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Extraordinary Back-to-Back Human and Animal Figures in the Art of Western Arnhem Land, Australia

One of the World's Largest Assemblages

Bibliographic Data

ID6045010
AuthorsPaul S C Taçon (0000-0002-0280-4366, Griffith University, corresponding author), Sally K May (0000-0003-2805-023X, Griffith University), Joakim Goldhahn (0000-0003-4640-8784, The University of Western Australia), L Taylor (0000-0002-5706-2056, Griffith University), L M Brady (0000-0002-3997-3470, Flinders University), Alex Ressel (Griffith University), Andrea Jalandoni (0000-0002-4821-7183, Griffith University), Daryl Wesley (0000-0002-3537-5668, Flinders University), Gabriel Maralngurra (Iceland University of the Arts)
Year2022
Volume32
Issue4
Pages707-720
Publication date2022-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0959774322000129
OpenAlexW4224229681
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

Depictions of mythical beings appear in many different forms of art world-wide, including rock art of various ages. In this paper we explore a particular type of imagery, back-to-back figures, consisting of two human-like figures or animals of the same species next to each other and facing in opposite directions. Some human-like doubles were joined at the back rather than side-by-side, but also face opposite directions. In this paper, we report on new research on rock art, bark paintings and recent paintings on paper and chart a 9000-year history of making aesthetically, symbolically and spiritually powerful back-to-back figures in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Geography · Painting · Rock art · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

  • The Devil Is in the Detail

    Open Access•Paul S C Taçon, Andrea Jalandoni et al.•Archaeology in Oceania/Archæology…•2026

  • Majumbu (‘Old Harry’) and the Spencer-Cahill bark painting collection

    Open Access•Paul S C Taçon, L Taylor et al.•Australian Archaeology•2023

  • Seeing the Inside

    Luke Taylor•Seeing the Inside•1996

  • An Analysis of Motif Clusters at the Nanguluwurr Rock Art Site, Kakadu National Park, N. T. Australia

    John A Hayward, Sally K May et al.•Journal of Field Archaeology•2021

  • Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia, from Moreton Bay to Port Essington

    Open Access•Ludwig Leichhardt•Journal of an Overland Expedition…•2011

  • The Rainbow Serpent as Visual Metaphor in Western Arnhem Land

    Open Access•Luke Taylor•Oceania•1990

  • Painting History

    Sally K May, Paul S C Taçon et al.•Australian Archaeology•2010

  • The spatial distribution of unique motifs featuring Dioscorea bulbifera , the round yam, in western Arnhem Land rock art

    Judith W Hammond•Australian Archaeology•2019

  • Maliwawa figures—a previously undescribed Arnhem Land rock art style

    Paul S C Taçon, Sally K May et al.•Australian Archaeology•2020

  • History Disappearing

    Paul S C Taçon, Sally K May et al.•Journal of Field Archaeology•2021

  • A Bestiary of Monsters in Greek Mythology

    Spyros Syropoulos•Bestiary of Monsters in Greek…•2018

  • Rock art, performance and Palaeolithic cognitive systems. The example of the Grand Panel palimpsest of Cussac Cave, Dordogne, France

    Open Access•Valérie Feruglio, Camille Bourdier et al.•Journal of Anthropological…•2019

  • A Minimum Age For Early Depictions Of Southeast Asian Praus in the Rock Art of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory

    Paul S C Taçon, Sally K May et al.•Australian Archaeology•2010

  • Theoretical Perspectives in Rock Art Research

    Inés Domingo, Claire Smith et al.•The South African Archaeological…•2002

  • The Double-Headed God

    C N Deedes, C Deedes•Folklore•1935

  • Birth of the Rainbow Serpent in Arnhem Land rock art and oral history

    Open Access•Paul S C Taçon, Meredith Wilson et al.•Archaeology in Oceania/Archæology…•1996

  • Arnhem Land prehistory in landscape, stone and paint

    Open Access•Paul S C Taçon, Sally Brockwell•Antiquity•1995

  • The re-emergence ofnganaparru(water buffalo) into the culture, landscape and rock art of western Arnhem Land

    Open Access•Sally K May, Paul S C Taçon et al.•Antiquity•2021

  • The Royal Navy in Indigenous Australia, 1795-1855

    Open Access•Daniel Simpson•Royal Navy in Indigenous…•2020

  • Imagery and social structure at two Dalabon rock art sites

    Kenneth Maddock•Anthropological Forum•1970

Unique citing works2
Citations per year0,67
Citation span2023 - 2026 (4)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 2
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