At the centre of it all: constructing contact through the rock art of Watarrka National Park, central Australia

Abstract

This paper offers an account of rock art research on contact and challenges some of the basic assumptions underlying previous approaches to contact rock art. It is argued that many Australian rock art studies incorporating contact art offer merely descriptive accounts of introduced objects without exploring the underlying social processes motivating and directing change within the art system. This study outlines a number of interpretations about the nature and patterning of contact rock art within a specific rock art assemblage in Watarrka National Park, central Australia. These conclusions were reached through the adoption of an analytical archaeological approach informed by readings of anthropological and historical data. The results of this analysis indicate that contact rock art does not merely reflect a series of historical events and the imposition of foreign forces, rather it represents a more complex exchange involving losses and gains. They further indicate that the rock art process of contact is a record of change and continuity which served not only to reflect the changes brought by Europeans but also highlights the active role Indigenous people took in responding to these circumstances.

What happened at 1500—1000 cal. BP in Central Australia? Timing, impact and archaeological signatures

“…This represents a major parallel strand in regional research, but has been difficult to integrate with excavation data because of uncertainty over dating. The earliest regional surveys by R. Edwards (1966Edwards ( , 1968 were followed by detailed work on individual site complexes (Forbes, 1982;Gunn, 1995Gunn, , 2000Rosenfeld and Mumford, 1996;Frederick, 1999;Rosenfeld, 2002;Rosenfeld and Smith, 2002;Ross, 2003), out of which a relative chronological sequence of rock art production has emerged (Ross, 2003).…”

Dynamic sketches: 6000+ year old dry‐pigment drawings from Arnhem land

“…A further implication of these Dynamic drawings refers to the age of drawn rock art. Ochre and charcoal drawings are generally considered to represent a late Holocene/ Contact phase in the Australian repertoire (Basedow 1925: 337;Gunn 1984Gunn , 2000McDonald et al 1990;Frederick 1999;McDonald 2000;Rosenfeld and Smith 2002;Ross 2003). As this current find is directly related to a style accepted as greater than 6000 years old, and possibly >10,000 years, the general association of the technique with the more recent periods (<3000 years old) may well be a feature of taphonomy (cf.…”

‘Who do you want to kill?’ Affectual and relational understandings at a sorcery rock art site in the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia

“…In rock art contexts, some researchers have focused on the affective presence and agency of motifs rather than their specific meaning(s) to examine similar questions (e.g. Frederick ; McNiven & Russell ; Tilley with Bennett ), while other studies highlight the agency and affective dimensions of rock art using ethnography and Indigenous perspectives. Two notable examples are from south‐central California and Wangkalarla in Australia's Northern Territory (see also, e.g., Dowson ; Keyser & Whitley ; Whitley ).…”