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Home , Baiame Cave, Dirawong, Rock shelter, The Dreaming, Ubirr

Australian Art Intriguing Images & Dreaming Stories

www.-.com How come that has the most intrigu- can explain the meaning and stories behind ing and vast collection of prehistoric petro- most image galleries. Here the longest unin- glyphs and pictographs worldwide? Certainly terrupted creation of has taken place there are various reasons for this amazing and was continued until recently. All rock art agglomeration of ancient rock art engravings creations have a deep mythological meaning and paintings. The isolation of the fifth conti- always related to “dreaming”. nent is definitely one of them. Dreaming ? Once populated its inhabitants were left with Now let us look at some of the important facts their vivid natural imaginations and spiritual why those intriguing image galleries were cre- beliefs resulting in a rather distinctive story of ated on rock surfaces. In Aboriginal belief life the creation of their world. And which they vi- started with the so-called jukurrpa or “dream brantly documented in their skillful paintings ”. It was the period of creation during and elaborated engravings. which creator gods or ancestral beings in hu- man form wondered on “dream streets” about This is also the reason why Australian rock the earth to create and speech, set art images are so different rules to live after and and multi-facetted com- gave them rituals to pared to prehistoric rock be followed. They art on other continents. then turned into ani- But there are also sur- mals and plants but prising similarities. And also created Australia is not alone with beings via birth. it. Those I will explain in more detail in this article. Clan members con- Australian rock art is really nected with those unique in various aspects ancestral figures at as you will see. “dream places” cel- ebrating important The Stories Behind rituals and specific Australian rock art is the ceremonies. Some of oldest traceable spiritual the rituals are belief system worldwide or the initiation cer- and Aboriginal elders still emony, luraga the

2 cleansing ceremony after ning, clear reasoning and circumcision or jarrada the complex decision taking. marriage ceremony plus They could communicate many others. The ngang- very in words, pic- kari or healers in clans are tures and even music. traditionally the custodi- ans of the dream stories. Man also had acquired a high level of creativity and Scientific Proof ? ability to paint animals We might have here the with great deal of imagi- only uninterrupted belief nation, abstraction, com- system. Which is fantastic position, perspective, di- otherwise we would have mension with space, scale any explanations at all. and form. He was able to But some of produce defined work- stories are far from being ing for very specific able to be scientifically purpose made from stone, provable. Let us look at bone, antler and animal the facts. From the begin- tees including ivory. ning of the major rock art creation period around 750 Global Comparison generations have passed. It is interesting to see how That alone might have human development took changed or added some of place worldwide and de- the details. spite impossible cultural connections across conti- Further dreaming stories nents the results were of- offer quite substantial- re ten similar. There is no dif- gional differences. That is ference in prehistoric rock normal as beliefs change art. over time based on differ- ent clan experiences and The choice of colors for living conditions. So there example and their are certain contradictions manufacture are similar and doubts. But some sto- and the naturalistic style ries are just that with no or of animal images do not little scientific proof as can differ much. Only human be seen in the bird creator representations differ story of gwion images ex- plained further on.

Higher Sophistication Scientists established that homo sapiens about 50,000 ago had al- ready undergone an enor- mous push in develop- ment. Our ancestors at the time had much higher capabilities then we esti- mated so far.

They had a well-developed pre-frontal cortex and were capable of structured thinking and precise plan-

3 ous waves of immigration took place too. One with new findings Australian might have to be rewritten.

This is not impossible because experts across the world find more and more evidence that our ancestors were far more intelligent and developed than we have so far believed. A short example: experts were stunned in 2009 when the old- est hunting were found in Germany produced 300,000 years ago by homo heidelber- which can be explained with homo sapiens developed as gensis. changed belief systems under a new species in Africa about different living conditions. 300,000 years ago and set out Oldest Hunting Spears successfully to conquer the These spears were 90 percent Huge Amount of Images world. identical in length, weight, Now let us look at Australian point of gravity and flight pass rock art again. The enormous Australian Immigration as today’s high-tech Olym- number of sites and image gal- If we look at Australia there is pic spears and could kill wild leries is amazing. In total there definite proof that the fifth con- horses at a distance of up to are several hundred thousand tinent was discovered by pre- 70 meters. For further details rock art sites spread all over historic sea farers about 50,000 please see my article “Paleo- Australia. years ago. But recent research lithic Spears”. might indicate a much earlier Recently in the Kimberly area immigration around 80,000 to First Boat Trips alone 1,500 new sites were re- 120,000 BP before . The stretch of open sea be- corded with over 1,5 million tween Asia and Australia was images. Different to other sites It is interesting that these trac- only about 60 miles and at worldwide rock art here was es were found in South West some stage the sea level was produced on any rock surface Australia quite far away from 130 meters below today’s lev- because the place was of im- the closest coastal distance el so that the island of Papua portance due to ceremonies with the Asian continent. And New Guinea was connected held there. we can be certain that vari- with Australia.

Step Back in History There are two continents the Americas and Australia which rather late in history but about the same time were discovered and immigrated by human be- ings. At first left Africa about 1,8 million years ago and moved via the Middle East into Asia and later Eu- .

Further homo species devel- oped in different regions in- cluding homo neanderthalen- sis about 600,000 years ago in Eurasia. But our ancestor

4 One of the logical areas for first years ago of up to 300,000 ris- 40,000 BP climate became human settlement were the ing to a million when first Eu- wetter and offered best living coastal region and valleys fur- ropeans arrived. conditions for men and wild ther inland in the animals. Unfortunately after area in the Prehistoric Climate 40,000 BP conditions became with important archeological If we look at the climatic con- slowly more arid. From 15,000 sites such as Malakunaja, Nau- ditions at the time the first BP onwards climate changed walabila and Nawarla Gabarn- question always is could men again to slightly wetter and mang which were dated 55,000 survive here. We know that conditions became again sim- to 45,000 years ago. At Lake climate made our ancestors ilar as today. Mungo in move either to the bad when various skeletons of a dynam- ice age made them move Rock Art Periods ic population were found. south or to the good for better Red ochre painted images living and hunting conditions. are the oldest created around But discoveries might 50,000 years ago. During the prove even earlier human In the period between 120,000 middle period a smaller num- presence on the Australian to 60,000 BP the climate in ber of representations were continent. Estimates indicate a Australia was similar as to- painted and engraved. The total population around 15,000 day. But thereafter until majority of prehistoric rock art was created from 15,000 BP onwards. We also see super- imposed images at that stage whereby older creations were over painted.

The wide spread of prehistoric rock art and their similarities is proof of existing long dis- tance contact between sever- al hundred Aboriginal groups. This contact helped them to interchange genes and over- come incest problems in iso- comparable image with crossed bodies, Serra Capivara Brasil lated local communities. The

5 something of the and since long not used by Ab- original tribesmen. Elders explain that these “dream- time” figures have been painted by black birds with their own blood and feath- ers. Others recall the birds painted those with their peaks.

Interesting Similarity For your own comparison and better understanding I have added a few pictures of San rock art from South Africa. How is it possible that so far away very similar fact that they spoke over 250 practices with deceased or ad- pictures have been created? different languages might have vanced heeling procedures? Again we have to look at the developed only over time with story behind. separation. Various colors were used such as: charcoal, clay, chalk, ochre San tribes practiced regular Rock Art Details from pale yellow to reddish or trance dances induced with We encounter various types dark brown. Colors were also repetitive singing, clapping such as: paintings called pic- made from berries, vegetables, and possibly specific liq- tographs, simple drawings, but urine and blood often mixed uids or smoke. This is how also engravings called petro- mineral powders. Colors had dancers experienced their glyphs, stencils mostly of hands specific meanings such as yel- visions and dreams of elon- both positive and negative im- low being sun, brown repre- gated human bodies possi- ages, including incisions and senting soil, red the desert and bly themselves. For further , bas-relief carvings, as white clouds and sky. details please read my arti- well as figures made of bees- cle “Bushmen Rock Art”. wax, plus cup holes which are Gwion Gwion Figures the oldest rock art creations. They were initially called Brad- Possible Trance Dances ? shaw figures as they were first Could it be that gwion im- As forms we see: geometric, described in 1891 by a herding ages represent shamans circles, concentric circles, arcs, farmer by this name. In total in trance? Or do they show dots and animal tracks. But close to 9,000 human figures a kind of transition into the there are regional differences were discovered in the Kimber- dream world visiting or con- as well. A circle could signify a ley area. Primarily they were ferring with their ancestors? campfire, hill, waterhole or tree. thought to be 50,000 years old. Gwion figures on average As they were painted with inor- are only 25 to 30 cm high. Human figures for example ganic they were dif- This is rather small to some could be realistic and abstract, ficult to date. Recent research paintings of life size figures show silhouettes of humans, shows that they were created for example in the being created as simple outline around 12,000 years ago. rock . But in South Af- or complex compositions. Ani- rica the comparative bush- mal images are no different. The But what makes them so spe- men figures are about the so-called “x-ray” figures show cial? Just look at the intrigu- same size. internal organs and only exist ing naturalistic design of these in such a detailed presentation elongated human bodies with Rock Art Figures in Australian rock art. There is head dresses, loin cloth, bags There are various impor- much debate how their creators and weapons such as boomer- tant figures created at wide arrived at that knowledge. Were ang and spears with hooked spread rock art sites. For ex- shamans following specific heads. The hooked spears are ample the so-called quinkins

6 The ancestral spirits are mani- fold such as the rainbow ser- pent which is the most power- ful and widespread ancestral being, found across Austra- lia. 107 different images have been found at numerous sites and have been studied.

Possibly the is rather a pipefish and the question arise why are these images found so far inland? The answer is simple due to the huge differ- ences of sea levels in history it can be explained why these images are found so far inland.

Other important ancestral spir- its are baiame, and which all are also names of specific rock art sites.

Rock Art Periods which were first found in great malformed genitals. They are It is difficult to date rock art numbers at various loca- representing the uninhibited with different scientific meth- tions in Queensland. They are sexual instinctiveness and are ods. Therefore experts try to ghosts with deformed heads, known to molest women and establish periods for certain unproportioned arms and legs, turn up as a nocturnal plague. images. The first and oldest period is certainly the creation of cupules or cupholes includ- ing pits and grooves.

Thereafter followed the ar- chaic or irregular infill animals period with naturalistic images during the period including stencils and early Kimberley paintings.

As a third period the gwion two South African images for comparison gwion figures as complex re- cord of prehistoric life and be- liefs with fine painted human figures could be defined. Fol- lowed by static polychrome images of schematized human form and groups with head- dress and weapons.

Finally the wanjina spiritual ancestral anthropomorphic form was created representing supernatural power with halo- like headdress, large round eyes, mouthless. Those were

7 and can be seen at Ubirr and Nourlangie.

The Nourlangie or burrunggui site is one of the most impor- tant sites in Australia and situ- ated in Arnhem Land and its prehistoric rock art paintings are about 20,000 years old.

The Anbangbang rock shelter is close by and was in antiqui- ty inhabited by a clan of about 15 members. Its gallery shows various ancestral figures in- cluding namondjak and his family as well as the spiritual figure namarrgon the lightning man painted in white. He can be seen on the right with the halo circle which represents the lightning strike.

The Arnhem Land region is one of the earliest settlement areas. Therefore rock art im- ages here are dated around also overpainted various in an annual renewal ceremony. 45,000 BP. They include water and land animals in “x-ray” The more recent creations of the contact period showing Euro- style with bones and internal pean settlers arriving in sailing ships is often not regarded as organs as well as depictions of prehistoric or Neolithic rock art by experts. the famous spiritual . Below we list for your information some of the most interesting sites you might want to visit during your stay in Australia. Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter site is unique as it is an Northern Territory Sites important open site with In this province there is the famous with natural pillars and skillfully many exciting sites. Kakadu National Park is situated 300 kms painted ceilings with many east of Darwin. fish, wallabies, crocodiles, humans and spiritual figures One of the most intriguing sites here is Ubirr with the so-called motifs created about 28,000 “x-ray” images showing human and animal skeletons with years ago. At Injalak Hill close bones and internal organs. to aboriginal community of Gunbalanya the five galleries In addition mimi spirits, fish like barramundi or sea brass, mul- are much younger and were let, catfish as well as or monitor lizard, long neck turtle, painted only 8,000 BP. pig-nosed turtle, rock ringtail possum and wallaby can be seen here. The Djulirri rock shelter site in the Wellington Range is one of The rare Tasmanian tiger image is dated about 15,000 BP but the largest site with 3,100 paint- this tiger species is already extinct for 3,000 years. ings, stencils, prints, beeswax figures, rare stencils of birds Ubirr galleries offer images from three different creation peri- which were dated about 9,000 ods 40,000 to 6,000 years ago, 6,000 to 500 years and newer im- BP. But also more recent rock ages created thereafter. These are called European contact art art from European immigration

8 times with 28 ships can be seen here. With 80 more ship images added close by.

Close to in the Mac Donnell Range we have the most important historic site in Australia or Ayers Rock with rock art . Interesting is the Mala and Kuniya Walk with rock art sites along the way. They are named after the story of kuniya and liru the python woman and poisonous snake man creating Uluru Ayers Rock.

Another site is Cave Hill situated rather re- mote in Land close to Uluru. This is one of the most sacred sites in Austra- lia with paintings of the seven sisters repre- senting Pleiades stars.

Jessie Gaps and N’Dhala Gorge sites are situ- ated in East Mac Donnell Range near Emily with 6,000 carvings dated 10,000 BP. Wallace Rockhole, Tnorala, Ewaninga Rock and Rain- bow Valley are four sites situated in the West Mac Donnell Range.

Nitmiluk National Park is situated 30 kms northeast of Katherine, nitmiluk means cica- da place. At Katherine Gorge picture galleries include dream time creation images plus a so- called women site, all dated about 40,000 BP. Nipbamjarn Boy initiation site is also worth seeing. As well as the Jatbula Trail with vari- ous images along its 60 kms way.

Western Australia Sites This province is scattered with prehistoric rock art sites. For example the Burrup Penin- sula also called murujuga with the Pilbara site 200 kms west of Port Hedland has some of the oldest dated images with over 30,000 years. The average rock art here is dated 10,000 BP and the different sites offer an enormous number of over one million rock paintings and carvings.

But the star site is definitely Kimberley offer- ing over 100,000 sites spread over an area of 50 square kms. It is one of the leading rock art areas with two types of images wanjina and gwion gwion style with images of spirits and humans. The crude looking animals are the oldest dated around 40,000 BP.

The gwion galleries show elongated human merang and dated around 12,000 BP. figures with elaborated dresses, including These figures are similar to San bushmen headdresses, ornaments, weapons like boo- rock art images in South Africa.

9 There are plenty of other sites South Australia Sites to visit such as: Donkey Ridge, Even in the south rather old Wunnumurru Gorge at Barnett rock art images are found. River, Namadgi National Park, In the Olary District they are Mitchell Plateau or munurru, dated about 40,000 BP and in- Vansittart Bay, Eagle Falls, Raft clude extinct megafauna like Point, Adcock Gorge, Manning genyornis, thylacoleo from Gorge, Galvans Gorge and Tun- the Pleistocene Period. nel Creek site. Victoria Sites Queensland Sites Here the Grampians National For those who are planning to Park is worth visiting with have a look themselves at the four rock art sites including amazing rock art in Australia we the Bunjil rock shelter offering point out here some sites worth various dingoe paintings. visiting. Quinkan Country about 200 km northwest of the city of Tasmania Sites Laura offers various sites dated The Preminghana site is rel- 15,000 BP with animals, spirits atively young with images and human images. only 1,500 years old showing carved abstract designs. New- In the Carnarvon National Park comers to prehistoric rock art a gorge site close to the town are often surprised to hear that of Injune and Rolleston depicts abstract and primitive looking an interesting rainbow serpent images are the youngest and representation. most naturalistic and skillful paintings are the oldest. Or you might want to visit Fern Cave which images are dated Summery 12,000 BP. Australia is the leading loca- tion for rock art enthusiasts New South Wales Sites because it offers such a diver- An advisable visit to Ku-ring- sity and enormous number of gai Chase National Park could prehistoric picture galleries. include Lambert Peninsula with images dated 5,000 BP and In and third place Hawesbury River only 25 kms comes India and South Africa north of . followed by unknown Saudi Arabia. The latter only re- The Wollemi National Park of- cently started to acknowledge fers 120 sites such as Eagle’s their pre-islamic treasures and Reach with over 200 motifs in- started a national database to cluding stencils dated 4,000 BP. record all images.

Baiame Cave is situated close Australia started this too in Milbrodale. The rock shelter 2011 but their national register above the Bulga Creek shows a is far from complete and will larger than life male figure with take many more years. outstretched arms. The biggest problems are And the Mount Grenfell site is bushfires and vandalisme. about 40 kms northwest of the This is why the register is so town of Cobar. The image gal- important to save these na- Picture Credits: leries include various human tional treasures and unique We thank Australian Geographic, Griffith University, Smithsonian and figures, spirits and numerous Aboriginal history and dream Trezise Familyfor using some of their animals. stories for future generations. pictures.

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