Aboriginal Rock Art One of the Worlds Great Wonders

[IFocus]

OK has the grand title will add some content when I get a chance starting with WA Kimberley rock art renowned through out the world yet mostly unknown in Australia.

I'll cover the research since white exploration through to present day,

if anyone else has seen or has some thing to add please do.

 

[wayneL]

This site is just up the hill from us:

Report on the “Owl stone” Aboriginal site at Red Hill, northeast of Perth

South Western Aboriginal Investigative Anthropology and other papers.

www.anthropologyfromtheshed.com

 

[IFocus]

A basic search for Kimberley rock art research papers (https://www.researchgate.net/search/publication?q=Histories+of+rock+art+research+in+Western+Australia’s+Kimberley,+1838–2000) will reveal an extensive amount of research over a long period of time in this area. This area for ancient rock art is renown world wide so much so Germans were in the Kimberley's pre WWII researching the art.

A paper worth reading is "Histories of rock art research in Western Australia’s Kimberley, 1838–2000" looks at studies done over that period starting colonial through to modern day.

 

[IFocus]

Starting with the most controversial or misunderstood rock art the Gwion Gwion or Bradshaw Rock art.

Bradshaw was a pastoralist that recorded Gwion Gwion art, Gwion Gwion name comes from the bird that bled from the beak and created the images.

The images are the earliest of any rock art world wide showing human form.

The images are extortionary perfect in proportion with no errors or mistakes.

There are a number of forms of Gwion Gwion art.

The art is in an ark around the Kimberley's with some of the best galleries coastal (keep that thought)

Because of this many claims were made that it could not have be Aboriginal art and according to "amateur anthropologist Walsh this art was made by people of a non-Aboriginal culture – most likely Asiatic in origin"

It has been dated out to 17,000 years but is expected to be much older.

 

[IFocus]

The Gwion Gwion art seems to appear out of nowhere almost as if there was a school some where teaching the same forms of art which gave many negative views of it not being Aboriginal (read the paper "Histories of rock art research in Western Australia’s Kimberley, 1838–2000" )

 

[sptrawler]

This thread struck a chord with me, because when I was a kid my parents moved to Dampier, in the early days of the resources era, before Karratha, Wickham etc.
So I thought why not google aboriginal rock art near Dampier, because as kids we foun a lot when we went camping in the 1960's, on google maps the highlighted places weren't where we found them.

 

[StockyGuy]

Starting with the most controversial or misunderstood rock art the Gwion Gwion or Bradshaw Rock art.

Bradshaw was a pastoralist that recorded Gwion Gwion art, Gwion Gwion name comes from the bird that bled from the beak and created the images.

The images are the earliest of any rock art world wide showing human form.

The images are extortionary perfect in proportion with no errors or mistakes.

There are a number of forms of Gwion Gwion art.

The art is in an ark around the Kimberley's with some of the best galleries coastal (keep that thought)

Because of this many claims were made that it could not have be Aboriginal art and according to "amateur anthropologist Walsh this art was made by people of a non-Aboriginal culture – most likely Asiatic in origin"

It has been dated out to 17,000 years but is expected to be much older.

I skim read the Wikipedia article. I give you credit for at least the mentioning the controversy around the origin of the Gwion Gwion rock paintings - the people depicted, and their attire, do not look Aboriginal. Combined with the fact such realistic depictions of the human form are otherwise basically unheard of in pre-colonial Australian art, its origin IS unclear. Half the article is about the uncertain origins, and it's there for anyone to see the evidence in greater depth, unless Mr Focus goes in and wrecks it lol.