Learning module:
Deep time history of Australia
Investigation 2: Two big ideas in deep time history in Australia
2.3 What can rock art tell us about deep time history?
Photo: Sven Ouzman
Another way we can learn about the deep time history of Australia is through rock art.
Read these two Defining Moments in Australian history: Petroglyphs and pictographs — about 30,000 years ago: Earliest known Australian rock art and ‘We are from here’ — at least 65,000 years ago: Archaeological evidence of first peoples on the Australian continent, and answer these questions.
Here is a photograph of a piece of ochre:
4. How could people have used this ochre to make a painting on rock? (You might choose several ways.)
5. Why do you think people might create art?
6. What are some other ways First Nations people from that time may have created art?
Look at these examples of Australian rock art:
7. Do you think First Nations people around Australia would all have created the same style of rock art? Explain your answer.
8. What is the age of the oldest known rock art in Australia?
9. What does the age of First Nations rock art tell us?
Archaeologists and First Elders of the Dambimangari and Balanggarra people have been examining some ancient examples of rock art in the Kimberley area in northern Western Australia. The team is trying to find out how old the Kimberley art is and whether it was, in fact, the oldest rock art ever discovered. The scientists described their method for the ABC:
‘We can see where a crust has formed over the squiggles of pigment, so we can use a small chisel to chip off a little piece.’ ABC, Aboriginal artwork in the Kimberley could be among oldest in the world, scientists say, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-02/indigenous-rock-art-could-be-among-oldest-in-world/6906476, viewed on 29 September 2020
They can then find the age of the sample of the crust by scientific analysis.
10. This will tell them the age of the painting because:
Map supplied by Professor Corey JA Bradshaw, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Global Ecology Lab Partuyarta Ngadluku Wardli Kuu, Flinders University.
11. Australia looked very different 65,000 years ago. It was joined by other land masses, forming a larger ancient continent known as Sahul. Why would it make sense to be looking for the oldest First Nations rock art in the Kimberley (a region located between Broome and Darwin)? Hint: Look at the map of Sahul. It shows the migration super-highways that early First Nations people likely travelled on when they arrived in Sahul from the north. It also shows different archaeological sites around Australia.
12. Here are seven Australian Indigenous rock art sites that are protected by laws.
13. Why should rock art sites be protected?
14. How can rock art help us understand deep time Australia? (There may be more than one correct answer.)
15. What else does rock art tell us about the deep time history of Australia? Make a list and share as a class.
