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Memorialization and the Stencilled Rock Art of Mirarr Country, Northern Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2018

John A. Hayward ,
Iain G. Johnston ,
Sally K. May  and
Paul S.C. Taçon
John A. Hayward
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA 5042, Australia Email: dovetail@chariot.net.au
Iain G. Johnston
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia Email: iain.johnston@anu.edu.au
Sally K. May
Affiliation:
PERAHU, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Gold Coast campus, Griffith University, QLD 4222, Australia Email: s.may@griffith.edu.au
Paul S.C. Taçon
Affiliation:
PERAHU, Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Gold Coast campus, Griffith University, QLD 4222, Australia Email: p.tacon@griffith.edu.au
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Abstract

This paper addresses the motivations for producing the rare object stencils found in the rock art of western Arnhem Land. We present evidence for 84 stencils recorded as part of the Mirarr Gunwarddebim project in western Arnhem Land, northern Australia. Ranging from boomerangs to dilly bags, armlets and spearthrowers, this assemblage suggests something other than a common or ongoing culture practice of stencilling objects used in everyday life. Instead, we suggest that these stencils represent an entirely different function in rock art through a process of memorialization that was rare, opportunistic and highly selective.

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , August 2018 , pp. 361 - 378
Copyright
Copyright © McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 2018 

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