Galleries of the Outback

The Rock Art of Australian Aborigines

AcknowledgementsThe author gratefully acknowledges the traditional owners and

custodians of the land and art:

of Uluru-Kata Tjuta

and

of Kakadu

and

of the Kimberley

and of Murujuga

Australian Prehistory

Rocks began forming 4.5 billion years ago

Indigenous people arrived during period of low sea level, possibly 65,000 years ago

Some rock art dates from the Pleistocene period, about 40,000 years ago

Noted Rock Art SitesNew South WalesSydney area . . . southeast

Northern Territory

Kakadu . . . far north

Uluru/Kata-Tjuta . . . Central

Queensland

Cape York . . . Northeast

Western Australia

Murujuga . . . west coast

Kimberley Ranges . . . northwest

Engraved Art . . . Petroglyphs

Exposed rock

Subtractive process:

Chiseling

Pounding

Abrading

Scratching

Pigmented Art . . . Pictographs

Protected rock

Additive process:

Drawing

Painting

Prints

Stencils

Freehand

Art StylesNon-figurative

Linear or geometric

Includes animal tracks

Simple figurative

Outline or silhouette

Recognizable icons

Recognizable species

Art Styles

Complex figurative

Composition of figures or depiction of action

Wandjina style (Kimberley)X-ray style (Kakadu)

Art and Symbolism

Aboriginal art represents:

• Religion, law, and moral systems

• Past, present, and future

• Creation period when ancestral beings created the world as it is now

• Relationship between people, plants, animals, and land’s physical features

Ancestral SpiritsNabulwinjbulwinj, a dangerous spirit at Nourlangie in Kakadu, eats females after killing them by striking them with a yam.

Rites of Passage

The Climbing Men site of Murujuga may depict young men climbing a tree during an initiation ceremony.

Continuing Traditions

The past is kept alive through art, dance, song, ritual, and oral traditions.

Reference Issues

• Ethnocentric viewpoint of some reference books

• Confusing terminology, not clearly defined, e.g. prehistory and contemporary

• Interdisciplinary nature of topic, requiring variety of search terms in multiple subject areas and in other disciplinary groups

Print Sources“Aboriginal Australia.” Turner, Jane, ed. The Dictionary of Art. New York: Grove’s Dictionaries. 1996 ed.

Berghaus, Gunter, ed. New Perspectives on Prehistoric Art. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2004.

Chippindale, Christopher and Paul S.C. Tacon, eds. The Archaeology of Rock-Art. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Flood, Josephine. The Riches of Ancient Australia: An Indispensable Guide for Exploring Prehistoric Australia. St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press, 1990.

Morphy, Howard. Aboriginal Art. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 1998.

Morwood, M.J. Visions from the Past: The Archaeology of Australian Aboriginal Art. Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, 2002.

Web Sites

Rock Art in the Dampier Archipelago

Rock Art in Kakadu National Park

Rock Art in the Kimberley

Rock Art in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Rock Art Research

About This PresentationThis poster session was created for a graduate library class entitled Humanities Resources and Services. The assignment required:

• The selection of an interdisciplinary topic

• A brief overview of the subject

• A discussion of reference issues encountered in print and web sources

Map of Australia, photograph of stenciling courtesy of Dreamstime

Photograph of Wandjina licensed for use by Superstock

Photograph of sand for background texture courtesy of Morguefile

Photograph of author by Nic Green

All other photographs by Lea Walker

Australian Dreaming template and graphic design by Lea Walker

Credits

Lea Walker© 1981-2013 All rights reserved