8. Conclusions 8.1 Introduction This chapter outlines the conclusions developed from the research results, discusses the implication of the findings and places them in the current framework of Australian rock art studies. The significance of this research to archaeological theory and to the practice of rock art studies is discussed. Issues that remain unresolved are identified and directions for future research are suggested. The results of the broader Change and Continuity research project are used to support an inclusive gendering analysis of the northwest Kimberley rock art. I have established that there are valid iconographic keys for gendering a portion of the anthropomorphic rock art figures devoid of sexual characteristics. The three periods, IIAP, Gwion and Wanjina all differ in this regard and will be discussed separately. Features identified as relevant are examined and those that have proved to be unreliable for sexing purposes are briefly discussed and discarded. A changing emphasis on anthropomorphic motifs in the rock art assemblage supports cultural change evident in the archaeological record. The successive art periods and the sexual focus related to human figures shows that the culture in the northwest Kimberley was not static through time. Rock art depictions of animal motifs and artefact representation offer a data set from which to develop a broader understanding of the demographic, economic and social structures. The relative stylistic sequence provides a comparative framework to identify trends associated with gendered roles in the culture through time. This has been achieved through analysis of the few sexed figures available in the data set complemented by a comparison with the unsexed figures with gendering features identified as accurate iconographic keys. The association with headdress, particular types of adornment and/or weapons and patterns of activity reveals social diversity and shifting social status for the sexes. 8.2 Multi-disciplinary Results A quest of this type needs to be focused on the major thesis question, which is to identify the biological reality (sexual) and the social (gendered) construction of the 165 Conclusions Chapter Eight anthropomorphic figures depicted in the assemblages in the northwest Kimberley. This is best achieved through a multidisciplinary approach encompassing the known ages of the art, results of excavations, ethnology, geology and history to establish the social and environmental contexts of the production of each stylistic period. The Change and Continuity team included researches from a variety of disciplines. The results reported by other team members augment my study and are outlined in summary below. Firstly, the results of the dating of the art were explored using radio carbon (14C), optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and Uranium-Thorium dating (U-Th). The relationship between excavated ochre and rock art production was considered and the gender implications of flora and faunal remains present in the stratum were assessed. Secondly, the information gained from these excavated material remains was combined with the results of the rock art analysis in a quest to confirm its reputed great age, the environmental conditions through the time of occupation and how this impacted on gender roles over time. In addition, the knowledge gleaned from ethno-historical and ethnographical studies was incorporated in the later Wanjina period analysis. The collating of these results is essential to provide a context in which the rock art was produced and to explain the focus of the art. The differing sexual details selected for inclusion in anthromorphic figures in each stylistic period reflect the changes in the gendered cultural practices and roles over time. The results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the rock art are discussed for the three main stylistic periods of IIAP, Gwion and Wanjina figures in the light of the contextual data. 8.3 Chronology As the production of rock art appears to have spanned a considerable time, it is predicted that the culture that produced it adopted different strategies in their gendered roles to accommodate environmental and societal concerns within the secular and sacred spheres. It is anticipated therefore, that the culture was shifting and that these shifts are evident in the art - in its focus and in its placement in the landscape. It is fortunate indeed that we have ethnographical and ethnohistorical information for the recent Wanjina period of art. Still, this direct evidence is tenuous and incomplete and cannot be seen as relevant to all Wanjina motifs recorded in this research. Some myths are well documented and have been described directly by Traditional Owners or in ethnographic accounts, but the meanings of the art in many of the galleries are now a mystery to all concerned. The 166 Conclusions Chapter Eight development of a chronology through direct and indirect means to assist in understanding the changes in gendered roles and societal focus in the prehistory of the northwest Kimberley will provide the means to relate each stylistic period to the relevant social and environmental contextual evidence available. 8.3.1 Rock Art Dating No dates have yet been recorded for IIAP anthropomorphic or animal depictions. However, these motifs are consistently superimposed by Gwion figures and I therefore place their production before the Gwion period motifs. A minimum OSL date of circa17,500±1,800 years was obtained by Roberts et al (1997, see also Roberts 1997: 873) for a Gwion figure by analysing an overlying mud-dauber wasp nest, but the method of obtaining the sample and the association between motif and nest has since been questioned by Aubert (2012:575-6) and Bednarik (2014:225). A more recent review by David et al (2013:4-5) suggests that this date is reliable. Overlying mud-dauber wasp nests only provide a minimum age as they might have been built much more recently than the motif that they overlie was created. Additionally, mud-dauber wasps frequently appropriate old nest stubs as a basis for new nests (Matthews & Naumann 1988:596), further complicating analysis. Initial Carbon-14 (14C) dating of surface crusts, charcoal and beeswax resins associated with Kimberley rock art images resulted in minimum dates for Gwion figures of at least 3,880±110 years (Watchman et al 1997). This early work stimulated a great deal of interest, yet IIAP and Gwion motifs challenge geochronologists because of the lack of organic matter evident in the pigment that would allow empirical dating to be undertaken (Aubert 2014, Pike et al 2005, Chippindale & Taçon 1998:90-108). Human capacity to produce art during the late Pleistocene is accepted, but the prospects for its survival over time have been questioned by some (e.g. Bednarik 2014:51-4). The preservation of earlier periods of art in northwest Kimberley is remarkably enduring compared to the more recent Wanjina depictions. More recently Morwood, Walsh and Watchman (2010) published radiocarbon dates for 26 motifs moulded in beeswax and six that comprised charcoal (Table 8.1). All of the moulded wax and painted depictions for their analysis were from the Wanjina period. On the basis of associations and superimpositions, the three Wanjina period styles (PHP, Wanjina and Argula & Jillinya) were considered to be contemporaneous and this has been confirmed by radiocarbon dating (Morwood et al 2010). 167 Conclusions Chapter Eight Table 8-1 Compiled from 14C dating of Kimberley rock art motifs (Morwood, Walsh, Watchman 2010:5) No of Motifs Oldest Youngest Range Method Media 26 3780±60 550±100 3130±40 14C Beeswax 6 1210±140 300±85 910±105 14C Charcoal Results have also become available from the Change and Continuity research including radiocarbon analysis of beeswax resin and OSL dating of grains of sand (quartz/feldspar) locked away from light in mud-wasp nests samples (Table 8.2). Samples were collected from nests, crusts or resin overlying motifs and therefore are a minimum age for the art beneath (in prep June Ross, Kira Westaway, Maxime Aubert, Mike Morwood, Meg Travis 2014). The Argula date is surprisingly long-standing and indicates that these malevolent spirits were a vital part of the belief system for an extended time. Similarly the macropod age of 5800±300 extends the Wanjina tradition back beyond the previously hypothesised timing of approximately 500 years ago (Walsh 2000:41) and the more recent date of 3780±60 for a simple Wanjina head (Morwood, Walsh & Watchman 2010:4-5). Table 8-2 Change & Continuity dating results Site Age Method Motif Overlying Media LMR03c 5800±300 OSL Wanjina macropod Mud-dauber wasp nest LR03c 1285±30 14C PHP anthropomorph Beeswax LRO3c 1290±30 14C PHP anthropomorph (same as above) Beeswax LRO3d 2600±200 OSL Argula anthropomorph Mud-dauber wasp nest LR03d 1230±35 14C Argula anthropomorph (same as above) Beeswax LR03d 4600±300 OSL Wararrajai anthropomorph Mud-dauber wasp nest More generally, the distribution of radiocarbon ages for Kimberley wax motifs is similar to that documented for the Northern Territory except for one Northern Territory example, of 4000 years (Nelson et al 1995, Watchman & Jones 2002). This confirms that the tradition of beeswax art was both widespread and enduring. Similarly, Wanjina paintings were produced over a long period of time. Both traditions offer evidence of changing gender roles over time. 8.3.2 Excavated Evidence The age of the rock art can be supported by dating material remains in the stratigraphy of excavations. Several pieces of striated ochre have been recovered from strata during the eight excavations. Brremangurey shelter (OTB01) is situated on the far northwest Kimberley coast. It is an extensive open-ended shelter. Immediately south of this shelter, 168 Conclusions Chapter Eight an excavation in the sand sheet reached bedrock at 1.44 metres with a basal date of 36,000±1,000BP, at this depth. A white ochre crayon was recovered from a strata dated to 24,000±1,000BP from this sand sheet.