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Ancient Aboriginal rock art unearthed

Submitted by Vicky on Tuesday, 01 July 2003  Page Views: 1110

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A chance discovery by a bush walker has become one of the most significant finds of Aboriginal rock art in Australia's history. A cave containing more than 200 paintings, some believed to be 4,000 years old, was found by a bush walker in 1995 in a remote part of the Wollemi National Park, north-west of Sydney. But the inaccessibility of the area meant that it was not until May this year that a research team was able to investigate the site.

The bush walker is thought to be the first person to have laid eyes on the paintings since the last Aborigine left his or her mark there almost 200 years ago.

The exact location of the site - a rock shelter 12 metres long, six metres deep and one to two metres high - is being kept a secret to stop it from being damaged by either vandals or well-meaning sightseers.

Anthropologist and archaeologist Dr Paul Tacon (Tacon), who led the expedition, said there were 11 layers of more than 200 paintings, stencils and prints in different styles and spanning a period from around 2000 BC to the early 1800s.

Humans and god-like human/animal composites as well as realistic and symbolic depictions of birds, lizards and marsupials feature in the paintings.

There are life-size, delicately drawn eagles, kangaroos and an extremely rare depiction of a wombat, Dr Tacon said.

"This is the most significant discovery in the greater Sydney region in probably about 50 years," he said.

"It's also in pristine condition and it's like a place that time forgot."

More: The Age
Contributor Bio for Vicky: Ex Megalithic Portal Editor, Co-author of 'Rock Around the Peak - Megalithic Monuments of the Peak District' and... More

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