Daryl Wesley
Biographic Data
| ID | 83948 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Daryl Wesley |
| GIVEN NAMES | Daryl |
| FAMILY NAME | Wesley |
| SIGNATURE | WESLEY D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Flinders University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3537-5668 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 46 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 298 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 46 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 10 |
Rethinking boundaries: Tulas on Marra Country and the northern reach of a Holocene innovation
Drawing inspiration from the work of Tim Maloney and India Ella Dilkes-Hall, whose 2020 critical reassessment of tula diffusion in the southern Kimberley (Western Australia) revealed a more gradual, regionally mediated uptake than previously proposed, we report on a number of new tula occurrences in Marra Country, Limmen National Park (Northern Territory) and examine the associated technological and cultural implications. While archaeologists hav…
Sweeping Stone, Cleaning Country: Stone Artefact Mounding at Walanjiwurru 1 Rockshelter, Marra Country, Northern Australia
In this paper we demonstrate how a concentrated mound of 8622 stone artefacts excavated at Walanjiwurru 1 rockshelter in Marra Country, northern Australia, reflects the emotional and spiritual dimensions of sweeping, and moral obligations to maintain Country. While archaeological studies have previously documented sweeping as part of site formation, and the social significance of stone in Australia is well established, few studies have examined h…
Contextualising digital cultural heritage: Bininj GIS and 3D modelling for conservation at Ubirr rock art complex, Kakadu National Park, Australia
This project develops a 3D model of the Ubirr rock art complex in Kakadu National Park to explore digital opportunities for cultural conservation and sustainable management. A key site within UNESCO-listed Kakadu National Park, Ubirr is a gallery of millennia-old paintings that embody both intangible and tangible cultural values of the local Traditional Owners. Using Participatory GIS, this research examines how digital landscape modelling can su…
Reflecting on the transformative impact of Indigenous engagement in Northern Territory archaeology
A changing perspective: The Impact of Landscape Evolution on Rock Art Viewsheds
Collaborative anthracology and cultural understandings of wood charcoal in Marra Country (northern Australia)
This paper presents results from the first collaborative anthracological (archaeological wood charcoal analysis) study in northern Australia's southwest Gulf of Carpentaria region. The analysis focused on charcoal from a Late Holocene combustion feature and surrounding dispersed charcoal on a buried floor surface. The results suggest that the combustion feature likely functioned as a ground oven associated with a potential specific function, with…
Exploring palaeoecology in the Northern Territory: The Walanjiwurru rockshelter, vegetation dynamics and shifting social landscapes in Marra Country
This paper presents a palynological analysis of sediments from Walanjiwurru 1, a rockshelter located in the Country of the Marra Aboriginal people at Limmen National Park in the Northern Territory (Australia). Analysis seeks to test rockshelter sediments as a framework for research in an environmentally difficult location, and to explore how the palaeoecological record may capture the diversity of people-nature relationships over time in the Nort…
Moluccan Fighting Craft on Australian Shores: Contact Rock Art from Awunbarna, Arnhem Land
Two similar watercraft depicted in rock art at Awunbarna, Arnhem Land, Australia, are unlike the Macassan prahus and Western craft shown at other contact sites in northern Australia, but are sufficiently detailed to offer evidence for identification. Both craft appear to display triangular flags, pennants, and prow adornments indicating martial status. By comparing these two depictions with historically recorded watercraft from Island Southeast A…
Extraordinary Back-to-Back Human and Animal Figures in the Art of Western Arnhem Land, Australia: One of the World's Largest Assemblages
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 o…
Contact’ Rock Art and the Hybrid Economy Model: Interpreting Introduced Subject Matter from Marra Country, Southwest Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Australia
Studies of introduced subject matter in rock-art assemblages typically focus on themes of cross-cultural interaction, change and continuity, power and resistance. However, the economic frameworks guiding or shaping the production of an assemblage have often been overlooked. In this paper we use a case study involving a recently recorded assemblage of introduced subject matter from Marra Country in northern Australia's southwest Gulf of Carpentari…
Marra philosophies of stone, and the stone artefacts of Walanjiwurru 1 rockshelter, Marra Country, northern Australia
Reconstructing rock art chronology with transfer learning: A case study from Arnhem Land, Australia
In recent years, machine learning approaches have been used to classify and extract style from media and have been used to reinforce known chronologies from classical art history. In this work we employ the first ever machine learning analysis of Australian rock art using a data efficient transfer learning approach to identify features suitable for distinguishing styles of rock art. These features are evaluated in a one-shot learning setting. Res…
Beneath the Top End: A regional assessment of submerged archaeological potential in the Northern Territory, Australia
Regional-scale assessments have proven to be invaluable frameworks for research, public engagement and management of submerged archaeological landscapes. Regional-scale approaches have been implemented internationally through a variety of academic or strategic studies. Such studies represent a much-needed next step towards subregional and site-level prospection to support management, engagement and mitigation of the impacts of offshore developmen…
R. Lamilami, 1957–2021: Negotiating two worlds for cultural heritage
The late R. Lamilami1 had a rich and remarkable life, engaging in many activities and career paths to benefit his community, including working for the Northern Land Council, Kakadu Health Services and participating in health research (e.g. Kirkham et al. 2019). He was a senior Mawng (Maung) elder and Traditional Owner, well respected as a cultural leader across Arnhem Land and beyond. He had a passion for his traditional lands, especially his cla…
The missing Macassans: Indigenous sovereignty, rock art and the archaeology of absence
The contact period rock art of northern Australia provides unprecedented insights into Aboriginal cross-cultural experiences during the last few hundred years. Northwest Arnhem Land, Australia, has an extensive rock art assemblage and a complicated history of interactions between Aboriginal communities and island South East Asians (Macassans), colonists, explorers, missionaries, buffalo shooters, and more. This contact period rock art offers a un…
Morphological analysis and radiocarbon dating of non-returning boomerangs from Cooper Creek/Kinipapa (Northeast South Australia)
In this article we present the results of a morphological analysis of four mostly complete non-returning boomerangs and one shaped wooden fragment recovered in 2017 and 2018 from Cooper Creek near Innamincka in South Australia’s far northeast. This archaeological collection forms one of only six known/published wooden artefact assemblages in the country. We also detail the results of the direct accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) …
History Disappearing: The Rapid Loss of Australian Contact Period Rock Art
In Australia, recent climate change has resulted in prolonged droughts, massive devastating bushfires, extreme flooding, and more frequent and intense cyclones, all of which affect archaeological and historic heritage. In this paper, we report on new research on rock art at a site called Djarrng in western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Djarrng was heavily impacted by Tropical Cyclone Monica in 2006. We have visited the site sporadic…
The re-emergence ofnganaparru(water buffalo) into the culture, landscape and rock art of western Arnhem Land
The introduction of new animals into hunter-gatherer societies produces a variety of cultural responses. This article explores the role of rock art in western Arnhem Land, Australia, in helping to mediate contact-period changes in Indigenous society in the nineteenth century. The authors explore etic and emic perspectives on the 're-emergence' of water buffalo into Aboriginal cultural life. Merging archaeological analysis, rock art and ethnograph…
Maliwawa figures—a previously undescribed Arnhem Land rock art style
In this paper, a previously undescribed rock art style consisting of large human figures and animals with stroke-line infill is introduced. These depictions have been named Maliwawa Figures. They are primarily found in northwest Arnhem Land and to date have been recorded at 87 sites from Awunbarna (Mount Borradaile area) to the Namunidjbuk clan state of the Wellington Range. There are solitary figures and others arranged in compositions or scenes…
Human responses to the late Holocene freshwater transition on the northern coastal plains of the Alligator Rivers region in western Arnhem Land
Little is known about cultural change on the inlets of the northern subcoastal plains of the Alligator Rivers region during the transition period between sea-level highstand c.8,000 BP and the establishment of freshwater wetlands (c.2,000 BP to present). The research presented here begins to fill this gap by illustrating differences in Indigenous land-use at two sites only a few kilometres apart and both dating to c.1,000 years ago. Located on th…
Rethinking the age and unity of large naturalistic animal forms in early Western Arnhem Land Rock Art, Australia
The analysis of style is a widespread method for describing classes of rock art and plays a significant role in forming a chronology for Arnhem Land rock art assemblages. A longstanding issue identified in Arnhem Land rock art has been the ill-defined nature of the ‘Large Naturalistic Style’ (LNS) as originally proposed by rock art researcher George Chaloupka. We have re-examined the distribution, frequency and the stylistic design attributes of …
Survival, Social Cohesion and Rock Art: The Painted Hands of Western Arnhem Land, Australia
This paper explores the complex story of a particular style of rock art in western Arnhem Land known as ‘Painted Hands’. Using new evidence from recent fieldwork, we present a definition for their style, distribution and place in the stylistic chronologies of this region. We argue these motifs played an important cultural role in Aboriginal society during the period of European settlement in the region. We explore the complex messages embedded in…
A rare miniature and small-scale stencil assemblage from the Gulf of Carpentaria: Replication and meaning in Australian rock art
Recent survey in the Gulf of Carpentaria region of northern Australia has identified a unique assemblage of miniature and small-scale stencilled motifs depicting anthropomorphs, material culture, macropod tracks and linear designs. The unusual sizes and shapes of these motifs raise questions about the types of material used for the stencil templates. Drawing on ethnographic data and experimental archaeology, the authors argue that the motifs were…
Beeswax rock art from Limmen National Park (Northern Territory), northern Australia: New insights into technique-based patterning and absence in the rock art record
The known geographic distribution of beeswax rock art is largely restricted to the Arnhem Land plateau and Kimberley regions of northern Australia. While considerable research has focussed on the antiquity and meaning of beeswax rock art, much less attention has been directed to the nature and extent of the distribution pattern for this unique motif production technique. In this article, we present details of two beeswax motifs recently discovere…
Pursuing Social Justice Through Collaborative Archaeologies in Aboriginal Australia
A Minimum Age For Early Depictions Of Southeast Asian Praus in the Rock Art of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory
In 2008, we began two related research projects that focus on recent Australian rock art, made after the arrival of Asians and Europeans, in part of northwest Arnhem Land’s Wellington Range. This area has extensive and diverse rock art, including many examples of paintings that reflect contact between local Aboriginal people and visitors to their shores. At some sites figures made of beeswax are found superimposed under and over paintings, thus p…
Pursuing Social Justice Through Collaborative Archaeologies in Aboriginal Australia
Painting History: Indigenous Observations and Depictions of the ‘Other’ in Northwestern Arnhem Land, Australia
In this paper we focus on contact rock paintings from three sites in northwestern Arnhem Land, Australia. In doing so we highlight that such sites provide some of the only contemporary Indigenous accounts of cross-cultural encounters that took place across northern Australia through the last 500 years. Importantly, they have the potential to inform us about the ongoing relationships that existed between different parties. The lack of research on …
Maliwawa figures—a previously undescribed Arnhem Land rock art style
In this paper, a previously undescribed rock art style consisting of large human figures and animals with stroke-line infill is introduced. These depictions have been named Maliwawa Figures. They are primarily found in northwest Arnhem Land and to date have been recorded at 87 sites from Awunbarna (Mount Borradaile area) to the Namunidjbuk clan state of the Wellington Range. There are solitary figures and others arranged in compositions or scenes…
Re‐evaluating the timing of the Indonesian trepang industry in north‐west Arnhem Land: Chronological investigations at Malara (Anuru Bay A)
The Malara (Anuru Bay A) Macassan trepang‐processing site was investigated from 2008 to 2010, to test two chronological models of the timing of cultural contact between north‐west Arnhem Land and South‐East Asia. Currently, the models of contact between South‐East Asian people and Australian Indigenous people are a “long model” of pre‐Macassan and Macassan contact (>200 years) and a “short model” of only Macassan contact (<120 years). The aims of…
Ancient bird stencils discovered in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
The discovery of rare bird stencils from a unique Australian rock art complex is reported, the species they most closely resemble is discussed and their significance in terms of world rock art and climate change is highlighted
Beeswax rock art from Limmen National Park (Northern Territory), northern Australia: New insights into technique-based patterning and absence in the rock art record
The known geographic distribution of beeswax rock art is largely restricted to the Arnhem Land plateau and Kimberley regions of northern Australia. While considerable research has focussed on the antiquity and meaning of beeswax rock art, much less attention has been directed to the nature and extent of the distribution pattern for this unique motif production technique. In this article, we present details of two beeswax motifs recently discovere…
Buried on Foreign Shores: Isotope Analysis of the Origin of Human Remains Recovered from a Macassan Site in Arnhem Land
This study uses strontium (87Sr86Sr), oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotope analysis of archaeological tooth enamel samples to investigate the origins of human remains from two sites in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory: a coastal Macassan site and an Indigenous rockshelter complex. The study aims to resolve whether two individuals from the Macassan site originate from outside Arnhem Land and, if so, whether their place of origin can be determine…
The archaeology of Maliwawa: 25,000 Years of occupation in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land
The archaeology of Bald Rock 1, Bald Rock 2 and Bald Rock 3 at the sandstone outcrop of Maliwawa has established ∼25,000 years of Indigenous occupation in the Wellington Range, northwestern Arnhem Land. Flaked stone artefacts were found from the beginning of the sequence, with ground-edge axes, pounding and grinding technology and ochre recovered from deposits dating from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the recent contact period. Maliwawa was o…
Small, individually nondescript and easily overlooked’ 1: Contact beads from northwest Arnhem Land in an Indigenous–Macassan–European hybrid economy
This paper examines the interactions between Indigenous traditional owners, Macassan trepangers and European settlers in northwest Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. The recovery of an assemblage of beads from six archaeological sites within the Manganowal estate (Djulirri, Malarrak 1, Malarrak 4, Bald Rock 1, Bald Rock 2 and Bald Rock 3) in the Wellington Range, supports the case for the introduction of these items to Arnhem Land in the pre-Missio…
The missing Macassans: Indigenous sovereignty, rock art and the archaeology of absence
The contact period rock art of northern Australia provides unprecedented insights into Aboriginal cross-cultural experiences during the last few hundred years. Northwest Arnhem Land, Australia, has an extensive rock art assemblage and a complicated history of interactions between Aboriginal communities and island South East Asians (Macassans), colonists, explorers, missionaries, buffalo shooters, and more. This contact period rock art offers a un…
Radiocarbon age constraints for a Pleistocene–Holocene transition rock art style: The Northern Running Figures of the East Alligator River region, western Arnhem Land, Australia
Indigenous built structures and anthropogenic impacts on the stratigraphy of Northern Australian rockshelters: Insights from Malarrak 1, north western Arnhem Land
Malarrak 1 is currently the northernmost excavated rockshelter on the Australian mainland, located in the Wellington Range in north western Arnhem Land. The site contains a rich late Holocene deposit, with extensive contact rock art, stone artefacts, shell, bone, contact materials, ancestral human remains, and other cultural material. Excavation of the Malarrak 1 rockshelter and analysis of its sediments revealed many impacts on site formation pr…
Symbols of Power: The Firearm Paintings of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II)
Depictions of firearms in Australian Aboriginal rock art provide a unique opportunity to archaeologically explore the roles that this type of material culture played in times of culture contact. From the earliest interactions with explorers to the buffalo shooting enterprises of the twentieth century—firearms played complex and shifting roles in western Arnhem Land Aboriginal societies. The site of Madjedbebe (sometimes referred to as Malakunanja…
Contact’ Rock Art and the Hybrid Economy Model: Interpreting Introduced Subject Matter from Marra Country, Southwest Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Australia
Studies of introduced subject matter in rock-art assemblages typically focus on themes of cross-cultural interaction, change and continuity, power and resistance. However, the economic frameworks guiding or shaping the production of an assemblage have often been overlooked. In this paper we use a case study involving a recently recorded assemblage of introduced subject matter from Marra Country in northern Australia's southwest Gulf of Carpentari…
Marra philosophies of stone, and the stone artefacts of Walanjiwurru 1 rockshelter, Marra Country, northern Australia
Reconstructing rock art chronology with transfer learning: A case study from Arnhem Land, Australia
In recent years, machine learning approaches have been used to classify and extract style from media and have been used to reinforce known chronologies from classical art history. In this work we employ the first ever machine learning analysis of Australian rock art using a data efficient transfer learning approach to identify features suitable for distinguishing styles of rock art. These features are evaluated in a one-shot learning setting. Res…
Survival, Social Cohesion and Rock Art: The Painted Hands of Western Arnhem Land, Australia
This paper explores the complex story of a particular style of rock art in western Arnhem Land known as ‘Painted Hands’. Using new evidence from recent fieldwork, we present a definition for their style, distribution and place in the stylistic chronologies of this region. We argue these motifs played an important cultural role in Aboriginal society during the period of European settlement in the region. We explore the complex messages embedded in…
A rare miniature and small-scale stencil assemblage from the Gulf of Carpentaria: Replication and meaning in Australian rock art
Recent survey in the Gulf of Carpentaria region of northern Australia has identified a unique assemblage of miniature and small-scale stencilled motifs depicting anthropomorphs, material culture, macropod tracks and linear designs. The unusual sizes and shapes of these motifs raise questions about the types of material used for the stencil templates. Drawing on ethnographic data and experimental archaeology, the authors argue that the motifs were…
History Disappearing: The Rapid Loss of Australian Contact Period Rock Art
In Australia, recent climate change has resulted in prolonged droughts, massive devastating bushfires, extreme flooding, and more frequent and intense cyclones, all of which affect archaeological and historic heritage. In this paper, we report on new research on rock art at a site called Djarrng in western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Djarrng was heavily impacted by Tropical Cyclone Monica in 2006. We have visited the site sporadic…
Rethinking the age and unity of large naturalistic animal forms in early Western Arnhem Land Rock Art, Australia
The analysis of style is a widespread method for describing classes of rock art and plays a significant role in forming a chronology for Arnhem Land rock art assemblages. A longstanding issue identified in Arnhem Land rock art has been the ill-defined nature of the ‘Large Naturalistic Style’ (LNS) as originally proposed by rock art researcher George Chaloupka. We have re-examined the distribution, frequency and the stylistic design attributes of …
People and fish: Late Holocene rock art at Wulk Lagoon, Arnhem Land
Pigment geochemistry as chronological marker: The case of lead pigment in rock art in the Urrmarning ‘Red Lily Lagoon’ rock art precinct, western Arnhem Land
This paper presents selected results of an experimental study using portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) for the non-destructive analysis of rock art pigments in northern Australia. During two weeks of fieldwork in the dry season of 2011 at the Red Lily Lagoon area in western Arnhem Land, 32 rock art motifs in four rockshelter sites were analysed. A total of 640 analyses were undertaken, including of white, red, black, yellow and blue pigments from…
Inter-Regional Variation in Glass Bottle Reduction and Technology in the Northern Territory
Inter-Regional Variation in Glass Bottle Reduction and Technology in the Northern Territory." Australian Archaeology, 48(1), pp. 47–48
Beneath the Top End: A regional assessment of submerged archaeological potential in the Northern Territory, Australia
Regional-scale assessments have proven to be invaluable frameworks for research, public engagement and management of submerged archaeological landscapes. Regional-scale approaches have been implemented internationally through a variety of academic or strategic studies. Such studies represent a much-needed next step towards subregional and site-level prospection to support management, engagement and mitigation of the impacts of offshore developmen…
Inter-Regional Variation in Glass Bottle Reduction and Technology in the Northern Territory
Inter-Regional Variation in Glass Bottle Reduction and Technology in the Northern Territory." Australian Archaeology, 48(1), pp. 47–48
The Creation of North Australian Shell Rings: A Comment
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Painting History: Indigenous Observations and Depictions of the ‘Other’ in Northwestern Arnhem Land, Australia
In this paper we focus on contact rock paintings from three sites in northwestern Arnhem Land, Australia. In doing so we highlight that such sites provide some of the only contemporary Indigenous accounts of cross-cultural encounters that took place across northern Australia through the last 500 years. Importantly, they have the potential to inform us about the ongoing relationships that existed between different parties. The lack of research on …
A Minimum Age For Early Depictions Of Southeast Asian Praus in the Rock Art of Arnhem Land, Northern Territory
In 2008, we began two related research projects that focus on recent Australian rock art, made after the arrival of Asians and Europeans, in part of northwest Arnhem Land’s Wellington Range. This area has extensive and diverse rock art, including many examples of paintings that reflect contact between local Aboriginal people and visitors to their shores. At some sites figures made of beeswax are found superimposed under and over paintings, thus p…
Ancient bird stencils discovered in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
The discovery of rare bird stencils from a unique Australian rock art complex is reported, the species they most closely resemble is discussed and their significance in terms of world rock art and climate change is highlighted
Holocene settlement of the northern coastal plains, Northern Territory, Australia
The northern Australian coastal plains are relatively recent landforms that have undergone dynamic evolution over the last 10,000 years. Over 300 radiocarbon dates have enabled archaeologists and geomorphologists to provide a more detailed interpretation of human settlement and resource use. This paper provides a synthesis of the archaeological evidence and integrates it within the palaeo-environmental frameworks. It characterises the timing, pat…
Buried on Foreign Shores: Isotope Analysis of the Origin of Human Remains Recovered from a Macassan Site in Arnhem Land
This study uses strontium (87Sr86Sr), oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotope analysis of archaeological tooth enamel samples to investigate the origins of human remains from two sites in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory: a coastal Macassan site and an Indigenous rockshelter complex. The study aims to resolve whether two individuals from the Macassan site originate from outside Arnhem Land and, if so, whether their place of origin can be determine…
Sails Set in Stone: A Technological Analysis of Non-indigenous Watercraft Rock Art Paintings in North Western Arnhem Land
Earthenware of Malara, Anuru Bay: A reassessment of potsherds from a Macassan trepang processing site, Arnhem Land, Australia, and implications for Macassan trade and the trepang industry
Previous excavations at Malara (Anuru Bay A), a Macassan trepang processing site in Arnhem Land, produced a substantial quantity of earthenware pottery (Macknight 1969). Earthenware pottery has also been reported and collected from Macassan sites elsewhere along the Northern Territory and Kimberley coastlines. Although several studies have been undertaken on earthenwares from Macassan sites in Australia, it was uncertain whether any included sher…
Pigment geochemistry as chronological marker: The case of lead pigment in rock art in the Urrmarning ‘Red Lily Lagoon’ rock art precinct, western Arnhem Land
This paper presents selected results of an experimental study using portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) for the non-destructive analysis of rock art pigments in northern Australia. During two weeks of fieldwork in the dry season of 2011 at the Red Lily Lagoon area in western Arnhem Land, 32 rock art motifs in four rockshelter sites were analysed. A total of 640 analyses were undertaken, including of white, red, black, yellow and blue pigments from…
Small, individually nondescript and easily overlooked’ 1: Contact beads from northwest Arnhem Land in an Indigenous–Macassan–European hybrid economy
This paper examines the interactions between Indigenous traditional owners, Macassan trepangers and European settlers in northwest Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. The recovery of an assemblage of beads from six archaeological sites within the Manganowal estate (Djulirri, Malarrak 1, Malarrak 4, Bald Rock 1, Bald Rock 2 and Bald Rock 3) in the Wellington Range, supports the case for the introduction of these items to Arnhem Land in the pre-Missio…
Implications for culture contact history from a glass artefact on a Diingwulung earth mound in Weipa
This paper reports on a glass artefact found on an earth mound at Diingwulung in Wathayn Country, near Weipa, far north Queensland. Despite intense research efforts and cultural heritage management surveys over many years, and the fact that they have been reported commonly within the ethnographic literature, such artefacts have been found rarely outside of Aboriginal mission contexts. As well as describing the artefact, its location and the front…
Radiocarbon age constraints for a Pleistocene–Holocene transition rock art style: The Northern Running Figures of the East Alligator River region, western Arnhem Land, Australia
Re‐evaluating the timing of the Indonesian trepang industry in north‐west Arnhem Land: Chronological investigations at Malara (Anuru Bay A)
The Malara (Anuru Bay A) Macassan trepang‐processing site was investigated from 2008 to 2010, to test two chronological models of the timing of cultural contact between north‐west Arnhem Land and South‐East Asia. Currently, the models of contact between South‐East Asian people and Australian Indigenous people are a “long model” of pre‐Macassan and Macassan contact (>200 years) and a “short model” of only Macassan contact (<120 years). The aims of…
Towards multiple ontologies: Creating rock art narratives in Arnhem Land
A rock art and museum collection project undertaken in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia found that there were significant collection legacy issues surrounding different archaeological documentation of rock art sites. This prompted an examination of current rock art recording practice using a Western Arnhem Land case study. This required an examination of the theoretical development and methodological practice of rock art research. Surve…
How old is X-ray art? Minimum age determinations for early X-ray rock art from the ‘Red Lily’ (Wulk) Lagoon rock art precinct, western Arnhem Land
Symbols of Power: The Firearm Paintings of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II)
Depictions of firearms in Australian Aboriginal rock art provide a unique opportunity to archaeologically explore the roles that this type of material culture played in times of culture contact. From the earliest interactions with explorers to the buffalo shooting enterprises of the twentieth century—firearms played complex and shifting roles in western Arnhem Land Aboriginal societies. The site of Madjedbebe (sometimes referred to as Malakunanja…
People and fish: Late Holocene rock art at Wulk Lagoon, Arnhem Land
Developing approaches for understanding Indigenous Australian glass bead use during the contact period
Research into Indigenous bead use in Australia has emphasised the use of organic materials, such as seeds, reeds, bone and shell, in contrast to recently introduced beads made from glass. Indigenous collections housed at both Australian and international institutions, however, contain material culture that incorporates glass beads, such as chokers, necklaces and biting bags, in addition to both archaeological finds and ethnographic photos that il…
Indigenous built structures and anthropogenic impacts on the stratigraphy of Northern Australian rockshelters: Insights from Malarrak 1, north western Arnhem Land
Malarrak 1 is currently the northernmost excavated rockshelter on the Australian mainland, located in the Wellington Range in north western Arnhem Land. The site contains a rich late Holocene deposit, with extensive contact rock art, stone artefacts, shell, bone, contact materials, ancestral human remains, and other cultural material. Excavation of the Malarrak 1 rockshelter and analysis of its sediments revealed many impacts on site formation pr…
The archaeology of Maliwawa: 25,000 Years of occupation in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land
The archaeology of Bald Rock 1, Bald Rock 2 and Bald Rock 3 at the sandstone outcrop of Maliwawa has established ∼25,000 years of Indigenous occupation in the Wellington Range, northwestern Arnhem Land. Flaked stone artefacts were found from the beginning of the sequence, with ground-edge axes, pounding and grinding technology and ochre recovered from deposits dating from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the recent contact period. Maliwawa was o…
Beeswax rock art from Limmen National Park (Northern Territory), northern Australia: New insights into technique-based patterning and absence in the rock art record
The known geographic distribution of beeswax rock art is largely restricted to the Arnhem Land plateau and Kimberley regions of northern Australia. While considerable research has focussed on the antiquity and meaning of beeswax rock art, much less attention has been directed to the nature and extent of the distribution pattern for this unique motif production technique. In this article, we present details of two beeswax motifs recently discovere…
Pursuing Social Justice Through Collaborative Archaeologies in Aboriginal Australia
Maliwawa figures—a previously undescribed Arnhem Land rock art style
In this paper, a previously undescribed rock art style consisting of large human figures and animals with stroke-line infill is introduced. These depictions have been named Maliwawa Figures. They are primarily found in northwest Arnhem Land and to date have been recorded at 87 sites from Awunbarna (Mount Borradaile area) to the Namunidjbuk clan state of the Wellington Range. There are solitary figures and others arranged in compositions or scenes…
Human responses to the late Holocene freshwater transition on the northern coastal plains of the Alligator Rivers region in western Arnhem Land
Little is known about cultural change on the inlets of the northern subcoastal plains of the Alligator Rivers region during the transition period between sea-level highstand c.8,000 BP and the establishment of freshwater wetlands (c.2,000 BP to present). The research presented here begins to fill this gap by illustrating differences in Indigenous land-use at two sites only a few kilometres apart and both dating to c.1,000 years ago. Located on th…
Archaeology (40 works) · Geography (39 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (32 works) · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies (27 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (26 works) · Rock art (20 works) · Geology (19 works) · Ecology (18 works) · History (18 works) · Indigenous (16 works)