The Potential Outstanding Universal Value of the Dampier Archipelago Site and Threats to That Site

Home , Dampier Archipelago, East Intercourse Island, Intercourse Island, Murujuga, Patricia Vinnicombe, Rosemary Island

The Potential Outstanding Universal Value of the Dampier Archipelago Site and Threats to that Site

A report by the Australian Heritage Council to the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

The Australian Heritage Council acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Murujuga (the Dampier Archipelago) and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to them and their culture, and to their Elders both past and present.

Professor Carmen Lawrence

Chair Australian Heritage Council

Executive Summary On 2 March 2011, in response to a Senate motion, Senator Sterle advised the Senate that the Australian Government would ask the Australian Heritage Council to undertake an emergency assessment of the Outstanding Universal Values of the Dampier Archipelago site and any threats to that site.

This resulting report from the Australian Heritage Council is divided into two parts. The first part describes the heritage environment of the Dampier Archipelago site and investigates the potential for elements of that environment to be of Outstanding Universal Value.

The second part of the report documents the threats to the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago and undertakes a risk analysis of those threats.

Part One Findings The Dampier Archipelago is home to one of the richest, most diverse and exciting collections of Aboriginal rock engravings in Australia. The heritage features also include quarries, middens, fish traps, rock shelters, ceremonial places, artefact scatters, grinding patches and stone arrangements. However engravings are by far the most numerous type of heritage feature, with images potentially numbering in the millions. Large concentrations are found on inland plateaus, steep valley inclines bordering waterways and on rock platforms next to the ocean. Created by pecking, pounding, rubbing and scratching, the engravings provide a fascinating insight into the past. The Ngarda-Ngarli people have a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the engravings. Some depict ancestral beings or spirit figures, while others relate to sacred ceremonies and songs, but many are representations of the everyday life or events of the traditional ancestors. There is adequate existing research and data to justify that the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago meet the threshold of Outstanding Universal Value against World Heritage criterion (i) i.e. The Dampier Archipelago represents a masterpiece of human creative genius. The heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago may also meet the threshold of Outstanding Universal Value against criterion (iii) i.e. The Dampier Archipelago bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living. However further work is required with Ngarda-Ngarli people to document the relationship between their beliefs and practices, and the images on the Dampier Archipelago.

Part Two Findings The report has found that four categories of potential threats to the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago site exist, these being:

 Industrial development;  Secondary impacts from industrial development;  Recreation, tourism and vandalism; and  Knowledge, management and engagement of the Ngarda-Ngarli people.

Of these four categories industrial development and knowledge, management and engagement of the Ngarda-Ngarli people present the highest risk threat to the heritage values. Although the area surrounding the site has been heavily impacted by industrial development the site itself maintains high integrity and is in a stable condition.

Contents

Part One: Study of Outstanding Universal Value...... 04 1. Introduction and background...... 07 2. Description and history of the property...... 08 3. Archaeological and cultural resources...... 15 4. Justification...... 29 5. Authenticity and integrity...... 35 6. References...... 38

Part Two: Threats to the Dampier Archipelago Site...... 45 1. Introduction...... 45 2. Industrial development...... 49 3. Secondary impacts...... 55 4. Recreation, tourism and vandalism...... 57 5. Knowledge, management and engagement of the Ngarda-Ngarli people...... 61 6. Conclusion...... 63 7. References...... 64

Attachments and Appendix

Attachment A - Risk assessment

Attachment B - National heritage list boundary

Attachment C - National heritage list place report

Appendix One - Other World Heritage criteria

Part One

The Potential Outstanding Universal Value of the Dampier Archipelago

Summary For a property to be inscribed on the World Heritage List it must be accepted by the World Heritage Committee as being of Outstanding Universal Value. The Operational Guidelines (UNESCO 2011) specify the key tests that the World Heritage Committee applies to decide whether a property is of Outstanding Universal Value:  the Committee considers a property as having Outstanding Universal Value if the property meets one or more of the World Heritage criteria; and,  to be deemed of Outstanding Universal Value, a property must also meet the conditions of integrity and/or authenticity, and must have an adequate protection and management system to ensure its safeguarding. The Operational Guidelines (paragraph 49) define Outstanding Universal Value as: ‘Outstanding Universal Value means cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity. As such, the permanent protection of this heritage is of the highest importance to the international community as a whole. The Committee defines the criteria for the inscription of properties on the World Heritage List.’ This must be determined through comparison with similar sites world-wide. There is adequate existing research and data to justify that the heritage of the Dampier Archipelago meets the threshold of Outstanding Universal Value against World Heritage criterion (i). The heritage of the Dampier Archipelago may also meet the threshold of Outstanding Universal Value against criterion (iii) but further consultation work is required with Ngarda-Ngarli people to document the relationship between their beliefs and practices, and the images on the Dampier Archipelago. Due to this lack of documented information on the connection between rock art images and cultural practices on the Dampier Archipelago there is not sufficient evidence to demonstrate that this connection is more significant than that found in the World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park.

Statement of Potential Outstanding Universal Values Criterion i - The Dampier Archipelago represents a masterpiece of human creative genius The density and diversity of the rock engravings on the Dampier Archipelago represents a masterpiece of human creative genius. The place is home to one of the most exciting and significant collections of rock engravings in the world. With its more than one million images in an area of 36,857 hectares, it has the densest known concentration of hunter-gatherer rock engravings anywhere in the world. Over thousands of years, Aboriginal people created these engravings by pecking, scraping, rubbing, abrading, pounding and scoring the very hard granitic rocks of the archipelago. The resultant body of artwork includes one of the most diverse collections of engraved hunter-forager representations of the human form anywhere in the world.

These human figures exhibit a wide diversity of poses and activities ranging from: abstract static figures; to standing, running, and squatting figures, some with sinuous arms and legs; to unusual depictions of men climbing and; rare and visually stunning archaic faces. Human figures are sometimes arranged in complex scenes depicting everyday and sacred activities, including hunting scenes and ceremonial activity. Images of terrestrial and marine fauna in plan and elevation occur throughout the Archipelago. Macropods, bird species, identifiable extinct mammals, snakes and reptiles are all portrayed as are fish, turtles, crabs and crayfish. Tracks and groups of engraved animal footprints are also commonly depicted as are a range of geometric and other abstract designs. The art uses naturalism and abstraction in the creation of images and exhibits an extraordinary array of diverse styles. The clever use of profile and perspective to create a sense of movement is an outstanding demonstration of the creativity and artistic genius of the Aboriginal artists. Criterion iii - The Dampier Archipelago bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilisation which is living. The rock engravings of the Dampier Archipelago are central to the continuing culture of Ngarda- Ngarli people. For Ngarda-Ngarli people the engraved images were produced by ancestral creation beings during the dreaming. The images are permanent reminders of Traditional Law and how it should be followed. Ceremony is central to this law and some of the rock engravings of the Dampier Archipelago are unusual in as much as they portray and are part of ceremony. It is these images together with Ngarda-Ngarli understandings of them, as expressed in the annual Birdarra ceremonies, that provides exceptional testimony to a living cultural tradition.

Authenticity The authenticity of a place must be judged within the cultural context to which the property belongs (UNESCO 2010:63) and is evidenced by the truthfulness or credibility of its physical and other intangible attributes. The rock art of the Dampier Archipelago represents a discrete art province in the broader Pilbara culture bloc. The rock art of the archipelago possesses significantly higher diversity than any of the smaller Pilbara art provinces, but it is also representative of the rock art of this arid bioregion. The authenticity of engravings on the Dampier Archipelago is demonstrated by a number of key attributes, which also express its Outstanding Universal Value. All engravings have been made on the exceptionally hard and dark volcanic rocks using stone tool technology. The multiple phases of engravings demonstrate a continuous hunter-forager way of life. It is the widely- held belief of Traditional Owners and Custodians that the engravings of the Dampier Archipelago were created by ancestral creation beings and they represent and embody their power and stories (Marga). The characteristics of the geology, the natural landscape, the Aboriginal origins of the art, its spiritual significance and its archaeologically proven age, demonstrate the authenticity of Dampier Archipelago rock engravings.

Integrity Integrity is a measure of the wholeness or intactness of the elements that comprise the cultural heritage of a property. The assessment of the Outstanding Universal Value of the heritage of the Dampier Archipelago uses the boundaries of the National Heritage Listed place. This boundary excludes areas where there are no rock engravings and also areas which have been disturbed by industry. A detailed land-use study shows that 85% of the Burrup Peninsula (the largest island in the archipelago prior to its artificial connection to the mainland) retains extremely high integrity as do all of the listed islands of the archipelago. Given the existing industries on the Burrup Peninsula, it is unclear whether the integrity of the property as a whole and any necessary buffer zones would be sufficient to satisfy the World Heritage Committee. The National Heritage Listing of 36,857 hectares of the Dampier Archipelago in 2007 provides robust heritage protection for significant sites under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The range and variety of rock art across the property is continuous and includes a number of the best examples that may be found. While the property has not been surveyed in its entirety, there are well-documented examples of sites with Outstanding Universal Value in all parts of the Archipelago. It is clear that the undisturbed area within the boundaries of the National Heritage Listed place is complete and whole, notwithstanding the proximity of industry.

1. Introduction and background

1.1 Background to this Investigation At the request of the Australian Government’s Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (the Minister) the Australian Heritage Council has undertaken an emergency assessment of the Outstanding Universal Values of the Dampier Archipelago. This report is largely based on a desktop study undertaken by Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management (2011) and comments provided by two peer reviewers. It describes the property and uses a comparative analysis against similar sites in Australia and elsewhere in the world to assess the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago against the World Heritage criteria and the significance threshold of Outstanding Universal Value. While it is not a World Heritage nomination document, this report has been prepared in a manner and format consistent with the policies and procedures of the World Heritage Committee and the World Heritage Centre in relation to World Heritage nominations, in particular the Operational Guidelines for the World Heritage Convention. The study is limited to the boundary of the listed Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) national heritage place (see Fig. 1).

1.2 Consultation with local Aboriginal people The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has undertaken some consultation about the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago with Ngarda-Ngarli people. Further consultation with the Ngarda-Ngarli people is required before taking further steps towards any potential World Heritage nomination.

2. Description and history of the property

The Dampier Archipelago lies on the Indian Ocean coast of the west Pilbara region in north Western Australia: approximately 1,550km north of Perth. It is located north of the Tropic of Capricorn and is within the Pilbara Offshore bioregion. It is part of an inshore zone of the north-western Australian shelf, an expansive shelf that includes the nearby Barrow Island/Montebello Island Group. The archipelago comprises 42 islands, islets and rocks that range from less than 2ha to 3,290ha in size and covers an area of approximately 400 km2. The Burrup Peninsula (27km long by 5km wide) was formerly Dampier Island; the largest in this island chain. There are two distinct geomorphologies represented on the islands. The first is Precambrian granites, which outcrop on Dolphin, Tozer and Enderby Islands. These form the backbone of the Dampier Archipelago. Topographically, they resemble the adjacent mainland and the Burrup Peninsula. The second geomorphology is found on Legendre Island and other flatter islands and islets in the north of the Archipelago. The outer islands consist primarily of younger Pleistocene or Holocene limestone and have fringing intertidal platforms and coral reefs, low elevations. These islands lack the rock piles characteristic of the other islands and feature superficial sand dunes and beaches. These islands are the remnants of consolidated limestone ridges formed along the previous coastline.

Fig.1 boundary of the Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) National Heritage Place

2.1 The Environment The landscape on the granitic islands within the archipelago areas is characterised by steep slopes and ridges with masses of apparently haphazardly distributed boulders which are the result of ancient in situ weathering. Boulders vary markedly in size, from small to extremely large, and can be either rounded or angular. This variety in morphology is explained by differential jointing within the parent rock and variations in the amount of time that particular intrusions have been exposed to weather. It is this granitic geology that provides the canvas for the Aboriginal rock engravings of the Dampier Archipelago.

Fig.2 Scree slope characteristic of the Dampier Archipelago landscape The Dampier Archipelago was formed by rising sea levels at the end of the late glacial maximum. By about 9,000 years ago, the outer islands would have been close to the coast. As sea levels encroached on the land between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago new marine resources became available to people living in the area. Around 6,000 years ago, sea levels began to stabilise and the Archipelago took its present form. At this time mangrove forests were more widespread than today (Morse 1999; O’Connor 1999; Veth 1999; Veth et al. 2007; Woodroffe et al. 1988). By 4,000 years ago mangrove species declined and were replaced by the modern shore line with its rocky coasts, mudflats and sandy beaches.

The islands of the archipelago lie within the Fortescue Botanical District, which is part of the biogeographical region known as the Eremaean Botanical Province (Beard 1975), and within the Pilbara biogeographic region in the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) (Thackway and Cresswell 1995). Vegetation is predominantly a mid-dense hummock (Triodia sp) grassland with mixed scrub and open low woodland, with minor communities related to particular habitats and substrates. However the complex mosaic of vegetation assemblages makes classification and mapping of vegetation communities a difficult task (Blackwell and Cala 1979). Recent botanical surveys show that the arrangement of vegetation units on the Burrup Peninsula, along with Dolphin, Angel and Gidley Islands, are distinct from those found in the surrounding region (Trudgen and Griffin 2001; Trudgen 2002). This has led some botanists to conclude that the vegetation of the Burrup Peninsula, comprising a unique mixture of coastal and eremaean species in close association with species more typical of the Kimberley Botanical Province, is unique (Blackwell et al 1979; Trudgen 2002). The fauna of the Dampier Archipelago comprises a subset of the species typical of the western Pilbara coast and hinterland (Department of Conservation and Land Management 1990; Department of Environment and Conservation 2006). The complex and diverse topography on the archipelago, with the resulting variety of habitat types, supports a diverse fauna. Its size and proximity to the coast means that the Burrup Peninsula has a higher species diversity than on the islands of the Dampier Archipelago, and probably higher that any comparable area of land in the Pilbara. The mammalian fauna of the Dampier Archipelago is dominated by species with either northern distributions, such as the northern quoll (Dasyurus hallucatus), delicate mouse (Zyzomys argurus), or those with distributions centred on the Pilbara or western desert, including Rothschild’s rock wallaby (Petrogale rothschildi), little red kaluta (Dasykaluta rosamondae), Pilbara ningaui (Ningaui timealeyi) and Rory’s pseudantechinus (Pseudantechinus roryi). In addition, there is a suite of species with very broad distributions across Western Australia. The Archipelago includes significant breeding grounds and refuge sites for a variety of bird species. Specifically, the islands provide breeding sites for at least 14 species of sea and shore bird. Some islands are important as feeding and resting sites for migratory birds protected under the Japan Australia Migratory Bird Agreement and the China Australia Migratory Bird Agreement. The reptile fauna of the Dampier Archipelago is similar to that of the mainland, with 58 reptile and two frog species known to occur. Most of these species have broad distributions throughout the north and Pilbara regions of Western Australia and are not considered rare or threatened. Among the most obvious of these are the yellow-spotted monitor (Varanus panoptes), ring-tailed dragon (Ctenophorus caudicinctus), and two skink species (Ctenotus pantherinus and C. saxatilis). The Burrup Peninsula is also home to the endangered olive python (Liasis olivaceus). The marine environment of the Dampier Archipelago is characterised by intertidal mud and sand flats associated with fringing mangroves in bays and lagoons, a large tidal range, highly turbid water and the occurrence of fringing coral reefs around some of the islands. There is a wide range of marine habitats within the archipelago. These include exposed areas subject to high wave energies, clear water and low sedimentation rates in the seaward areas and sheltered habitats with turbid water in the coastal bays.

The marine plants and animals of the area are highly diverse and abundant as the warm tropical waters of the Dampier Archipelago provide an ideal habitat for marine life (Department of Conservation and Land Management 1990; Department of Environment and Conservation 2006; Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011b). The marine flora includes seagrass beds that, although not as well developed as in some other areas, provide an important habitat for marine fauna. A total of six species of mangroves have been recorded within the Dampier Archipelago, with the white mangrove (Avicennia marina) and the red mangrove (Rhizophora stylosa) being the two most prominent species. These mangals contribute significantly to the nutrient resources of the coastal waters and are found in sheltered locations where the substrate is muddy. The archipelago is rich in coral species particularly on sub-littoral rock slopes where species diversity is high. The best reef development occurs on the seaward slopes of the outer archipelago where the fringing reefs form a deeply dissected reef front sloping to a reef edge zone, with a reef flat behind, shallow back reefs and an occasional lagoon. The extensive sand and mud flats support a rich invertebrate fauna including bivalves, gastropods, crustaceans, worms, brachiopods, burrowing anemones and echinoderms. Crustaceans (particularly crabs) and bivalves (mainly Donax) and surface gastropods are typical of exposed beach situations. The low tidal limestone pavements include a wide range of molluscs including bivalves, gastropods and chitons. Fauna typical of the extensive sub-tidal plains include a wide range of fish, particularly flatheads, flounders, catfish, eels and rays, echinoderms, crustaceans, gastropods and bivalves. Within the Dampier Archipelago there is a rich reef assemblage of fish with at least 650 recorded species. Areas with the greatest topographic complexity have the richest fish fauna populations. These areas are mostly those furthest away from the mainland, such as the northern edge of Legendre Island, where water turbidity is low and fish that favour off-shore conditions are found. Marine vertebrate fauna (Department of Conservation and Land Management 1990) recorded for the place include at least seven species of mammals: the humpback whale, the false killer whale, the southern bottle nosed whale, Risso's dolphin, bottle nose dolphin, Indo-Pacific hump backed dolphin and dugong. Six species of sea snakes and the white bellied mangrove snake have also been recorded in the archipelago. Of the six species of marine turtle occurring in Western Australia, five are recorded in the Dampier Archipelago: the green (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead (Caretta caretta), flatback (Natator depressus), leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata). Rosemary, Legendre and Delambre Islands provide suitable nesting beaches for four of these species of marine turtle.

2.2 History of the Property Aboriginal people from this region identify themselves as Ngarda-Ngarli, although people also identify with their language groups, referring to themselves as Ngarluma, Yinjibarndi, Gurrama or Banjima. These distinct groups have their own local traditions, so there is a mix of laws and customs found in Roebourne (a small community located around 60 kilometres from the Dampier Archipelago). Ngarda-Ngarli people say they have lived in the area since time immemorial (Mardudhunera Yaburara et al. 2004). Their traditions include accounts of ancestral beings forming the landscape of the Dampier Archipelago in the Dreamtime. The spirits of these and other beings such as Ngkurr, Bardi, and Gardi are believed to continue to live in the area (Mardudhunera Yaburara et al. 2004). The ancestral beings left their mark on the landscape as natural features, such as the Marntawarrura ("black hills") that are said to be stained from the blood of the creative beings, and in the form of some engraved images (Robinson 1997:4). Archaeological studies demonstrate at least 9,000 years of occupation in the Dampier Archipelago. During this time the Ngarda-Ngarli people have adapted to significant changes including changes to the environment, sea levels and climate (Department of Environment and Conservation 2006:13). The Ngarda-Ngarli people also actively managed the land (Mardudhunera Yaburara et al. 2004). This is shown by features in the landscape, including thalu or increase sites, which are used to manage the regeneration of a range of natural resources. In January 1699 William Dampier was the first European to visit the archipelago that is now named after him. He described the archipelago as a range of rocky islands of ‘pretty height’ with one having a bluff point. He landed on Rosemary Island, which he named because a shrub grew there similar to the rosemary he knew, but encountered no Aboriginal people. He described the island group as ‘mostly rocky and barren’, and looking of ‘a rusty yellow colour’. Dampier described the other plants on Rosemary Island as having ‘blue and yellow flowers’ and the rocks of the archipelago ‘all of rusty colour, and ponderous’ (Dampier 1729). In 1818 the British Admiralty sent Captain Phillip Parker King to search for rivers and fresh water on the West Coast of Australia. He landed on the Dampier Archipelago and had a number of meetings with Aboriginal people. He recorded information on their use of logs as canoes and their humpies. While most of his encounters with the Aboriginal people were friendly he did not attempt to land on a second island because the occupants gestured for him not to (King 1826: 33-36). In 1861 Francis Gregory undertook the first European exploration of the Pilbara region. He estimated that there were two or three million acres of land in the area suitable for grazing and he drew attention to the possibilities for a pearling industry. As a result of Gregory’s reports a port was established at the mouth of the Harding River in 1863 (Australian Heritage Commission 2001). This was originally named Tien Tsin after the barque on which they arrived, but was renamed Cossack after a visit by Western Australian Governor Weld in 1871 (who came on the HMS Cossack). As the first port in the North West, Cossack provided a vital point of access for the settlement and development of the Pilbara region. In 1865 when sailing along the coast of Dampier Island (now Burrup Peninsula) J.P. Stow records contact with Aboriginal groups. At one landing a group of Aboriginal people displayed their rock art illustrations, depicting mainly marine fauna. One of the people drew a turtle in the sand freehand which Stow acknowledged as skilful if not critically satisfying (Stow 1894).

Pearling and shore-based whaling industries were established in the area in the 1860s and 1870s (Australian Heritage Commission 1978a, 1978b). These industries attracted a diverse work force including Aboriginal, Chinese, Malaysian, Filipino and Japanese people. While Cossack was the main port for the pearling industry, the fleet also established a small station in the Dampier Archipelago at Blackhawk Bay on Gidley Island (Australian Heritage Commission 1978b). Shore-based whaling, which lasted for almost a decade, was established on Malus Island in 1870 (Gibbs 1994; Australian Heritage Commission 1978b). While Aboriginal people played a significant role in both the pearling and pastoral industries, the development of these industries and the shore-based whaling industry, started the process of Aboriginal dispossession in the area. This included attacks on Yaburara people in the Dampier Archipelago, including the Flying Foam Massacre (Gara 1993; Bednarik 2006). These violent attacks devastated the Yaburara population. The harbour at Cossack, Butcher's Inlet, could only cater for ships of up to 200 tons, and could only be safely negotiated at high tide. As a result, the pearling industry relocated to Broome in the early 1890s. The need for a deep-water port to serve the Pilbara remained an important issue. Depuch Island was an early candidate (as early as 1908). However there was no progress in developing a port until the 1960s when Depuch Island was again considered. Following a review it was concluded that because of Depuch Island’s exceptional Aboriginal heritage the port should be built elsewhere (McCarthy 1961; Vinnicombe 2002:6; McDonald and Veth 2005:160; Bednarik 2006:25). In 1963 the Western Australian Government and Hamersley Iron entered into an agreement to develop the Tom Price mine and the town and port of Dampier. The town was completed by 1966. During 1972 Dampier Salt, now a subsidiary of Rio Tinto Iron Ore, dispatched its first shipment of salt. Salt was produced through solar evaporation in an area that was originally tidal mudflat between the Burrup Peninsula and the mainland. In 1978 the Burrup Peninsula was chosen as the site for a treatment plant for offshore gas (LNG) deposits from the North-West Shelf. Following an Environmental Impact Assessment, Withnell and King Bays were recommended for the development. A programme to salvage information on Aboriginal heritage in the area began in 1980 (Vinnicombe 1987). At this same time the Clough report on port and land planning on the Burrup Peninsula was prepared concluding that there was no serious conflict between industrial needs and conservation requirements. This was despite a report prepared by Bruce Wright that identified the Dampier Archipelago as a major archaeological resource with high scientific values and which specified the need for consultation with Aboriginal people (Department of Aboriginal Sites 1980). The Western Australian government adopted the Clough report as a guideline for future development on the Burrup Peninsula. Throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium there were numerous ongoing developments that have resulted in additional large and small-scale survey work on the Burrup Peninsula. During this time three native title claims were registered that included parts of the Dampier Archipelago. In 2002 the Western Australian Government entered into the Burrup and Maitland Industrial Estates Agreement Implementation Deed (the BMIEIA Agreement) with the three native title claimant groups. This agreement enabled the State Government to compulsorily acquire any native title rights and interests in the area of the Burrup Peninsula and other parcels of land near Karratha.

The Agreement also included a range of economic and community benefits (education, training and a stake in future land developments) for the Ngarluma, Yindjibarndi, Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo and Yaburara Mardudhunera peoples (Department of Premier and Cabinet 2005). The Agreement provided for the parts of the non-industrial land of the Burrup Peninsula to be returned as freehold title to Ngarda-Ngarli, and for this area to become a Conservation Reserve jointly managed with the Department of Environment Conservation (Department of Environment Conservation 2006). To date the handover of this land and establishment of the jointly managed Conservation Reserve has not taken place. Following the signing of the BMIEA Agreement, some additional industrial development occurred. This includes the construction of the Burrup Fertilisers Ammonia plant, which began production in 2006, and Woodside Energy's Pluto Liquid Natural Gas plant which is expected to begin production in 2012. An environmental approval has been sought for construction of an ammonium nitrate plant on the Burrup Peninsula and this is currently under assessment. The Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) was included in the National Heritage List on 3 July 2007 for its outstanding Aboriginal heritage values and in particular values relating to the rock art.

3. Archaeological and cultural resources

3.1 The broader Pilbara cultural context: archaeological and anthropological research Archaeology The Pilbara coast has been subject to intensive archaeological and anthropological investigation, resulting from both long-term research (focussing on significant rock art and occupation sites) and cultural resource management associated with the major resource developments that have occurred over the last 35 years. The earliest date for the inland Pilbara is now 35,159 ±537 BP (Wk-22787) taken from Djadjiling in the Hamersley Range (Law et al. 2010). Excavations at Juukan 1 and 2 (Slack et al. 2009: 32) on the Hamersley Plateau have demonstrated clearly for the first time continuity of occupation through the Last Ice Age (Last Glacial Maximum). The suite of dates from the inland Pilbara shows low-intensity occupation from at least 35,000 years ago. Regional coastal sites, particularly those found in the Montebello Islands (located less than 100km to the west of the Dampier Archipelago), provide firm evidence for human occupation of the extended coastal shelf of north-west Australia dating back to at least 30,000 years. If the North-West Cape sites near Exmouth, which are part of the same biogeographic region as the Montebello Islands, are included, occupation of the coastal shelf is pushed back to more than 35,000 years ago (Przywolnik 2005). The Montebello radiocarbon dates are derived from marine resources such as Baler shell and the mangrove gastropod Terebralia (Veth 1993; Veth et al. 2007). At this time when sea levels were lower Aboriginal groups on the coastal shelf relied on both marine and land-based resources. While it is clear that the inland Pilbara was occupied during the Pleistocene nearly 85% of the 126 radiocarbon dates for the inland Pilbara are Holocene, and of these over 80% date to the last 4,000 years (Morse 2009: 2; Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009c). This shows, that while the number of sites in the inland Pilbara increases in the early Holocene, the area was most intensively occupied during the late Holocene, particularly in the last millennium.

Fig.3 Style provinces and important sites in the Pilbara region

The outstanding importance of the rock art of the West Pilbara region has been recognised for decades (McCarthy 1961, 1968; Wright 1968, 1977). Characterisation of the different style provinces, within the West Pilbara, began in the 1960s (Wright 1968, 1977; Maynard 1977) and continues today (McDonald and Veth 2006b, 2008, 2009). Detailed analyses of the attributes of engravings of people and animals (Harper 2010; Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009c; McDonald and Veth 2006b, 2009; Mulvaney 2011) demonstrate both similarities and differences within the region. These analyses also show that, while the art of Dampier Archipelago is representative of this broader region, it also has particular local characteristics (Palmer 1977a, 1977b; McDonald and Veth 2006b: Sections 3 and 4). The art in most of the Pilbara style provinces is dominated by stylised images of people. These are the most common images in the Hamersley Ranges, Black Hills, Cooya Pooya, Hooley Station and Juna. There are two style provinces - Sherlock Station and Upper Yule - where images of animal and bird tracks dominate the body of art. The dominant imagery in the art of the coastal zone including the Dampier Archipelago, the Deputch Islands and Port Hedland are images of marine birds and mammals as well as fish and reptiles (McDonald and Veth 2011b; McNickle 1984). It is therefore clear there are both thematic and schematic differences between the art provinces in the West Pilbara. Regional similarities and differences across the broader region are also expressed in the style of the human form (McDonald and Veth 2005; Wright 1968) with stylistically unique images found in particular style provinces. These include the Kurangara figures, characteristic of the Upper Yule, the Minjiburu figures from Port Hedland and the Cooya Pooya stylised stick figures. However modifications of all these styles have been found on the Dampier Archipelago (McDonald and Veth 2006b). Traditions in the region Traditional Owners and Custodians of the West Pilbara region have tangible links to cultural heritage and specific archaeological sites along with the landscapes within which they occur. This is an archaeological record of a culture bloc which has living descendents, but their connection to the rock art is contemporary not purely traditional. For Aboriginal people of the Pilbara all engraved art can be seen as significant, tangible expressions of ancestral actions. This is shared between the Pilbara and Western Desert and is demonstrated by shared mythological, linguistic, material cultural and religious systems between these two culture areas (McDonald 2005; McDonald and Veth 2005, 2008; Veth 2000). Traditional Law is kept strong in Roebourne through the annual Birdarra Law ceremonies that take place near Roebourne. Law is interconnected with the land, and the Dreaming, which is called Ngurra Nyujunggamu by Ngarluma and Yindjibarndi people, and means, ‘when the world was soft’. Ngarda- Ngarli describe how the creation spirits or Marga got up from the ground and lifted the sky and the world out of the sea. The Marga and Minkala/Mangunyba (Skygod) named and shaped the country, and all the birds and animals.

Palmer (1977a) sets out traditional mythological narratives that link Ganya (downstream from Gregory’s Gorge), Depuch Island (to the east of the Archipelago) and the coastal limestone platforms around Port Hedland to the north east. Associated Ancestral Beings include Kangaroo, Two Men and the Minjiburu Women (Seven Sisters). He notes that: ...the petroglyphs were thought not only to have been made by the Dreaming ancestors, the marlu (kangaroo) or the Minjiburu (seven sisters), but also were regarded as symbols of the representations of the myth and ritual (1977a: 45).

Palmer’s informants all agreed that the petroglyphs were not the work of humans but of the Marga people who lived in the Dreamtime.

The Marga were Dream Time ancestral figures who, according to the mythology of the area, formulated the teachings and social patterns that were followed by the Tribe (1975a: 155).

While many of rock art motifs may hold further, undocumented, meanings (Palmer 1977a; Robinson 1997) it is clear that they demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the resources found in local catchments. Accounts from neighbouring Western Desert senior custodians describe that engravings are from the Dreaming (Jukurrpa) and represent the travels, markings and embodiments of ancestral creator beings (McDonald and Veth 2011). Pigment art, by contrast, is said to be made by puntu - the production of human beings (McDonald and Veth 2011). Senior male and female law-holders from the Western Desert have provided narratives of both Wati Katjarra (Two Lizard Men) and Minjiburu (Seven Sisters) extending from the Canning Stock Route (and further east) to the Pilbara mainland and specifically Depuch Island, Cape Preston and the general area of the Dampier Archipelago (called that heritage place).

3.2 General archaeology and dating of sites on the property Within its valleys, hill tops, boulder fields and rock platforms the Dampier Archipelago houses an astonishing art corpus which demonstrates the centrality and significance of these jagged, scree- strewn uplands to people of the inland and coastal Pilbara. There are also numerous quarries where fine-grained stone has been procured (McDonald and Veth 2006b) and large occupation sites containing tens of thousands of artefacts (Veth 1982) within the archipelago. There are large linear and mounded shell middens (Clune 2002). These sites, which are evidence of long term occupation, are contiguous with the art bodies, which attests to the presence, permanence and persistence of larger family groups and likely meetings of larger numbers of people at these aggregation locales. The extraordinary density of archaeological sites demonstrates that this was a gathering place for people from the Pilbara. The unique resource structure and topography of the archipelago supported these gatherings. The landscape – defined by deep valleys, tall scree slopes, shaded ephemeral waterways and rock and travertine-lined pools, and soakage points at the back of coastal dunes provided a refuge for desert peoples. The islands with their mangrove forests, sandy embayments and rocky foreshores, set in the subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean, would have provided an abundance of marine resources (turtles, shellfish, fish and crustacean) in addition to the terrestrial ones (macropods, yams and avian fauna).

The regional archaeological sequence suggests that Aboriginal people may have lived in the area that is now the Dampier Archipelago during the Pleistocene. There is a single radiocarbon date from the Burrup Peninsula that falls in the Pleistocene. It was obtained on a large piece of trumpet shell (Syrinx aruanus) from Gum Tree Valley. The shell was found wedged between engraved boulders. Lorblanchet (1992: 41) notes that this early date of 18,510 BP (c. 21,000 cal BP) was unexpected, particularly given the shell’s good state of preservation, and given that at this time the coastline would have been 130km distant. The age of this shell is much older than any of the dated midden deposits nearby. Lorblanchet argues that the shell was probably traded or exchanged with coastal groups during the Pleistocene. He also suggests that it is related to the deeply patinated engravings and Core Tool and Scraper artefacts found in Gum Tree Valley. While suggestive, the shell does not come from a sealed archaeological context and cannot be taken as a firm date for early occupation of the Dampier Archipelago. There are a further 47 radiocarbon dates from surface shell, middens, rockshelters, campsites and stone arrangements excavated across the Burrup Peninsula and outer islands: four of these from a midden on Rosemary Island (Bradshaw 1995). The 33 Burrup shell dates come from a range of site types (Harrison 2009: Table 8): from small shellfish scatters to larger linear and mounded middens containing a variety of shellfish species from the area. These include Anadara granosa, oyster Saccostrea sp., limpet Acanthopleura sp., gastropods Nerita undata, Trochus sp. and Notocallista sp., clams Tridacna maxima, Terebralia sp. and Telescopium sp. and Baler shell Melo amphora (Bradshaw 1994, 1995; Clune 2002; Lorblanchet 1976, 1978; Veth 1982; Vinnicombe 1987). Turtle and dugong remains occur throughout the coastal zone along with the mangrove crab (Scylla serrata) and a range of fish found in stratified sites. These sites date from circa 8,500 BP until after Contact. If the number of dated sites per millennium from the Dampier Archipelago is treated as an indicator of the incidence of occupation through time (Attenbrow 2004; McDonald 2008), it is clear that the area is occupied throughout the Holocene but with the early and middle Holocene having higher occupation rates than the late Holocene. This is in contrast with the occupation indices for the inland Pilbara which shows an increasing occupation over time and highest occupation in the most recent millennium. Middens are common in the archipelago and can take either linear or mounded form (Bradshaw 1994, 1995; Clune 2002; Lorblanchet 1976, 1978; McDonald and Veth 2005: Table 5, Figure 11; Vinnicombe 1987). The large mound middens, such as are found at West Intercourse Island, Nickol River, Skew Valley, George's Valley, Magic Midden (Burrup) and Anadara Mound Midden (Dampier Salt) are particularly important. They provide clear evidence for the repeated collection, processing and discard of key marine species  namely shellfish, crustaceans and fish. Grinding patches are fairly common in the archipelago suggesting that seeds ground into flour were an important part of the diet of Ngarda-Ngarli and their ancestors.

Fig.4 Midden from the Dampier Archipelago The earliest dates on the archipelago from the early Holocene come from middens on the outer islands, at the time when the outer arms of the archipelago were first reached by the rising seas at the end of the Pleistocene. These older middens show a common regional pattern. In their lower units there is a dominance of the mangrove shellfish Terebralia palustris. The last four thousand years reveal more localised environmental sequences with either Anadara granosa or a range of rocky foreshore species becoming dominant (Bradshaw 1995). Changes in shellfish species after approximately 4,000 BP are likely linked to changing shoreline ecology (Harris 1988; Bradshaw 1995). There is a clear temporal patterning in the assemblages of flaked and ground stone artefacts recovered from the middens of the Dampier Archipelago and surrounds. Earlier flaked industries from the Skew Valley site are dated to between approximately 6,600 and 3,600 BP. These include scrapers, horsehoof (single platform) cores and retouched flakes (Lorblanchet 1978). To these implements are added microliths, made of a range of exotic materials and later, tula adzes and slugs. The addition of small, hafted tools by the mid- to late Holocene is common in many parts of Aboriginal Australia. Occupation increases significantly in the millennium after sea level stabilisation and has an early high pulse, with a possible decline in the fourth millennium. The number of dates peak again in the third millennium and then there is a noticeable decline during the last millennium. By contrast the inland Pilbara has an early Holocene signal which appears to intensify by the fourth millennium – and reaches its highest levels during the most recent millennium. While this difference in patterning could be in part a result of sampling size (the number of dates for the inland Pilbara is twice that for the archipelago) and the different dating foci in these two areas (middens vs. rockshelters), it could show that there are differences in the human responses to a variety of climatic changes over this time period in these two areas (Veth et. al 2011).

Isolated or groups of standing stones, heaped stone structures, stone lines and stone pits are found in the archipelago. Ngarda-Ngarli people have described the purpose and meaning of some of these features. At the Flying Foam massacre site standing stones silently mark the place (Rijavec, 1993). Other standing stones and boulder arrangements are part of traditional resource management (Daniel 1990; Bird and Hallam 2006; McDonald and Veth 2006b). They can mark the location of water and other resources (Stevens, 2003) or they can be thalu sites where particular species are increased through the performance of ceremonies (Daniels 1990; Gara 1984b). Some heaped stones, stone lines and possible 'hides' are thought to have been used in hunting (Mulvaney 2003).

3.3 Rock Art The Dampier Archipelago engraving province is visually spectacular with the engravings exhibiting an extraordinary density and an exceptional complexity of forms (McDonald and Veth 2005, 2006b; Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009a, 2009b, 2010; Mulvaney 2011). Density of rock art The exceptional density of petroglyphs in the Dampier Archipelago has been recognised for a long time. Writing in the early 1980s, Michel Lorblanchet (1984:4) stated that the Kakadu and Dampier art represented the most impressive clusters of sites he had ever seen. Patricia Vinicombe (2002:5) echoes this sentiment when she states that the only area she had seen with a comparable richness of art was the Kakadu National Park and that the number of individual motifs inscribed on the boulders of the Dampier Archipelago must be numbered in the millions. While it is known that wherever there is suitable rock in the archipelago, rock engravings will be found, major petroglyph sites are most likely to occur where suitable rock is close to other key resources such as semi-permanent water, fauna and stone resources (McDonald and Veth 2006b). Systematic surveys show that the density of petroglyph sites on the Burrup Peninsula is exceptionally high both nationally and internationally. Densities range from 17 to 150 petroglyph sites per km2, where a site is defined as an aggregation of petroglyphs within 25m of each other (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011: Table 1). The number and density of individual engraved motifs per hectare is also exceptionally high, with recent surveys within the national heritage place showing densities of between 85 and 67 motifs/ha (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2010). Based on the averaged motif densities in a systematic survey of Deep Gorge and two smaller areas in the national heritage listed place (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009b, 2009c, 2010), there could be as many as 420,000 motifs in the 8,074ha part of the national heritage listed place on the Burrup Peninsula, while the overall archipelago could contain up to 880,000 motifs. These figures are probably conservative given that there are major site complexes in all parts of the archipelago where the density of motifs is significantly higher. Estimates of more than a million motifs across the property therefore are far from fanciful. This is a phenomenal concentration of artistic production.

Stylistic diversity The engraved motifs within the Dampier Archipelago display extreme levels of diversity in style, mode of production, theme and relative age. Bednarik (2006) has described this incredible diversity in both style and content as an outstanding characteristic of the Dampier Archipelago rock art. He further suggests that the Dampier Archipelago artists appear to have been free of strong artistic conventions as no two motifs are identical, and few are even similar.

The exceptionally hard and resistant volcanic rocks of the Dampier Archipelago have been rubbed, pecked, abraded, pounded and scored to produce images that range from abstract to naturalistic. The range of images displayed on the archipelago represents the entire repertoire available to pre- literate artists working on what can only be considered an uncompromising canvas. Perspective as an artistic device is inherent in the manner of depiction used with some motifs, but is also introduced through the use of the contours of boulders, natural inclusions, the breaks on panel faces and the juxtaposition of boulders, cliffs and scree slopes against each other, often with dramatic effect.

Fig.5 Perspective in Dampier Archipelago engravings

The imagery in the rock art of the Dampier Archipelago expresses ideas, belief systems and ancestral cosmology. Images portraying people show exceptional stylistic diversity. They range from static stick and solid bodied figures, through anthropomorphic images of bodies with knees bent and sinuous arms that appear to be floating in the air, to group scenes depicting people engaged in hunting, dancing, ceremony and social union. Human figures are sometimes depicted with either single or groups of concentric arcs that are often interpreted as boomerangs.

Some of the anthropomorphic images have exaggerated hands and feet while in others infilled circles indicate joints (elbows, knees) or body parts such as genitalia, stomachs, hands or feet. Groups of human figures arranged around a central line, or depicted below a line as though hanging, are a characteristic feature of the Dampier Archipelago rock art. In some cases the figures appear to be climbing up a pole or a line, the iconic 'climbing men' engravings of the Burrup Peninsula which has been described as 'thematically and aesthetically one of the most outstanding small rock art complexes on the Burrup Peninsula' (Veth et al. 1993: 226). There is also extreme abstraction evident in morphed human (Therianthropic) depictions.

Figs 6-10 Human imagery from the Dampier Archipelago The art includes images of both enormous variety of exquisitely executed terrestrial and marine animals. Terrestrial animals portrayed include macropods and the extinct Thylacine. Many of the marine motifs are positioned artistically in relation to the sea. These include finely executed water birds, turtles, crabs, crayfish and fish. There is also considerable stylistic diversity in the portrayal of the animals like macropods, turtles and fish that the ancestral Ngarda-Ngarli would have hunted and eaten.

Figs. 11-21 Animal imagery from the Dampier Archipelago

It is clear that some of the stylistic diversity in human and other images relates to changes through time. Relative chronologies for images on the Dampier Archipelago have been developed using the degree of patination as a measure of relative age (Lorblanchet 1992; Mulvaney 2011). Based on their heavily patinated and weathered condition land animals are amongst the first images to be created in the archipelago (Mulvaney 2010, 2011). Other early images include human figures incorporating geometric elements, ‘dot-headed’ human figures, simple birds, elaborate geometric designs and archaic faces. These motifs are heavily patinated and weathered. In addition, depictions of emu's and bird tracks are also among the oldest rock engravings.

Figs. 22-29 Engravings from the Dampier Archipelago

Fig. 30 Archaic faces and their locations on the Dampier Archipelago

Images of people engaged in social activities occur throughout the sequence, with patinated climbing men motifs occurring fairly early and lines of stick figures being produced towards the end of the sequence. Images with exaggerated extremities appear to be introduced fairly late in the sequence. There are apparently no examples of very heavily patinated images of marine fauna (Mulvaney 2010, 2011). Rather, the evidence suggests that this type of imagery is introduced mid way through the sequence.

Fig. 31 Ken Mulvaney Sequence of Rock Art Interpretations of the sequence of imagery in the rock art of the Dampier Archipelago often incorporate a speculative chronology (Lorblanchet 1992; McDonald and Veth 2011b; Mulvaney 2011). Currently there are no firm dates for the archipelago from the Pleistocene except for the equivocal c. 21,000 year old date on a trumpet shell from Gum Tree Valley (Jo Macdonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011) and, until there are unequivocal dates for people living in the Dampier Archipelago area during the last glacial maximum, these chronologies will remain speculative. During the multiple phases of art production, there are high degrees of stylistic heterogeneity, technological innovation, sophisticated use of perspective and extensive exploration of themes from the economic and functional (hunting, fishing and prey) through to ceremonial and abstract (dancing figures with accoutrements and large complex revelatory panels such as ‘The Climbing Men Panel’). When the corpus of rock art of the Dampier Archipelago is considered as a whole, the diversity demonstrated in theme, style, mode of execution, dynamism, level of naturalism and abstraction and depiction of recognisable economic and social behaviours, demonstrates an exceptional degree of the highest of creative and technical achievement. The art of the Dampier Archipelago is an outstanding example of human creative genius over an extended period of time.

Current cultural traditions The Dampier Archipelago, referred to as the story book of the Pilbara, is a place of great spiritual significance and is thought to be the place where ancestral beings emerged from the sea and began their travels across the land. As Yinjibarndi elder, Yilbie Warrie describes: “The Burrup is where the Law came out of the sea and travelled inland. We sing it every year.” (http://www.roebourneart.com.au/default.asp?documentid=16: accessed 28 July 2011). The Dampier Archipelago is part of a living cultural tradition and Aboriginal people hold that the engravings are the work of ancestral creator beings from the Dreaming, the Marga. They are a permanent reminder of the Law and retain their spiritual power. The engravings are an inherited and continuing responsibility and the Pilbara groups have songs and creation stories for many of the images depicted in the engravings on the Dampier Archipelago. Many of the images have cultural meaning over and above straightforward depictions and play a role in education and initiation. While further consultation with Ngarda-Ngarli on the meaning of these images is required, some Ngarda- Ngarli have described how engraved images in the Dampier Archipelago either depict or relate to important elements in social transformation ceremonies. There are four language groups with cultural links to the Dampier Archipelago: Yaburara, Ngarluma, coastal Mardudhunera and Yindjibarndi. Yaburara people suffered a major blow to their traditional existence through the Flying Foam massacre in 1868 and ongoing physical dislocations from the Damper Archipelago afterwards (see Gara in Veth et al. 1993:49; http://www.ntwa.com.au/content/ accessed 29 July 2011). Ngarluma people and their kin, now living mainly in Roebourne and the broader coastal plain, retain strong cultural associations with the Dampier Archipelago. Neighbouring coastal Mardudhunera also have traditional links with the area, as do the Yindjibarndi whose country is mainly further inland. On November 17 2007 Robynne Churnside, member of the Ngarluma Native Title Group, Pilbara Native Title Service Executive and Equal Opportunity Commission delivered at a Native Title conference, The Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula) Declaration (http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/ntru/nativetitleconference/conf2008/ntc08papers/ChurnsideR.pdf). She said:

'We say Murujuga is still our country, through our ancestors and our dreaming. We say it is still our right under Aboriginal Law to come here, to hunt, collect bush tucker and bush medicine, light fires, conduct ceremonies and make decisions about this country'.

Ceremonial (thalu) sites are known (many are registered with the Western Australian Department of Indigenous Affairs) on the Dampier Archipelago. The mythological and religious aspects of art and stone arrangements in the West Pilbara have been described at length (Palmer 1975a, 1975b, 1975c, 1975d; 1977a, 1977b). Thalu sites on the Dampier Archipelago are generally comprised of standing stones, boulder arrangements or natural features (Daniel 1990; Bird and Hallam 2006; McDonald and Veth 2006b). These are listed as ceremonial or mythological/historical sites and usually focused on stone structures that are clearly humanly modified.

The presence of archaeological sites, at which regeneration ceremonies are still carried out, provides an extensive geographic network of sites that reliably attest to ongoing ceremonial activity. Some engraving sites, specifically, and all rock art sites, more generally, have varying degrees of significance in terms of their origin, mythological associations and their possible role as mnemonic devices.

3.3 Information gaps Although heritage values are known to occur throughout the Dampier Archipelago, previous analyses of the rock art province identified a relative paucity of information concerning the rock art and archaeology of the outer and intermediate islands. The same was true for the Southern Burrup (and Intercourse Islands) and the Pistol Ranges (McDonald and Veth 2005: 89). The scientific values report (McDonald and Veth 2006b) accessed materials from the Western Australian Department of Indigenous Affairs site files and materials from Gum Tree and Skew Valleys collected by Michel Lorblanchet (1978, 1985) and some of those collected by Patricia Vinnicombe (McDonald and Veth 2006b:12-13). Since then, the Deep Gorge survey has provided information from the central Burrup (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009c), and there have been additional systematic surveys in the national heritage place which have demonstrated the high density and presence of significant values outside of industry zoned lands (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009c, 2009a, 2010). Ken Mulvaney's (2010: Table 6.2) recent doctoral research has documented seventeen site complexes: ten on the Burrup Peninsula and the other seven from five of the islands: West Intercourse, Dolphin, Angel, North Gidley and Rosemary. However the rock art and archaeology of the outer and intermediate islands is still poorly documented and requires further systematic surveys. Previous archaeological research in the Dampier Archipelago has tended to focus on shell middens. While this has shown patterning in the occupation of the area after the rise in sea levels at the end of the Holocene it does not provide any evidence for earlier occupation. Excavation of a shelter with deep stratigraphy would test the suggestion that there is a long chronology for Aboriginal occupation of the Dampier Archipelago (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011). Similarly, direct dating of the rock engravings using a method proven to be reliable would help to establish a chronometric framework for the rock engravings. There is some information on Ngarda-Ngarli understanding of the rock engravings on the Dampier Archipelago (see Current cultural traditions above). However there has been little attempt to date asking whether Ngarda-Ngarli people would like to document this knowledge for their use and possibly for the recognition and celebration of the cultural role that the rock art plays in Ngarda- Ngarli society.

4. Justification

The Dampier Archipelago appears to meet the test of Outstanding Universal Value under one criterion: criterion (i) represents a masterpiece of human creative genius.

The Dampier Archipelago may also meet the test of Outstanding Universal Value under criterion (iii) bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared. However further consultation work is required with the Ngarda-Ngarli people to document the relationship between their beliefs and practices, and the images on the Dampier Archipelago. Due to this lack of documented information on the connection between rock art images and cultural practices on the Dampier Archipelago there is not sufficient argument to demonstrate that this connection is more significant than that found in the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park’s amazing extent of pigmented rock art and continuing cultural associated with the region’s Traditional Owners.

4.1 Criterion (i), masterpiece of human creative genius. The Dampier Archipelago represents the Outstanding Universal Value of the creative genius of Aboriginal artists who over thousands of years created an exceptionally dense and diverse range of beautifully executed naturalistic and schematic engraved images of people, and marine and terrestrial animals on extremely hard granitic rocks. Value statement The density and diversity of the rock engravings on the Dampier Archipelago represents a masterpiece of human creative genius. The place is home to one of the most exciting and significant collections of rock engravings in the world. With its more than one million images in an area of 36,857 hectares, it has the densest known concentration of hunter-gatherer rock engravings anywhere in the world. Over thousands of years, Aboriginal people created these engravings by pecking, scraping, rubbing, abrading, pounding and scoring the very hard granitic rocks of the Archipelago. The resultant body of artwork includes one of the most diverse collections of engraved hunter-forager representations of the human form anywhere in the world. These human figures exhibit a wide diversity of poses and activities ranging from: abstract static figures; to standing, running, and squatting figures, some with sinuous arms and legs; to unusual depictions of men climbing and; rare and visually stunning archaic faces. Human figures are sometimes arranged in complex scenes depicting everyday and sacred activities, including hunting scenes and ceremonial activity. Images of terrestrial and marine fauna in plan and elevation occur throughout the Archipelago. Macropods, bird species, identifiable extinct mammals, snakes and reptiles are all portrayed as are fish, turtles, crabs and crayfish. Tracks and groups of engraved animal footprints are also commonly portrayed as are a range of geometric and other abstract designs. The art uses naturalism and abstraction in the creation of images and exhibits an extraordinary array of diverse styles. The clever use of profile and perspective to create a sense of movement is an outstanding demonstration of the creativity and artistic genius of the Aboriginal artists.

Comparative analysis The rock engravings of the Dampier Archipelago are of Outstanding Universal Value as a masterpiece of human creative genius. Over many thousands of years the Aboriginal artists of the Dampier Archipelago used a simple stone tool technology to peck, pound, abrade and grind images on granitic rock, an extremely difficult canvas, producing an extraordinarily dense and diverse range of rock engravings. With more than one million images in an area of 36,857 hectares the rock engravings in the archipelago are visually impressive. It is also the densest known concentration of hunter-forager rock engravings anywhere in the world (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011). What makes the diversity and density of the finely executed portrayals of people and animals on the Dampier Archipelago even more remarkable is that the Aboriginal artists used a simple stone tool technology to create these images on the extremely hard granitic rocks. By contrast, nationally most rock engravings are made on more tractable sedimentary rock. Examples include the engravings in the Sydney Basin (McDonald 2008; Attenbrow 2010) and Western New South Wales (Maynard 1976). The rock engravings at Twyfelfontein in Namibia and Tasili n'Adjjir in Algeria (Namibia 2006; Coulson and Campbell 2010) were also created on sedimentary rock. This is a more tractable medium than the granite of the Dampier Archipelago. The engraved rockshelters of the Vezere Valley in South- West France were formed in relatively soft limestone. However the engravings in the Coa Valley in Portugal are made on metasediments, a hard medium, but the Palaeolithic images in this valley are not nearly as diverse or dense as those on the Dampier Archipelago. The Dampier Archipelago rock engravings include an unusual and exceptionally diverse set of representations of the human form, exquisitely engraved images of animals, representations of animal tracks and a range of simple and complex geometric designs (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011; McDonald and Veth 2005, 2006a, 2006b, 2009; Mulvaney 2010, 2011). Relative chronologies using the degree of patination of particular motifs (Lorblanchet 1992; Mulvaney 2011) demonstrates that there are historical changes in the imagery portrayed in the rock art. While it is clear that images were engraved over thousands of years, chronometric dating of the rock art is still to be developed. Regional similarities and differences in the style of engraved human figures have been identified across the Pilbara (McDonald and Veth 2005; Wright 1968), but modifications of all these styles have been found on the Dampier Archipelago (McDonald and Veth 2006b). This is why the Dampier Archipelago best represents the styles of rock engravings found throughout the Pilbara (Australian Heritage Council 2007). Representations of the human form in the Dampier Archipelago include a variety of stick and solid bodied images in static poses as well as beautifully executed dynamic profile images of bodies with knees bent and sinuous arms that appear to be floating in the air. In these cases, the clever use of profile and perspective to create a sense of movement is an outstanding demonstration of the creativity and artistic expertise of the Aboriginal artists. Groups of human figures arranged around a central line or depicted below a line as though hanging are a characteristic feature of the Dampier Archipelago rock art. In some cases the figures appear to be climbing up a pole or a line, the iconic 'climbing men' engravings of the Burrup Peninsula, which have been described as 'thematically and aesthetically one of the most outstanding small rock art complexes on the Burrup Peninsula' (Veth et al. 1993: 226). The deeply weathered archaic faces and complex geometric designs in the Burrup Peninsula are visually stunning.

By contrast, engraved images of human figures elsewhere in Australia are portrayed head-on in static poses (Maynard 1976). They lack the dynamic imagery and the use of perspective found in some of the Dampier Archipelago engravings. This is true for the 'Kalkadoon' figures in the Mount Isa region in north Queensland and engraved human figures to the south and east of Alice Springs (Morwood 2002: 197-198; Gunn 1995). The former are simple, static figures with elaborate ‘headdresses’ that look like a fern leaf and are always depicted facing the viewer while the latter are static figures with ‘feathered’ or other types of headdresses. Similarly, engraved anthropomorphs in Western New South Wales are all portrayed head on in static poses (Maynard 1976). There is a mixture of profile and head on representation of engraved human figures in the Sydney Basin, although most are portrayed head on in static poses (McDonald 2008; Attenbrow 2010). The exceptional diversity and density of representations of the human form in the Dampier Archipelago engravings is extremely unusual for hunter-forager societies in an international context. Engravings of the human form are extremely rare in the European Palaeolithic. This is true for engravings in the Coa Valley and Siega Verde (Portugal 1997) and in the Vezere Valley in France (Reed 1976). Some of the engraved images in the Vezere Valley combine animal and human characteristics (therianthrops) and can be interpreted as evidence for a shamanistic religion. The engravings of stylised figurines in the European Palaeolithic show little diversity and are described as not being as well executed as the engravings of animals. The pattern of very few representations of the human form is also true for the San (bushmen) rock engravings in southern Africa. For example, there are very few engravings of human figures at Twyfelfontein (<0.5% of all engravings) although there are some well-known images of beings that are part human and part animal such as the Lion Man (Namibia 2006: 25). The rock engravings of Tasili n'Adjjir in Algeria were produced over many thousands of years. They include hunter-forager and pastoralist engravings. The engravings produced by hunter-foragers date to the Large Wild Fauna period. During this period people are sometimes shown as tiny figures standing before huge animals, holding ‘boomerangs’, sticks or axes. People are also portrayed in profile and some of these images appear to portray sexual activity (Coulson and Campbell, 2010). There are also profile images of humans with animal heads. While there is some diversity in the way the human figure is portrayed, the images are not as diverse as those in the Dampier Archipelago. As its name implies, the Large Wild Fauna period includes beautiful naturalistic, incised images of a range of megafauna: elephant, hippopotamus, rhino, giraffe, the extinct giant buffalo, aurochs and large antelope (Coulson and Campbell 2010). Engravings of macropods, birds, identifiable extinct mammals, reptiles, fish, turtles, crabs and crayfish are all portrayed in the Dampier Archipelago (McDonald and Veth 2005, 2006a, 2009). Terrestrial and marine mammals like macropods, thylacines and dugong are portrayed in profile as are fish and birds while turtles and crustacea are depicted in plan form. Some of the depictions of animals are finely executed naturalistic images that are instantly recognisable and are as finely executed as many of the animal engravings in hunter-forager art in both Europe and Africa. However some of the animal engravings on the Dampier Archipelago are schematic and stylised rather than naturalistic. This is particularly noticeable in the well documented turtle images (McDonald and Veth 2006b). Images of terrestrial and marine fauna in plan and elevation are also found elsewhere in Australia.

In some style provinces, for example the Sydney Basin, a wide range of species are depicted including macropods, fish, marine mammals and birds (McDonald 2008) but the images of particular classes of animals and fish lack the diversity found in species like turtles in the Dampier Archipelago. The density and diversity of engraved images in the Dampier Archipelago are exceptional in both a national and an international context and meet the threshold for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

4.2 Criterion (iii) exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition which is living or which has disappeared.

Value statement The rock engravings of the Dampier Archipelago are central to the continuing culture of Ngarda- Ngarli people. For Ngarda-Ngarli people the engraved images were produced by ancestral creation beings during the Dreaming. The images are permanent reminders of the law and how it should be followed. Ceremony is central to this law and some of the rock engravings of the Dampier Archipelago are unusual in as much as they portray and are part of ceremony. It is these images together with Ngarda-Ngarli understandings of them as expressed in the annual Birdarra ceremonies that provides exceptional testimony to a living cultural tradition. Comparative analysis

While the relationship between Aboriginal art, the Dreaming and totemic species provides a common thread, Aboriginal rock art cannot be reduced to a single cultural tradition. The very different artistic style and modes of representation express differences in the way that Aboriginal societies divide up and manage their world. In some cases these different styles can be treated as bearing a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a living cultural tradition. Within this framework, the rock art of the Dampier Archipelago is an exceptionally important body of Aboriginal rock art that bears a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a living cultural tradition. The Ngarda-Ngarli people actively manage the land in accordance with Traditional Law (Mardudhunera Yaburara et al. 2004). As Robynne Churnside, a member of the Ngarluma Native Title Group, when delivering The Murujuga (Burrup Peninsula) Declaration at the 2007 a Native Title conference in Darwin states: We say Murujuga is still our country, through our ancestors and our dreaming. We say it is still our right under Aboriginal Law to come here, to hunt, collect bush tucker and bush medicine, light fires, conduct ceremonies and make decisions about this country. This management may include undertaking increase rituals to manage natural resources. It has been suggested (Palmer 1975, 1977) that the engravings in places like the Dampier Archipelago are thalu sites, the places where ceremonies to increase and manage natural resources are undertaken. While it is possible that engravings are associated with these places, it is also clear that on and near the Dampier Archipelago thalu generally comprise standing stones, boulder arrangements or natural features (Daniel 1990; Bird and Hallam 2006; McDonald and Veth 2006b). For the Ngarda-Ngarli custodians of the Dampier Archipelago, the engravings are the embodiment and were produced by ancestral creation beings, the Marga, during the Dreaming (Palmer 1975; Department of Environment and Conservation 2011).

The Marga left the engravings behind as permanent visual reminders of the law that they formulated in the beginning and a reminder of how the law should be followed. This law is kept strong in the nearby Ngarda-Ngarli community in Roebourne through the annual Birdarra law ceremonies. This law imposes obligations on custodians who, amongst other responsibilities, have to care for the rock engravings. This is particularly important as the engravings are also places of continuing spiritual power which is a result of an essence left by ancestral beings when they formed the land and its features. The Ngarda-Ngali and other Pilbara groups have songs and creation stories for many of the images depicted in the engravings on the Dampier Archipelago. These images are therefore more than simple depictions; they play a role in education. The rock engravings of the Dampier Archipelago include exceptionally unusual images of social gatherings, dancing and ceremonies (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011). The draft management plan for Aboriginal land in the Archipelago also recognises that some images are associated with rites of passage or other ceremonies. It is the unusual combination of images of ceremonies and images linked to law and creation beings that make the continuing culture of Ngarda-Ngarli people as expressed through the rock art of Outstanding Universal Value. The representations in the Dampier Archipelago rock art are different to other Aboriginal artistic traditions in the Australian geo-cultural region which have, or potentially have, Outstanding Universal Value. For example, one particular style of the many different styles of the World Heritage listed art of Kakadu National Park comprises images known as ‘X-ray figures’. These figures are known to relate to Aboriginal culture in complex ways. There are open, public understandings of these images that relate to the rules for butchering animals and distributing the various parts to different categories of people for food (Tacon 1989; Taylor 1989). There are also restricted meanings to X-ray art images that people learn as they are initiated into the ‘inside’ meaning of ceremonies. These relate to the extended metaphors that link body parts of animals as ancestral beings to food division, to the stories of these beings and to the foundation of Arnhem Land Aboriginal societies. They also link to the broader landscape for which clan groups are responsible. These extended metaphors also relate to death and Aboriginal concepts of spirit and spirit return (Taylor 1989).

Fig. 32 Example of X-ray art images from Kakadu National Park The Wanjina Wungurr art of the Kimberley is a very different but equally stunning artistic tradition in the Australian geo-cultural area which relates to a different set of responsibilities, beliefs and practices that are required to care for and mange country. This art is dominated by a single class of Creator Being, the Wanjina, depicted as a distinct rock art figure (Blundell et al. 2009). Wanjina- Wunggurr people believe that the Wanjina 'put' themselves onto rock surfaces as paintings, they also believe that as the human descendants of these Wanjina, it is their duty to maintain the 'brightness' or 'freshness' of the paintings by re-touching them with charcoal and pigments (Mowaljarlai and Malnic 1993; Redmond 2001; Blundell and Woolagoodja 2005; Blundell et al. 2009). By keeping the paintings 'fresh' the world will remain fertile – the annual rains arrive, plants and animals will reproduce, and child spirits will remain available in whirlpools and waterholes throughout the Wanjina-Wunggurr homeland. While further consultation with Ngardia-Ngarli on the meaning of these images is required, recognisable depictions of ceremony is unusual in an Australian context and may be of outstanding universal value under criterion (iii).

5. Authenticity and integrity

For a property to be of Outstanding Universal Value it must also meet the conditions of authenticity and integrity.

5.1 Authenticity and Outstanding Universal Values The authenticity of the place must be judged within the cultural context to which the property belongs. Rock art of the Dampier Archipelago, on the Pilbara coastline, represents a discrete art province in the broader Pilbara culture bloc. The rock art of the archipelago has significantly more diversity than any of the smaller Pilbara art provinces; it is also the place that best represents the rock art of this arid bioregion. Authenticity in form and design are expressed in the continuity, diversity and changing motifs and iconography of the Dampier Archipelago rock engravings. Extremely high levels of stylistic diversity are demonstrated across all analysed motif categories (e.g. humans, macropods and turtles are depicted in various styles). The body of art on the Dampier Archipelago is representative of other engraved style repertoires in the Pilbara but also includes iconography found only in this place. All engravings have been made on the exceptionally hard, dark volcanic rocks of the Dampier Archipelago using stone tool technology. Repairs have not been carried out to any of the engravings except where graffiti removal has been undertaken. Methods of production included pecking, abrasion, incision and bas-relief. When first produced the very pale engravings contrast starkly with the dark cortex of the rock. With subsequent patination and weathering, this contrast gradually reduces. These natural processes show clearly that different phases of art with different themes and styles were produced over a considerable time period (Mulvaney 2011). The multiple phases of engravings on the Dampier Archipelago demonstrate a continuous hunter-forager way of life. The striking volcanic boulder fields of the archipelago with numerous ridgelines, valleys, gorges and rocky platforms, today form a series of islands nestled in the subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean. These landscape features include rock pools and a cornucopia of food resources: vital elements for supporting the intensive production of rock art while also serving as thematic and subject inspiration. The resources have supported larger groups of people through time. Major art panels depicting humans and aquatic resources are dramatically juxtaposed on cliff faces and pavements at beachheads while hunting, social and ceremonial scenes are revealed along deeply incised valleys. The rock art records social and ceremonial activities and the Dampier Archipelago was a place where people from across the Pilbara gathered. For Traditional Owners and Custodians and Aboriginal people in the wider Pilbara the rock engravings are significant, tangible expressions of ancestral actions. This is demonstrated by mythological, linguistic, material, cultural and religious systems. Dreaming narratives for the coastal Pilbara and specific islands are held by senior custodians and sites are actively maintained and visited today. Custodians of the West Pilbara region have tangible links to cultural heritage and to specific archaeological sites and the landscapes within which they occur. This culture bloc has living descendents, but their connection to the rock art is contemporary not purely traditional.

5.2 Integrity The study area being assessed for Outstanding Universal Values is defined by the boundaries of the national heritage listed place, which excludes areas that have been disturbed by industry. It encompasses the islands of the Dampier Archipelago as well as parts of the Burrup Peninsula which was originally an island but is now joined to the mainland by a causeway. The whole study area is about 36,860 hectares in size of which 8,074 hectares are on the Burrup Peninsula. As part of the identification of national heritage values a land use impact assessment was undertaken of the study area. This was done because the central-southern portion of the Burrup Peninsula is a town site and has been the focus of industry since the 1960s. East Intercourse Island and Mid East Intercourse Island have similarly been impacted. A detailed land-use study (McDonald and Veth 2006b) documented that approximately 15% the Burrup Peninsula has been impacted. The remaining 85% of the Peninsula retains extremely high integrity as do all of the other 40 listed islands of the archipelago. The areas on the Burrup that lacked heritage values or lacked integrity because of past industrial and residential developments were excluded from the national heritage place/study area. Even with these exclusions, the study area is of adequate size to contain all features and processes that constitute the Outstanding Universal Value of the place. Since the time of listing there has been minimal industrial incursion into the national heritage place. The only breach was blasting which affected a small area of about 1.65 ha on the edge of the property (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009b). While there has been minimal impact on the integrity of the property’s fabric, its visual integrity has been compromised by industry. New industrial developments such as the Pluto liquid natural gas plant and Burrup Fertilisers ammonia plant are visible from some distance. However the topography of the archipelago, with its deeply dissected gorges, valleys and scree slopes, means that once beyond the current industrial areas the property retains high visual integrity as well as having high integrity generally.

Fig. 33 Development impacts on Burrup Peninsula (excludes post 2006 impacts)

A number of engraved rocks were removed from their original location when the first liquid natural gas plant was built on the Burrup Peninsula (Vinnicombe 1997: 19). These are now housed in a fenced compound within the study area. While the art is authentic, the location of the boulders and the cluster of engravings in this compound is artificial. Senior Traditional Owners and Custodians are involved in developing culturally appropriate management arrangements for this area. Within the national heritage listed area the body of rock art is whole and intact (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2009a, 2010). While the entire property has not been surveyed and recorded, there are known examples of sites which demonstrate Outstanding Universal Value in all parts of the archipelago. The national heritage listing of the Dampier Archipelago in 2007 provides robust heritage protection for outstanding national heritage values under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

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Part Two

Threats to the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago

1. Introduction The Dampier Archipelago is home to one of the richest, most diverse and exciting collections of Aboriginal rock engravings in Australia. In recognition of the site’s outstanding Aboriginal heritage values, including millions of rock engravings, the Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) was included in the National Heritage List in July 2007. While the national heritage significance of the site is recognised, the place is at the same time the centre of a multi-billion dollar resource industry. This coexistence of major industry with outstanding heritage values requires a clear understanding of the potential for the former to impact on the latter in order for effective management and mitigation of those potential impacts. On 2 March 2011, in response to a Senate motion, Senator Sterle advised the Senate that the Australian Government would ask the Australian Heritage Council to undertake an emergency assessment of the outstanding universal values of the Dampier Archipelago site and any threats to that site. This report is a desktop study of the potential threats to the Dampier Archipelago site. The site is defined as the National Heritage List boundary for the Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) (Attachment A). This report is not limited to the threats to the national heritage values of the site, but considers the risk to the heritage of the site as a whole. While the site is subject to environmental factors such as rising seas levels, fire, cyclones, flood and drought, this report is to investigate any existing or potential manmade threats to the heritage in the site. To assess the significance of potential threats, a risk level has been given to each of the identified threats. This risk assessment takes into account the potential severity of the threat, the likelihood of it occurring and any risk controls or known factors which mitigate either the level of impact or the likelihood of the threat. The risk level for each threat is summarised on the risk assessment matrix (Attachment B). The heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago The richness and diversity of the Dampier Archipelago rock art is remarkable, with features ranging from individual engravings to valleys with literally thousands of engravings forming a single site. The heritage features include quarries, middens, fish traps, rock shelters, ceremonial places, artefact scatters, grinding patches, stone arrangements and engravings. Engravings are the most numerous type of heritage feature, with images potentially numbering in the millions. Large concentrations are found on inland plateaus, steep valley inclines bordering waterways and on rock platforms next to the ocean. Created by pecking, pounding, rubbing and scratching, the engravings provide a fascinating insight into the past. The Ngarda-Ngarli people have a deep cultural and spiritual connection to the engravings. Some depict ancestral beings or spirit figures, while others relate to sacred ceremonies and songs, but many are representations of the everyday life or events of the traditional ancestors.

The Dampier Archipelago Industry The Dampier Archipelago is the location of a multi-billion dollar resource industry and has been subject to industrial development for over 40 years. To some extent, knowledge about and legislation to protect the heritage has trailed behind the industrial development. Development of the area originated from the need for a deep-water port to serve the Pilbara region’s growing resource industry. While Depuch Island was an early candidate, it was concluded that the port should be built elsewhere because of the Island’s exceptional Aboriginal heritage (McDonald and Veth 2005:160; Vinnicombe 2002:6; Bednarik 2006:25). At the time very little was known about the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago. In 1963 the Western Australian Government and Hamersley Iron entered into an agreement to develop the Tom Price mine and the Dampier Archipelago was chosen as the location for its associated deep water port. The township of Dampier was also developed to support the mining interests of the Pilbara (Vinnicombe 2002:6). In 1966 Hamersley Iron began iron ore processing and shipping from the Dampier Archipelago and in 1971 its operations were expanded to East Intercourse Island within the archipelago.

Movement of iron ore to the Burrup Peninsula’s port facilities

Development of the area continued during the 1970s, with railways constructed to deliver the ore to the newly established port facilities. Beginning in the early 1970’s salt evaporation beds were constructed on the south of the Burrup Peninsula (the largest island in the archipelago prior to this artificial connection to the mainland). Some archaeological surveys were undertaken as part of the environmental impact studies for these developments which located previously unrecognised archaeological sites (McDonald and Veth 2005:199). Despite increasing knowledge about the heritage of the place, in 1978 the Burrup Peninsula was chosen as the site for a processing plant for offshore gas deposits from the North-West Shelf.

North West Shelf LNG facilities

Following an environmental impact assessment, Withnell Bay and King Bay were recommended as the locations for the North West Shelf LNG development. At the same time, the Clough report on port and land planning on the Burrup Peninsula was prepared and concluded that there was no serious conflict between industrial needs and conservation requirements (Clough /Soros-Longsworth and Mackenzie 1980). In the 1980s a report by Bruce Wright identified the Dampier Archipelago as a major archaeological resource with high scientific value and specified the need for consultation with Aboriginal people (DIA 1980). However the Western Australian government adopted the Clough report as a guide for future development on the Burrup Peninsula. During this time three native title claims were registered that included parts of the Dampier Archipelago. In 2002 the Western Australian Government entered into the Burrup and Maitland Industrial Estates Agreement Implementation Deed (BMIEA) with the three native title claimant groups. The BMIEA enabled the State Government to compulsorily acquire any native title rights and interests in the area of the Burrup Peninsula and created the Burrup Industrial Estate which facilitated further industrial development on identified areas of the peninsula. The Agreement also included a range of economic and community benefits (education, training and a stake in future land developments) for the Ngarluma Yindjibarndi, Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo and Yaburara Mardudhunera peoples. Industrial development has continued in the Burrup Industrial Estate. It is one of Western Australia’s most productive petroleum areas and is a major exporting base for the State’s minerals (CALM 2005:8). Given the amount of industry associated with the area, the Port of Dampier has become a critical part of the vast export precinct in the North West Region of Western Australia and is now Australia’s second largest bulk export port (DPA 2010:2) by tonnage.

Today, in addition to the township of Dampier and its associated infrastructure, the Dampier Archipelago is the location of:

 LNG processing plants  Iron ore storage and port facilities  Salt production facilities  Liquid ammonia plants  Quarries  Natural Gas Pipelines

Burrup Fertiliser

2. Industrial Development

As previously highlighted, significant industrial development has already occurred on the Dampier Archipelago. Continued industrial development constitutes the primary direct physical threat to the site although State and Commonwealth heritage legislation provide some measure of protection for the site from the impact of industrial activity. In WA the Department of Indigenous Affairs (DIA) administers the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, the primary legislation that protects and preserves Aboriginal heritage and culture throughout WA. This protection extends to any Aboriginal site or object irrespective of whether they have been previously recorded or included in the WA Register of Aboriginal sites. Under section 18 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 a proponent must apply for consent from the relevant Western Australian minister to undertake an activity on land if they believe that land contains Aboriginal sites or objects. The Western Australian Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act) would also be applicable to new industrial activities on the site. The EP Act requires ministerial approval of any industrial development that is likely to have a significant effect on the environment. ‘Aboriginal heritage’ is a relevant environmental factor under the EP Act in circumstances where the heritage values are linked directly to the attributes of the environment, and when the protection and management of those attributes are threatened as a result of a proposed development. As the site is included in the National Heritage List, its listed values are recognised as a matter of national environmental significance under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) (Attachment C). Consequently, any action that is likely to have a significant impact on national heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago must be referred to the minister and undergo an environmental assessment and approval process. Indigenous people may also make an application under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 (ATSIHP Act) to protect areas and objects that are significant in accordance with Aboriginal tradition if the area or object is under threat and state or territory laws have not provided effective protection. Much of the early large scale industrial development of the area was undertaken before legislation was enacted by the state to protect heritage and before the heritage values of the site become a matter of national environmental significance under the EPBC Act. A land use impact assessment undertaken in 2006 estimated that approximately 15% of the Burrup Peninsula land mass had been heavily impacted by existing industrial, residential and infrastructure development (McDonald 2006:34).

Areas on the Burrup Peninsula impacted by industry, infrastructure and residential activities (excludes post 2006 impacts)

As shown by the annual cargo throughput of the Dampier Port, export of commodities from industrial activity on the Burrup Peninsula has steadily increased over the last 10 years. If this rate of increase continues, it is highly likely that some existing industry and supporting infrastructure may need to expand or be upgraded.

Dampier Port Annual Cargo Throughput (Mt)

While the footprint of existing industrial activities mainly lies outside the boundary of the site, the expansion of existing industrial activities and associated infrastructure has the potential to pose a direct physical threat to the site. Given the site borders or overlaps with existing industrial leases, it would be difficult for some industries to expand outside their existing leases, and in some cases beyond existing footprints without directly impacting on the site. While the risk is minimal, faults associated with the operation of existing industrial activity, such as work place accidents and explosions, could also impact on the site. Supporting infrastructure such as sealed roads, dirt tracks, power lines and industrial service corridors are also within the boundary of the site. In the last five years five referrals have been made under the EPBC Act seeking approval for the upgrading of roads, the expansion of lay down areas and duplication of pipelines. Upgrading of these and other supporting infrastructure is expected to continue as technology and production levels change and, like the expansion of existing industry, this has the potential to directly impact on the site. The development of new industrial activities also poses a threat to the site. The site’s proximity to offshore natural gas deposits and iron ore deposits, the vacant land available for heavy industrial use and its close proximity to extensive industrial and social infrastructure, make it an attractive location for future industrial development especially to support the growth of downstream processing for Western Australian resource industries. To facilitate new industrial development the Western Australian Government has undertaken a number of land use planning studies of the area. This includes: the 1992 Pilbara 21 regional planning strategy; 1996 Burrup Peninsula Land Use Planning and Management Strategy; 1998 Karratha Area Development Strategy; and 2000 Shire of Roebourne Town Planning Scheme No 8. These documents identified the permissible land uses across the Dampier Archipelago, including the allocation of areas for conservation, heritage and recreation uses and land for industrial development. In addition to these plans the 2002 BMIEA created new industrial leases on the Burrup Peninsula and southern islands of the archipelago and established the Maitland Industrial Estate, a new industrial estate to the south of the Burrup Peninsula. Both the Western Australian and the Australian Governments have endeavoured to put in place management arrangements to ensure protection of the majority of the site from the impacts of industrial developments. For example under the BMIEA, the majority of the Burrup Peninsula is to be handed back to Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and jointly managed as a national park with the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation. In 2006 a draft management plan for the proposed Burrup Peninsula Conservation Reserve was released for public comment (DEC 2006). However, amendments to the Western Australian Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 to support the creation this jointly managed conservation reserve have only recently been passed, creating delays in the establishment of the conservation reserve and finalisation of the draft plan. The Western Australian Government also proposed to establish a Dampier Archipelago marine park. While an indicative management plan for the park was released in 2005, there has been no further progress in the establishment of the park or finalisation of the plan (CALM 2005). In addition to these proposed plans under Western Australian law there is a requirement under the (Commonwealth) Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) for the Commonwealth to use its best endeavours to ensure a plan for managing the national heritage place is prepared and implemented in co-operation with the state. Despite attempts on both sides to work co-operatively since 2007 such a management plan has not been completed. Consequently management arrangements within the Dampier Archipelago have been developed in a piecemeal fashion without an overarching framework. A single integrated management plan would help to ensure the impacts of industrial development are minimised and provide better protection of the heritage values.

Zoning of industrial, non-industrial and residential land under the BMIEA

Current planning and zoning tools provide some restrictions to the extent of future development on the site, with new industrial activities being restricted to the leases that form part of the Burrup Industrial Estate identified in the BMEIA. To date leases such as Conzinc South, Industrial South, parts of Withnell East and King Bay-Hearson’s Cove, West Intercourse Island, Intercourse Island and the adjacent area on the south west of the Burrup Peninsula have not been subject to development. All or parts of these leases are included within the boundary of the site. However, knowledge of the density and heritage significance of sites on these leases varies. Based on the available information it is possible to predict that leases such as Conzinc, West Intercourse Island and Industrial South are likely to contain a high density of sites, while the leases around King Bay-Hearson’s Cove may contain very low densities. There are currently two proposals for development on industrial leases in the King Bay-Hearson’s Cove region. Dampier Nitrogen Pty Ltd proposes to construct an ammonium nitrate plant on the lease to the west of the existing Burrup Fertiliser plant. While parts of the lease are within the site, the proposed footprint for the plant lies just outside the boundary of the site. This project has been assessed and given approval under the EPBC Act subject to strict environmental conditions to protect the national heritage values.

Burrup Nitrates Pty is also seeking the relevant environment and heritage approvals to construct an ammonium nitrate production facility on the lease to the east of the Burrup Fertiliser plant. Recently Incitec Pivot Limited announced an intention to acquire interests in Burrup Holdings Ltd which in turn has an interest in Burrup Nitrates. This has impacted on the progress of this proposed development. The future of the remaining undeveloped industrial leases is uncertain. Industrial development to support the production of methanal, synthetic hydrocarbons, dimethyl ether, explosives, ammonia and urea have been proposed for industrial leases in the King Bay-Hearson’s Cove region and the lease referred to as Conzinc. For various reasons these projects have been abandoned or alternative locations have been found. In 2004 the Western Australian government indicated that the industrial leases on West Intercourse Island would be used as port facilities for the proposed Maitland Industrial Estate (Minister for State Development 2004). It is likely that parts of the lease referred to as Industrial South would also be used to support port facilities for the Maitland Industrial Estate. However, given the lack of development of the Maitland Industrial Estate, there has been no progress on the development of its associated port facilities.

Impact rating: The expansion of existing industry, new industrial development and associated infrastructure has the potential to directly impact on large areas of the site. While the expansion of industrial activity poses a clearly physical threat, the full range and nature of threats posed by new industry development may vary depending on the type of industry to be located on individual leases. Regardless, the expansion of existing industry, and new industrial development inside and adjacent to the boundary of the site has the potential to impact on the overall integrity of the site and the visual integrity of individual sites within the landscape. Given the scale of impact that continued industrial development may have on the site the impact rating is Critical. Likelihood rating: A number of new developments seeking the upgrading of existing infrastructure have received approval and several more proposals for new developments are in the planning stage. There are also a number of vacant leases that are zoned as industrial development. Therefore the likelihood rating is Almost Certain. Initial risk level: Severe. Final risk level: Existing planning arrangements, zoning tools and heritage legislation do place some restrictions on areas that can be developed within and adjacent to the site. The relevant legalisation also provides for conditions to be placed on industrial development that would reduce the level of impact industrial development can have on the site. However a single integrated management plan would provide the best protection of the heritage values. Even without this, the current controls in place allow the final risk rating to be reduced to High.

3. Secondary Impacts

In addition to the direct physical impacts of industrial activities and supporting infrastructure there is also potential for industry to create secondary impacts that may pose a threat to the site. Emissions A number of interest groups have raised concerns regarding the potential for emissions to impact on the engravings of the Dampier Archipelago site. The 2002 BMIEA included a requirement for the Western Australian government to ‘organise and fund a minimum four year study into the effects of industrial emissions on rock art within and in the vicinity of that part of the Industrial Estate which is on the Burrup Peninsula.’ In response, the Western Australian Government commissioned a five year independent study to monitor the air quality of the Burrup Peninsula and to investigate the potential for industrial emissions to impact on engravings. The methodology used and interpretation of the findings resulting from these studies has drawn criticism from some heritage professionals (Hallam 2009). Among the criticisms are the issues of: little reference to previous studies on the effect industrial emissions have on rock art; the fact that the air quality standards used to predict the potential impacts applied to human health and impacts on vegetation, which has been claimed to be not necessarily directly applicable to impacts on rock engravings; specific PH levels are not disclosed in regard to particular studies and; that the control sites used to establish baseline levels may have been similarly contaminated to the active sites (Hallam 2009). Notwithstanding these criticisms the studies remain the most comprehensive large-scale investigation into the potential for industrial emissions to impact on the rock engravings across the Dampier Archipelago. Overall the findings of the combined studies reported that no observable changes to the naturally exposed rock art, attributable to the presence of industrial pollutants, were recorded over the course of the study (Sinclair Knight Merz 2009). Neither the colour change nor spectral mineralogy observations of the naturally exposed engraved boulders showed any significant deviation between control sites and active sites outside of some changes attributed to recording difficulties and/or error. However, the approach to monitoring has created some gaps in information, especially in relation to the potential impacts from sulphur oxide emissions. The application of concentrated sulphuric acid was the only test in the fumigation studies to result in an observable change to the rock samples (CSIRO 2007). Thus sulphur emissions are assumed to be the major pollutant with the potential to impact on engravings. Emissions from shipping were identified as the major contributor to sulphur levels in the atmosphere on the Burrup Peninsula due to the burning of heavy oil. Unlike the land based industrial developments on the Burrup Peninsula, emissions from shipping have a localised impact. Because of their shorter stacks pollutants from shipping emissions are distributed over a small area and in higher concentrations, meaning that the islands and small areas surrounding mooring points on the Dampier Archipelago are much more at risk from the impacts of emitted sulphur oxides than the Burrup Peninsula land mass. However, the monitoring focused primarily on observing impacts on the Burrup Peninsula land mass, with no monitoring of the western islands. Given the increases in levels of shipping from the Dampier Port over the last ten years, this presents a major gap in information when considering the potential impacts from sulphur oxide emissions.

Annual vessel numbers from the Port of Dampier

Impact rating: While there are some gaps in information on the potential impact of emissions of engravings, based on available information industrial emissions have the potential to cause a moderate level of impact on the sites through the deposition of corrosive compounds on engraved boulders. Therefore the impact rating is Moderate.

Likelihood rating: Studies have shown that the current level and character of emissions of the Dampier Archipelago are within tolerances to not be impacting on the site. Therefore the likelihood rating is Unlikely.

Initial risk level: Low.

Final risk level: Although the current level and character of emissions is not expected to impact on the site there is not an absolute certainty that this will not change with the addition of new industrial developments, especially given that the nature of future industrial development on the vacant industrial leases is unknown. Constant monitoring is required to ensure that air pollution does not reach a level which will compromise the heritage values. This control allows the risk rating to remain at Low.

Blasting and Vibrations

Blasting and vibrations may have the potential to impact on the site. While blasting generally relates to operation of quarries or is a one off activity during the construction of new industry, the movement of heavy vehicles and the operations of certain types of industry may create ongoing vibrations. In addition to the direct impacts on the area being blasted, blasting and vibrations have the potential to collapse unstable structures, particularly standing stones, stone pits and scree slopes that contain engravings.

Example of scree slope containing engravings

Research on the Dampier Archipelago has tended to focus on the stability of specific sites and not on the potential impact of continuous or prolonged vibrations. Further investigation would be required to determine the level of impact that ongoing vibrations and blasting may have on the site. The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is working with industry groups to investigate and monitor the potential for vibrations to impact on the site.

Impact rating: Ongoing vibration is believed to have the potential for a localised impact on individual unstable sites. Therefore the impact rating is Minor. Likelihood rating: There is currently insufficient information to show how certain it is that vibration will impact on the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago. As further scientific investigation is required to test the level of vibration tolerable for the heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago the likelihood rating is Uncertain. Initial risk level: Medium. Final risk level: Due to our lack of information the risk level for this threat must remain at Medium.

4. Recreation, tourism and vandalism

In addition to industrial activities, increases in other uses and activities on the site may pose a threat. With the development of the iron ore industry since 1960, the population of the region has increased dramatically. The Shire of Roebourne is the Pilbara’s fastest growing local government area, with the population increasing by 32% between 1998 and 2008 (Roebourne Shire 2010). The population growth is expected to continue and has the potential to create new threats to the site, especially in relation to increased recreational usage.

Tourism in the region is also expected to increase, however the information, regarding tourism and recreation use of the region, available at the time of this report, is out of date. Further information from the Western Australian government would be required to get a clear picture of the accurate increase in recreational use over the past eight years. In 2003 the Western Australian government stated that: The nearby communities in Karratha, Dampier and Roebourne have come to value the Burrup Peninsula for its natural, aesthetic, recreational and social values and are the major users of the area. The Burrup Peninsula offers safe beaches, as well as fishing and camping opportunities close to home for many local people and their families to enjoy. While the area has not been promoted extensively, the Burrup Peninsula has become an important regional tourist destination with significant growth potential (DEC 2003). As the population of the region grows and tourism to the region increases, the use of the Dampier Archipelago for recreational purposes is expected to increase. Recreational fishing, diving, surface water-sports, wildlife viewing and camping appear to be the current focus of recreational activities in the site, especially on the islands of the archipelago (DEC 2002:4). The archipelago is made up of 42 islands, islets and rocks. Of these 25 are contained within four nature reserves, gazetted for the purpose of conservation of flora and fauna, while other islands or parts of islands are reserved for conservation and recreation (CALM 2005:2; DEC 2002:1).

In 2002, DEC (2002:5) advised that there were 50 licences issued for commercial tourist based activity for the Dampier Archipelago, but believed that at the time only four to five operators used the islands on a regular basis. However, annual visitor numbers to the islands have been known to reach 15,000, with camping occurring on zoned and unplanned campsites on most islands (DEC 2006:31, 46; Karratha Visitor Centre 2011). Roebourne Shire residents can also stay in any of the 34 shacks located on Rosemary, Malus, East Lewis and West Lewis Islands (CALM 2005:73). While there is little information available on the current visitor numbers on the peninsula itself, industrial development and lack of access restricts the camping and fishing opportunities. Many of the ranges and gorges are impassable to vehicles and lack of access is the primary means by which some areas are protected (DEC 2006:16, 38). However, recreational four wheel driving on the Burrup Peninsula is thought to be increasing and there have been proposals for the establishment of new recreational areas, permanent and semi permanent tourist accommodation and additional boat access on the peninsula (DEC 2006: 31, 56; Tourism Western Australia 2008). Currently, tourism specifically to visit the heritage of the site is minimal and focused on easily accessible locations such as Deep Gorge. However, Warren (1997:47) noted: [Deep Gorge] has become well known as a tourist feature, particularly since the former DAS and members of the Roebourne Aboriginal community hosted a tour of the site for Prince Charles in 1994 as part of the Royal Tour.

A group of visitors at Deep Gorge

This has lead to a number of proposals for the development of additional retail for tourists, restaurant/cafe and a cultural centre associated with the site (Tourism Western Australia 2008). While there is some signage at popular locations to guide visitors, increased levels of tourism and the opening up of new areas before appropriate management arrangements are in place may pose a threat to the site.

Signage at Deep Gorge

The opening up of previously unvisited areas of the site has the potential to increase levels of vandalism. There have been a number of recorded incidents of deliberate vandalism on the Dampier Archipelago (DEC 2006). Petroglyphs can readily be seen from many roads and tracks, beaches and picnic spots. Vandalism can take many forms, including theft and damage to engravings, the deliberate dislodgment of standing stones or the filling in of stone pits with rubbish or other stones. However the most common form of vandalism within the site is believed to be graffiti. Since 2006, two Officers from the WA Department of Indigenous Affairs have been assigned to the Dampier Archipelago to record graffiti and damage, undertake training to remove graffiti, collect and remove rubbish, install and replace signage (McDonald 2009:116). McDonald reported that just south of the current car park at Deep Gorge and west of the entrance, five instances of graffiti were found on a site complex of 147 motifs and 11 grinding patches (McDonald 2009:39). A detailed study of Deep Gorge identified 68 incidences of graffiti out of 2813 engravings mainly within five metres of the floor and at either end of the gorge, close to the car park.

However, apart from the Deep Gorge survey there is no publicly available information on the number of incidences of vandalism across the site and it is unclear if monitoring is occurring in areas that are at high risk, such as the islands most commonly used for recreational purposes.

Impact rating: Tourism, recreational use and vandalism are believed to have the potential for a localised impact on the heritage of the site. Actions that increase access to the site, such as four wheel drive access and new boats ramps, are likely to increase the range and number of sites threatened by damage and vandalism. The impact rating is Moderate. Likelihood rating: There is currently insufficient information demonstrating the number of incidences of damage to heritage values connected with tourism, uncontrolled access, recreation and vandalism, especially on the islands of the archipelago. Therefore the likelihood rating is Uncertain. Initial risk level: High. Final risk level: Due to the lack of information on the extent of heritage across the site and the lack of management arrangements that take into account tourism and uncontrolled access, the risk level for this threat is High.

5. Knowledge, management and engagement of Ngarda-Ngarli people

As already discussed there are a number of areas where the current knowledge levels make it difficult to determine the full range of threats to the site and the degree of impact threats may have on the site. To compound this issue there are large gaps in our knowledge of the heritage in the site. While there have been a number of archaeological surveys of the Dampier Archipelago, our knowledge varies significantly across the site, making it difficult to determine the amount and extent of heritage features across the site, including the extent of national heritage values. The vast majority of surveys have been done on industrial leases as part of environmental impact assessment processes. However, these surveys have not been conducted in a consistent manner, with different approaches and levels of detail recorded about individual sites and images within sites. This makes it difficult to compare the data obtain through surveys and has created an important gap in our knowledge (McDonald 2006:15). In addition, more recent surveys neglect to consider the national heritage values of the place, making it difficult to assess the potential impacts on those values. The limited surveys that have been conducted on the non-industrial areas, such as the northern Burrup, have generally been sample surveys that have provided incomplete knowledge of the heritage in the area surveyed. While some individual sites have been recorded, very little is known about the remote islands, Intercourse Islands, the South West Burrup and the Pistol Ranges (McDonald 2006:3). Given the islands are likely to be at the highest risk of threat from recreational activities, a greater understanding of these areas is key to reducing the threat. Limited information on the location and condition of much of the heritage on the Dampier Archipelago has made it difficult for government agencies to direct appropriate resources to or identify areas of highest priority. There is a risk that without a good understanding of the location and condition of the heritage values it will not be possible in the future for land managers to appropriately direct their efforts in order to mitigate impacts. In addition to our incomplete knowledge of the extent of heritage within the site, consultation with Aboriginal people with interests in the place only became standard practice for archaeological surveys during the 1990s. Currently, each company has their own procedures and protocols for the involvement of Ngarda-Ngarli people and both the State and Commonwealth Government require engagement in relation to actions that will impact on heritage. However most ethnographic reports that relate to the site are restricted and as a result, there is very little publicly available information on the traditions of the Ngarda-Ngarli people or how they relate to the site. The draft management plan prepared for the proposed Burrup Peninsula Conservation Reserve notes that a greater understanding of the traditions and cultural values of the place is needed if these types of values are to be protected (DEC 2006:35). This draft plan, while developed before the site was included in the National Heritage List, also acknowledges the difficulty people involved in the management of the place have in identifying the extent of cultural values and the boundaries of protected areas and industrial leases on the ground (DEC 2006:34-35). While a number of bodies are undertaking or funding research related to the site, ensuring that this research is recorded in a consistent and culturally appropriate manner remains an ongoing issue. Given the range of tenures and uses of leases, it has also been difficult to ensure that the information about the site is easily accessible to relevant place managers, decision makers and Ngarda-Ngarli people. This issue is complicated by the different tenures and number of management arrangements relating to the site.

The engagement of Ngarda-Ngarli people in the promotion and management of the site varies significantly over the site. Both the Commonwealth and Western Australian Governments have endeavoured to put in place management arrangements to protect the site. At the time of national heritage listing of the Dampier Archipelago the then Commonwealth Minister entered into conservation agreements with Hamersley Iron and Dampier Salt (Rio Tinto) and Woodside for the recognition, protection and conservation of the national heritage values. In addition, under the BMIEA, the majority of the Burrup Peninsula is to be handed back to Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and jointly managed as a national park with the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation. In 2006 a draft management plan for the proposed Burrup Peninsula Conservation Reserve was released for public comment (DEC 2006). However, amendments to the Western Australian Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 to support the creation this jointly managed conservation reserve have only recently been passed, creating delays in the establishment of the conservation reserve and finalisation of the draft plan. The Western Australian Government also proposed to establish a Dampier Archipelago marine park. While an indicative management plan for the park was released in 2005, there has been no further progress in the establishment of the park or finalisation of the plan (CALM 2005). While there have been a number of draft plans developed, currently, the involvement of Ngarda- Ngarli people in decisions and management of the site is minimal. The national heritage management principles include the principle that “Indigenous people are the primary source of information on the value of their heritage and the active participation of Indigenous people in identification, assessment and management is integral to the effective protection of Indigenous heritage values” (Schedule 5B EPBC Act Regulations). Active on-ground participation of the Ngarda- Ngarli people would help to ensure impacts on heritage values are minimised and provide better protection. In addition to the minimal involvement of the Ngarda-Ngarli people in making management decisions about the Dampier Archipelago there is a further threat to the site connected to the inter- generation transfer of cultural knowledge. Passing down the cultural knowledge of the Dampier Archipelago to the next generation is vital to the health and survival of Indigenous heritage and culture.

The capacity of Indigenous people to care for their own heritage, exercise responsibility for country and transmit cultural practice to new generations also continues to be hindered by… social and economic disadvantage, as acknowledged in the Australian Government's Closing the Gap initiative (Australian State of the Environment Committee 2011). The exclusion of the Ngarda-Ngarli people from certain areas of the site through industrial developments; the minimal involvement of elders working with young people in management of the site and; the pressures of balancing the practice of Traditional Law with finding employment and housing in a mining boom region create a real threat that the community does not have the resources available to ensure that the cultural knowledge of the Dampier Archipelago is passed to the next generation.

Impact rating: The ability to identify the extent and location of heritage within the site and areas of high heritage value is critical to mitigate the potential threats and effectively manage the site. The management of the site is currently occurring on a tenure by tenure basis and to date land use decisions have been made on a case by case basis with incomplete knowledge about the site as a whole. This lack of knowledge and strategic management arrangements across the site, including lack of engagement of Ngarda-Ngarli people and the potential for some information to be lost before it is passed to the next generation, has the potential to have a Critical impact. Likelihood rating: Almost Certain. Initial risk level: Severe. Final risk level: While there are number of sources of funding to undertake research, there are currently no controls in place to systematically identify and address the gaps in our knowledge. There are also no controls to ensure that the management decisions are made in consultation with Ngarda-Ngarli people or take into account the impact on the site as a whole. As a result the risk level for this threat must remain at Severe.

6. Conclusion

The heritage of the Dampier Archipelago is of outstanding heritage value to the nation. However, its juxtaposition with industrial development means that a number of manmade actions will continue to pose a threat to the site. Comprehensive management arrangements involving all parties are required to address identified potential threats.

The risk assessment matrix demonstrates that while most threats identified have some form of existing control to reduce the level of impact, the adequacy of these controls differs significantly and increases the degree of threat. Up to date information and monitoring of impacts is also inadequate or not available. The lack of knowledge about the heritage of the site and information on the impact of threats, such as blasting and vibrations, future plans for industrial development and the current recreational usage of the site also hamper place managers’ ability to effectively control and manage these threats. Mitigation measures are required to address identified threats to the site.

The lack of knowledge about the site and the lack of comprehensive management arrangements and engagement of Ngarda-Ngarli people currently pose the greatest threats to the site. Addressing these threats has the potential to mitigate other threats to the site. The draft management plan for the proposed jointly managed conservation reserves states:

The region around Karratha including the Burrup is expected to continue its industrial, population and tourism growth of the past three decades. This will result in greater public use and pressure on the internationally significant heritage values and the environment of the Burrup Peninsula. For these values to be protected and enjoyed in the long term, a more strategic and sustainable approach to management is required (DEC 2006:31).

A concerted effort must be made by all involved in the management of the site to fill the knowledge gaps if threats are to be effectively managed and this exceptional place is to be protected for future generations.

In conclusion, although the area surrounding the Dampier Archipelago site has been heavily impacted by industrial development, and a number of threats to the values are present, the site itself maintains high integrity and is in a stable condition.

References

Australia, 2010, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act Regulations, Canberra: Australian Government.

Australian State of the Environment Committee, 2011, State of the Environment 2011, independent report to the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water Population and Communities.

Bednarik, R, 2006, Australian Apocalypse: the story of Australia’s greatest cultural monument, Occasional AURA Publication No. 14 Australian Rock Art Research Association, Inc Melbourne.

Clough /Soros-Longsworth and Mackenzie, 1980, Land and Port Planning of the Burrup Peninsula, For Department for Industrial Development, Perth.

Conservation and Land Management, 2005, Indicative management Plan for the proposed Dampier Archipelago Marine Park and Cape Preston Marine Management Area, retrieved 3 August 2011 http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/national_parks/marine/dacp/dacp_imp.pdf.

CSIRO Division of Exploration and Mining, WA, 2007, Final report: Fumigation & dust deposition, report to the Rock Art Monitoring Management Committee.

Dampier Port Authority, 2010, Annual report, retrieved 2 August 2011 http://www.dpa.wa.gov.au/Documents/Annual-Reports/2009-10-DPA-Annual-Report.aspx.

Department of Aboriginal Sites, 1980, A proposal for the archaeological investigation of and preservation of Aboriginal sites in the Dampier Archipelago, Unpublished report to the Western Australian Museum, Perth.

Department of Environment and Conservation, 2002, Dampier Archipelago Island Nature Reserves and Section 5(g) Reserves Management Plan, retrieved 2 August 2011 http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/national_parks/management/dampier_issues.pdf.

Department of Environment and Conservation, 2003, Management Plan for the Burrup Peninsula Conservation Reserve Discussion Paper, retrieved 2 August 2011 http://www.dec.wa.gov.au/pdf/national_parks/management/burrup_discussion_paper.pdf.

Department of Environment and Conservation, 2006, Proposed Burrup Peninsula Conservation Reserve Draft Management Plan 2006-2016, Department of Environment and Conservation, Perth.

Hallam, S, 2009, COMMENTS on Burrup Rock Art Monitoring Program - Summary of Study Reports, response to report to the Burrup Rock Art Monitoring Committee.

McDonald, J and Veth, P, 2005, Desktop Assessment of Scientific Values for Indigenous Cultural Heritage on the Dampier Archipelago, Western Australia, Unpublished report to the Department of Environment and Heritage. Canberra.

McDonald, J and Veth, P, 2006, Draft study of the distribution of rock art on the Dampier Archipelago, Unpublished report to the Department of the Environment and Heritage. Canberra.

McDonald, J, 2009, Archaeological survey of Deep Gorge on the Burrup peninsula (Murujuga) Dampier Archipelago WA, report to the Department of Indigenous Affairs.

Minister for State Development, 2004, Emergency Heritage listing Nomination Threatens Jobs Throughout WA press release 29 May 2004, retrieved 2 August 2011 http://www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx?ItemId=116220&page=159.

Roebourne Shire, 2010, Annual Report, retrieved 5 August 2011 http://www.roebourne.wa.gov.au/Assets/Documents/Document%20Centre/Annual_Report_w_not es(270).pdf.

Sinclair Knight Merz, 2009, Burrup rock art monitoring program: summary of reports, report to the Rock Art Monitoring Management Committee.

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Vinnicombe, P, 2002, Petroglyphs of the Dampier Archipelago: Background to Development and Descriptive Analysis. Rock Art Research 19(1): 3-27.

Warren, L, 1997, The West Pilbara engraving cast project, Australian Aboriginal Studies Vol 2: 47 - 51.

Attachment A- Risk Assessment

Attachment B – National Heritage List Boundary

Attachment C– National Heritage List Place Report

Appendix One

Other World Heritage criteria It has been suggested that the Dampier Archipelago could also meet criteria (iv): the place has a technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history' (Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011). However, a comparative analysis of the Dampier Archipelago and the World Heritage listed Kakadu National Park shows that they both demonstrate the ways that Aboriginal people responded to climatic change and rising sea levels at the end of Last Glacial Maximum and into the Holocene. Currently the evidence for occupation during the Last glacial Maximum is more robust in Kakadu than in the Dampier Archipelago. It is clear, however, that Kakadu and the Dampier Archipelago are both nationally important for the evidence they provide about the way that Aboriginal people coped with, and experienced, past climate change.

The evidence is less clear in support of the contention that the Dampier Archipelago might meet the threshold of Outstanding Universal Value against criteria (ii) and (vi). This is shown by the suggestion that further research would be needed to assess whether the Dampier Archipelago meets these criteria.

Comparative analysis for criterion (iv) The place is an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history. It has been suggested (Jo MacDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011b) that the Dampier Archipelago meets the threshold of Outstanding Universal Values against world heritage criterion (iv) because the rock art and stone arrangements of the Dampier Archipelago is an outstanding example of an inscribed landscape. This cultural landscape includes stone quarries, occupation sites and shell middens which, in combination with the rock art, illustrate significant transitions in human history in the face of major environmental changes and rising sea levels. The archaeology and rock art of both the Dampier Archipelago and Kakadu contain evidence for changes in the hunter- gatherer way of life associated with climatic changes and rising sea levels so Kakadu National Park is a comparable place in the Australian geo-cultural area with which the Dampier Archipelago can be compared. Kakadu is currently inscribed in the World Heritage List against criteria (i) and (vi) although it was originally inscribed against criteria (i), (iii) and (iv) (World Heritage Centre, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/147 downloaded on 24 February 2011). It is one of the great collections of hunter-gatherer art in the world, including in how the art is associated both with archaeological sites of great time depth and ongoing cultural traditions still practised in the region.

About 20 000 years ago, when the last glacial maximum was at its height, the climate of the Australian mainland was cooler and drier than today (Hope 2009; Williams et al. 2009; Clark and Guppy 1988; Woodroffe et al. 1988). Sea levels were much lower and both the Pilbara coast and the Arnhem Land coast were a considerable distance from their present locations. At this time the Dampier Archipelago was a series of rocky hills, the Dampier Ranges, rising dramatically out of a featureless plain, while the estuary of the ancestral Alligator Rivers in Kakadu was about 300 kilometres from the Arnhem Land Escarpment and the river was home to freshwater crocodiles but not saltwater crocodiles. In both areas macropods and marsupial carnivores such as the Thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) and the Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) roamed the landscape.

Sea levels started to rapidly rise about 14 000 years ago. By about 9 000 years ago, the outer islands of the Dampier Archipelago would have been close to the coast. As sea levels encroached on the land between 10 000 and 6 000 years ago new marine resources became available to people living in the area. Around 6 000 years ago sea levels began to stabilise and the archipelago took its present form. At this time mangrove forests were more widespread than today (Jo MacDonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011b; Morse 2009; O’Connor 1999; Veth 1999; Veth et al. 2007; Woodroffe et al. 1988). By 4 000 years ago mangrove species declined and were replaced by the modern shore line with its rocky coasts, mudflats and sandy beaches. The pre-estuarine period came to an end about 8 000 years ago when sea levels started to rise and saltwater encroached into estuaries and river systems that were previously freshwater. The area was characterised by mangrove flats and estuarine conditions (Jones 1985; Kaminga and Allen 1973; Schrire 1982). The land then stabilized, rainfall increased and large seasonal freshwater swamps formed in the flat lands below the Arnhem Land escarpment. These new environments provided habitats for large flocks of Magpie Geese (Anseranas semipalmata) (Schrire 1982).

Chronologies are fundamental to any correlation of changes in climate with changes in the evidence for Aboriginal life provided by archaeology and rock art. There is a single Pleistocene radiocarbon date of 18 510 BP (c. 21,000 cal BP) from the Dampier Archipelago (Lorblanchet 1992: 41) but it does not come from a sealed context so does not provide firm evidence for an Aboriginal presence in the area during the Pleistocene. Bt contrast, excavations and dating of Aboriginal occupation deposits in Malangangerr, Nawamoyn, Nauwalabila and Malakunanja II rock shelters in and immediately adjacent to Kakadu provides unequivocal evidence that Aboriginal people have lived within the boundaries of the World Heritage listed property for at least 50 000 years (Schrire 1982; Kaminga and Allen 1973; Jones 1985; Roberts et al. 1990).

Excavation of rock shelters, campsites and shell middens in the Dampier Archipelago show that Aboriginal people have lived in the area since at least 8 500 years ago, with higher occupation rates in early and middle Holocene compared with the late Holocene. Excavation of shell middens show that older midden deposits dominated by the mangrove shellfish Terebralia palustris. Anadara granosa or a range of rocky foreshore species are dominant in deposits dating to the last four thousand years reflecting Aboriginal responses to more localised environments resulting from changing shoreline ecology (Harris 1988; Bradshaw 1995; Jo Macdonald Cultural Heritage Management 2011b). Excavations in Kakadu show that the lower levels of midden deposits contain shells such as Geloina sp. and Cerithidia sp., which are characteristic of estaurine conditions and mangrove flats (Schrire 1982; Kaminga and Allen 1973). The upper levels of the shell middens in the Arnhem Land sites are dominated by fresh water shellfish species such as the fresh water mussel, Velesunio angasi (Schrire 1982; Kaminga and Allen 1973).

The relative chronologies for rock art in both the Dampier Archipelago and Kakadu can be correlated with environmental changes associated with rising sea levels. While there are heavily and lightly patinated images of macropods, there are no heavily patinated, deeply weathered images of marine species in the Dampier Archipelago. Similarly, superimposition of painted images in Kakadu show that the earliest images include naturalistic depictions of humans, freshwater crocodiles and inland animals. These depictions constitute the pre-estuarine period. Holocene images in the Dampier Archipelago include images of marine species including water birds, turtles, crabs, crayfish and fish.

The estuarine period in Kakadu is characterised by naturalistic depiction of estuarine species such as barramundi, mullet, catfish, saltwater crocodile and long necked turtles while images of Magpie Geese and water lilies are characteristic of the subsequent freshwater period.

There is considerable diversity in the way that the human figure is portrayed on the Dampier Archipelago including some dynamic images portraying human movement (Bird and Hallam 2006; Lorblanchet 1983, 1985, 1992; McDonald and Veth 2005, 2006a, 2009; Mulvaney 2010, 2011; Veth et al. 1993, 1994; Vinnicombe 2002). These can be arranged into a relative chronology based on the degree of patination. While some images have objects associated with them, in particular boomerangs and spears, these images are relatively simple because of the difficult medium on which the images are engraved (McDonald and Veth 2005, 2006a, 2009; Mulvaney 2011). However there is also an enormous variety of human images in the rock art of Kakadu, these images provide more detail about changes in the material culture used by Aboriginal people than the images on the Dampier Archipelago (Chaloupka 1993; Lewis 1988; Tacon and Brockwell 1995). Thus, in the pre- estuarine period include a range of dynamic figures that are usually portrayed in profile and where the images tend to emphasise movement. These images show people with complex apparel and are associated with one-piece, multi-barbed spears and boomerangs. In the subsequent estuarine period a variety of spear-throwers are depicted, but the spears are mainly composite and have stone spearheads. Hook-headed human figures Magpie Geese, water lilies, ‘goose’ spears, ‘goose’ fan, didjeridu and complex spear-throwers, are characteristic of the art of the freshwater period (Chaloupka 1993; Lewis 1988; Tacon and Brockwell 1995).

Although the Aboriginal heritage in the Dampier Archipelago and in Kakadu National Park contain evidence for changes in the hunter-gatherer way of life associated with climatic changes and rising sea levels, Kakadu provides more information about these changes than the Dampier Archipelago. The clear evidence for Aboriginal occupation of Kakadu from the Last Glacial maximum to the present coupled with the well developed sequence of rock art in the area which provides exceptionally clear and detailed information on changes in Aboriginal material culture has been recognised by the inscription of the property in the World Heritage List. The current lack of unequivocal evidence for the occupation of the property during the Last Glacial Maximum, the lack of detail about changes in Aboriginal material culture through time as a result of the difficult nature of the canvass on which the art is portrayed and the fact that this story is already told at Kakadu, it is unlikely that the Dampier Archipelago would meet the threshold of outstanding Universal value against criteria (iv). The national heritage listing, however, recognises the importance of the Aboriginal heritage in the Dampier Archipelago at a national comparative level.

Natural heritage values The original national heritage assessment of the Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) examined the potential for the natural heritage values to be of outstanding heritage value to the nation. The then minister’s determination was that the natural heritage values of the Dampier Archipelago (including Burrup Peninsula) did not meet the threshold of outstanding heritage value to the nation and thus were not included on the national heritage list. For this reason it is considered unlikely that there are any natural values of Outstanding Universal Significance in the place.

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O’Connor, S., 1999, A diversity of coastal economies: shell mounds in the Kimberley region in the Holocene, in Hall, J. and I. McNiven (eds), Australian Coastal Archaeology, pp. 37-50. Canberra: ANH Publications, Department of Archaeology and Natural History, 65, RSPAS, Australian National University.

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Veth, P., 1999, The occupation of arid coastlines during the terminal Pleistocene of Australia, in J. Hall and I. McNiven (eds), Australian Coastal Archaeology: Current Research and Future Directions. Research Papers in Archaeology and Natural History, Canberra: Archaeology and Natural History Publications, Research School of Pacific.

Veth, P., Gara, T. and P. Kendrick, 1994, The Aboriginal face of rock engravings on the Burrup Peninsula, in M. Sullivan, S. Brockwell and A. Webb (eds), Archaeology in the North: Proceedings of the Australian Archaeological Association conference, pp. 213-226. Darwin: North Australia Research Unit (ANU).

Vinnicombe, P., 2002, Petroglyphs of the Dampier Archipelago: Background to Development and Descriptive Analysis, Rock Art Research 19(1): 3-27.

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