of the Chillagoe rock art assemblage provide insight into the nature of rock art junctions, not only in Queensland, but also across Australia. This PhD project has two components: first, to record rock art sites in the Chillagoe-Mungana region in order to illuminate the socio-cultural context of north-eastern Australia; and second, to examine the cultural heritage management challenges faced by Aboriginal groups in the current Australian social, economic and legislative context. During this project, across six sections of the Chillagoe limestone belt, 49 rock art sites were surveyed and 2142 individual motifs were recorded. This project found that motifs in the Chillagoe area were produced using six different techniques (painting, drawing, stencilling, engraving, printing and combination) and in five different motif categories (figurative, non-figurative, tracks, stencils and prints). The stylistic characteristics of the rock art assemblage, however, are not spread uniformly across the limestone belt. In particular, the presence and concentration of stencils and engravings and the occurrence of figurative motifs varies within the six survey sections, with a distinct contrast between the north-eastern and western sides of the limestone belt. Using the tenets of information exchange and fissioning/regionalisation theory, the patterns in the geographic distribution of the motif forms and production types were compared to determine any correlations with the known ethnographic boundaries of the local i Aboriginal groups in the recent past. The analysis demonstrated that the Chillagoe rock art assemblage reflects the variability in the rock art stylistic characteristics of the groups who surround the limestone belt, with certain geographic regions of the survey area exhibiting greater stylistic similarity, and, therefore, greater socio-cultural connection, with the specific groups who border those particular sites. The differing territorial boundaries and various cultural influences of the region are visible in the rock art assemblage. This regionalisation may not be solely a late Holocene occurrence, however. The deeply engraved motifs, for example, when placed in the wider regional context, suggest that regionalisation in this part of north Queensland may have begun in the late Pleistocene or early Holocene. Interviews with Traditional Owners supplement the archaeological findings, providing insight into the social and cultural significance of limestone belt for the neighbouring Aboriginal people. The results from the rock art survey support the traditional knowledge associated with the limestone belt in which the karst towers served as a shared buffer zone for the local groups, a place for communal meetings, exchange and ceremony, with activities concentrated at discrete focal points in the landscape. Certain figurative motifs and totemic track designs appear to perform boundary marking and signposting functions. Significant too is the evidence that Aboriginal people utilised the twilight and fully dark zones of the limestone caves to produce stencils and prints, an occurrence rarely documented in northern Australia. These findings provide a more nuanced understanding of the socio-cultural convergences in north Queensland, and the nature and extent of the Chillagoe district’s social and economic interaction with surrounding areas. In addition to the examination of the rock art of the Chillagoe area, this PhD thesis also highlights the challenges faced by Aboriginal groups who wish to protect their cultural heritage in the current social, economic and legislative climate. The various obstacles to effective cultural heritage management are examined, and recommendations for the strengthening of cultural heritage protection in Queensland and elsewhere in Australia are proposed. ii Statement of Originality This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself. Nicola B. Winn iii Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. i Statement of Originality .................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ iv List of Figures ................................................................................................................ xiii List of Tables .................................................................................................................. xv Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... xvi Chapter 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research overview .................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Aims of the project ................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Theoretical framework and central research questions .......................................... 3 1.4 The significance of this thesis and its original contribution ................................... 5 1.5 Project methodology and thesis plan ...................................................................... 6 Chapter 2 Setting the Context: The Chillagoe Region ................................................... 10 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Geology ................................................................................................................ 10 2.3 Climate, water resources and land units ............................................................... 13 2.4 Aboriginal people ................................................................................................. 16 2.4.1 Territory ......................................................................................................... 16 2.4.2 Language ....................................................................................................... 19 2.4.3 Occupation at Chillagoe before European contact ........................................ 21 2.5 European influence in the Chillagoe area ............................................................. 22 2.5.1 Explorers ........................................................................................................ 22 2.5.2 Mining and pastoralism ................................................................................. 23 2.5.3 Impact on Aboriginal communities ............................................................... 27 2.6 Cave tourism and National Parks ......................................................................... 28 2.7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 30 iv Chapter 3 Previous Archaeological Research in the Chillagoe Region ......................... 31 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 31 3.2 Excavation results ................................................................................................. 31 3.3 Wullumba ............................................................................................................
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