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KAKADU ROCK ART – ANBANGBANG/NOURLANGIE
Kakadu National Park, located in the Northern Territory of Australia, offers spectacular geological highlights, incredible human insights, and wondrous natural sights. Austheritage is proud to take you on brief tour of just a small part of what is on offer.
Geology
Geologists believe that vast sheets of coarse sand were deposited under long since
vanished seas and lakes in this area, between 1.4-
During the age of the dinosaurs (around 140 million years ago) shallow seas spread across the area, eroding the sandstone into sea cliffs (now the Arnhem Land escarpment) and islands (outliers). Burrunggui (Nourlangie Rock) is at the southern tip of the Mt Brockman outlier.
The human dimension
Humans first came to Australia more than 60,000 years ago, possibly much earlier. The area at Anbangbang was occupied by an aboriginal tribal group who practised their rock art and ceremonial activities for around 22,000 years, until the last surviving practising member passed away in 1967. 22,000 years of continuous cultural practice, a timescale dwarfing any other religious or cultural practices in the human world, came to an end only very recently.
Some of the paintings shown here were painted by that last survivor, some are much older. They paintings tell cultural stories, and record the things that were important to the people who lived in the area.
Many other colourful pictures abound in the gallery, some of animals or people going about their daily business. As this area was used for human occupation for many thousands of years, it seems that the people decorated their living areas in the same way that humans still do today.
THE AMAZING ART WORK IN THIS ONE SMALL REGION OF KAKADU NATIONAL PARK, THE LAST REMAINING WORKS OF A PEOPLE WHO LIVED AND PRACTISED THEIR CULTURE IN THE AREA FOR OVER 22,000 YEARS IS A REMINDER OF WHAT WAS LOST WHEN THE COLONIAL ERA BEGAN IN AUSTRALIA. AUSTHERITAGE RECOGNISES AUSTRALIA’S ORIGINAL INHABITANTS AND THEIR DISPOSSESSION