Children and Rock Art: A Case Study from Western Arnhem Land, Australia

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Author(s)
Goldhahn, Joakim
May, Sally K
Maralngurra, Josie Gumbuwa
Lee, Jeffrey
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2020
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In this paper, we explore the social context of rock art creation through the lens of one woman’s childhood experiences in, what is now, Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. We reflect upon oral history interviews conducted over the last three years with Warrdjak Senior Traditional Owner Josie Gumbuwa Maralngurra and her childhood spent walking country with family. As a witness to vast numbers of rock paintings being created, and sometimes an active participant in that process, Josie’s memories provide rare insights into the social and cultural context of rock art practices during the late 1950s and ...
View more >In this paper, we explore the social context of rock art creation through the lens of one woman’s childhood experiences in, what is now, Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. We reflect upon oral history interviews conducted over the last three years with Warrdjak Senior Traditional Owner Josie Gumbuwa Maralngurra and her childhood spent walking country with family. As a witness to vast numbers of rock paintings being created, and sometimes an active participant in that process, Josie’s memories provide rare insights into the social and cultural context of rock art practices during the late 1950s and early 1960s. We argue that Josie’s personal experiences provide solid evidence for both the educational role that rock art continued to play across the region during the 20th century and its role as a tool for helping to ensure intergenerational connection to country.
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View more >In this paper, we explore the social context of rock art creation through the lens of one woman’s childhood experiences in, what is now, Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory of Australia. We reflect upon oral history interviews conducted over the last three years with Warrdjak Senior Traditional Owner Josie Gumbuwa Maralngurra and her childhood spent walking country with family. As a witness to vast numbers of rock paintings being created, and sometimes an active participant in that process, Josie’s memories provide rare insights into the social and cultural context of rock art practices during the late 1950s and early 1960s. We argue that Josie’s personal experiences provide solid evidence for both the educational role that rock art continued to play across the region during the 20th century and its role as a tool for helping to ensure intergenerational connection to country.
View less >
Journal Title
Norwegian Archaeological Review
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.
Note
This publication has been entered in Griffith Research Online as an advanced online version.
Subject
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology