Rock art evidence for Macassan - Aboriginal contact in northwestern Arnhem Land
Author(s)
Tacon, Paul
May, Sally K.
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2013
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Some of the most important evidence for the activities of Southeast Asian or ‘Macassan’2 visitors to Australia prior to the European settlement of this continent can be found in the rock art of northern Australia—from the Kimberley to the Top End of the Northern Territory to parts of northern Queensland (for example, see Chaloupka 1993, pp. 191–2; 1996; Clarke and Frederick 2006; Roberts 2004). Rock art is widely acknowledged as encoding social, economic and cultural information about the artists and their cultural groups and it can reflect changes in these societies as well as the wider landscape. This is the case for the ...
View more >Some of the most important evidence for the activities of Southeast Asian or ‘Macassan’2 visitors to Australia prior to the European settlement of this continent can be found in the rock art of northern Australia—from the Kimberley to the Top End of the Northern Territory to parts of northern Queensland (for example, see Chaloupka 1993, pp. 191–2; 1996; Clarke and Frederick 2006; Roberts 2004). Rock art is widely acknowledged as encoding social, economic and cultural information about the artists and their cultural groups and it can reflect changes in these societies as well as the wider landscape. This is the case for the early encounters and ongoing regular interaction between Australian Aboriginal people and Macassans. Rock art illustrates some of this complex, sustained and diverse story.
View less >
View more >Some of the most important evidence for the activities of Southeast Asian or ‘Macassan’2 visitors to Australia prior to the European settlement of this continent can be found in the rock art of northern Australia—from the Kimberley to the Top End of the Northern Territory to parts of northern Queensland (for example, see Chaloupka 1993, pp. 191–2; 1996; Clarke and Frederick 2006; Roberts 2004). Rock art is widely acknowledged as encoding social, economic and cultural information about the artists and their cultural groups and it can reflect changes in these societies as well as the wider landscape. This is the case for the early encounters and ongoing regular interaction between Australian Aboriginal people and Macassans. Rock art illustrates some of this complex, sustained and diverse story.
View less >
Book Title
Macassan History and Heritage: Journeys, Encounters and Influences
Publisher URI
Funder(s)
ARC
Grant identifier(s)
DP0877463
Subject
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history