Aboriginal rock art depictions of fauna: What can they tell us about the natural history of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area?

Taçon, Paul S.C.; Chapple, Rosalie S.; Merson, John; Ramp, Daniel; Brennan, Wayne; King, Graham; Tasire, Alandra

doi:10.7882/fs.2010.008

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Today, both Gallery Rock and Eagle's Reach are considered by local Aboriginal people to reflect many aspects of south-eastern Australian Aboriginal identity and tradition -places connected to the Eagle Ancestor with depictions about ceremony, totemic relationships, other Culture Heroes, oral history, local ecology, social relationships and individual experience (Taçon et al 2008(Taçon et al , 2010. They are key locations within a cultural landscape spread across a wild, rugged part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, contemporary Indigenous significance is often grounded in a cultural perspective different from that of Western scientists. In this regard, contemporary Indigenous meaning can yield hypotheses worth testing by other means (see Taçon et al 2010; various papers in Brady and Taçon 2016), such as formal methods of rock art analysis (see Taçon and Chippindale 1998). With this in mind, we took a cross-section of the Aboriginal community associated with Wollemi to Gallery Rock as well as various rock art experts, including John Clegg, to record a diversity of contemporary responses to the site and its imagery.…”

Section: The Contemporary Cultural Significance Of Gallery Rock a Pementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Field survey has revealed that both Eagle's Reach and Gallery Rock are not isolated locations or 'islands' but rather are an integral part of a network of dozens of (Taçon et al 2008(Taçon et al , 2010, more than at any other known rock art sites of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.…”

Section: Links To Other Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The contemporary cultural significance of Gallery Rock, a petroglyph complex recently found in Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia

Taçon¹,

Brennan²,

King³

et al. 2019

Aesthetics, Applications, Artistry and Anarchy: Essays in Prehistoric and Contemporary Art

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In 2001 we began The Landscape of Blue Mountain Rock Art research project. Since then, over 250 rock art sites have been recorded in Wollemi National Park, consisting of engravings, drawings, stencils and some paintings. Two of the largest, best preserved and culturally significant sites are Eagle's Reach, with drawings and stencils, and Gallery Rock, an engraved platform. Although images were made using very different techniques there are many common subjects and stylistic features between the sites. Each location also shares imagery with smaller sites across southern Wollemi, where most research has been undertaken. For contemporary Aboriginal people of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area these two sites are highly significant as interrelated cultural places that are focal points within larger cultural landscapes. In this paper, we report the contemporary cultural significance of Gallery Rock and articulate its relationship to Eagle's Reach and other nearby rock shelter art sites. Discussion focuses on the interpretation of some figures as key Ancestral Beings and whether some, such as Baiame, have a pre-European settlement context, something of great interest to John Clegg who visited Gallery Rock in 2007.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Contemporary Cultural Significance Of Gallery Rock a Pementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The contemporary cultural significance of Gallery Rock, a petroglyph complex recently found in Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia

Taçon¹,

Brennan²,

King³

et al. 2019

Aesthetics, Applications, Artistry and Anarchy: Essays in Prehistoric and Contemporary Art

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Occupation sites and rock art within the park provide physical evidence of strong Aboriginal cultural connections with the land over millennia. An archaeological assessment conducted by Taçon et al (2007) recorded more than 850 Aboriginal archaeological sites in the area, some dating from more than 4,000 years ago. Aboriginal cultural connections to landscape are often described as "connection to Country," with the term "Country" reflecting longstanding spiritual relationships with the land.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous biocultural rights and the Blue Mountains: Local and international policy challenges

Aime,

Robinson

2023

Geographical Research

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Indigenous knowledges play a critical role in addressing the environmental crisis, and the United Nations system has adopted a suite of international treaties to protect and strengthen Indigenous peoples’ rights, which are often described as biocultural rights. Because World Heritage Areas are nominated and monitored by UNESCO, an initial hypothesis in this study was that such areas would be subject to higher than normal standards in regard to Indigenous people’s biocultural rights. By reference to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Australia, this research examined how the international legislative framework influences conservation practices. We held semi‐structured interviews with conservation and Indigenous local experts and compared park management practices in the Area against those used in an Indigenous Protected Area. Findings align with the literature and suggest that Indigenous and scientific knowledge systems can generate new insights for the Area and other sites. Yet, Indigenous knowledges are only marginally applied in practice. Some barriers to full participation of Indigenous people are specific to the colonial history of the area. Yet, findings point to a lack of action by Australian governments and UNESCO, and that needs to be redressed. The study calls attention to the need to support and resource Indigenous people to enable collaborative partnerships to yield significant benefits for biodiversity and protection of Country.

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Picturing Change and Changing Pictures: Contact Period Rock Art of Australia

Taçon

Ross

Paterson

et al. 2012

A Companion to Rock Art

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Aboriginal rock art depictions of fauna: What can they tell us about the natural history of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area?

Cited by 5 publications

References 15 publications

The contemporary cultural significance of Gallery Rock, a petroglyph complex recently found in Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia

The contemporary cultural significance of Gallery Rock, a petroglyph complex recently found in Wollemi National Park, New South Wales, Australia

Indigenous biocultural rights and the Blue Mountains: Local and international policy challenges

Picturing Change and Changing Pictures: Contact Period Rock Art of Australia

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