Sydney rock engravings, or Sydney rock art, are a form of Australian Aboriginal

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also m ...

in the

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

around

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, that consist of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols. Many thousands of such engravings are known to exist in the Sydney region, although the locations of most are not publicised to prevent damage by vandalism, and to retain their sanctity, as they are still regarded as sacred sites by

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

. There are two art environments in Sydney Basin, rock shelters and engraving sites. There are 1,500 pieces of Aboriginal art in Sydney, more than half of which contain rock art, and around 1,500 caves or shelters which contain cultural deposit. They are comparable with the

petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

of Native Americans and the

found elsewhere in Australia, but have their own distinctive style which is quite unlike rock art found anywhere else in Australia. Dating to around

5,000 5000 (five thousand) is the natural number following 4999 and preceding 5001. Five thousand is the largest isogrammic number in the English language. Selected numbers in the range 5001–5999 5001 to 5099 * 5003 – Sophie Germain prime * 5 ...

years, with some possibly as old as 7,000 years, Sydney rock art is predominantly found in

Ku-ring-gai Council Ku-ring-gai Council is a local government area in Northern Sydney (Upper North Shore), in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area is named after the Guringai Aboriginal people who were thought to be the traditional owners of the are ...

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane Cove and Parramatta River, Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or harbor, natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. T ...

and the Blue Mountains.

Origins and history

The engravings were made by the

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait ...

who have lived in the

region from about 30,000 years ago until the present day.

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was de ...

suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago (28,724 BCE). However, numerous Aboriginal stone tools were found in Western Sydney's gravel sediments that were dated from 45,000 to 50,000 years BP, which would indicate that there was human settlement in Sydney earlier than thought. The engravings cannot be dated straightforwardly with contemporary archaeological methods, necessitating the use of indirect dating. The Sydney engravings are of a style known as "simple figurative", which formulaic archaeology dates to around 3,000 BC and 4,000 BC, which is contemporaneous to the

neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

period in

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

. Other engravings show

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an sailing ships, and so those cannot be more than about 200 years old. It is likely that some of the freshest engravings represent the later part of that time range, whilst the most worn represent the earliest part. However, the situation is complicated by the fact that the engravings were sometimes "re-grooved" during ceremonies. Some engravings appear to show

thylacine The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasma ...

s and other mammals which have been extinct in the Sydney region for many thousands of years, and thus can be presumably that old. In support of this, it is true that rock art elsewhere (e.g. Kakadu National Park) does show extinct animals, and so must be tens of thousands of years old. However, at the moment there is no hard evidence to support these claims for Sydney rock art.

Method of creation

Examination of the grooves shows that they were made in several stages as follows: * Presumably, a sketched outline was scratched on to the surface of the rock. * Then a series of holes was drilled along the line, using a pointed stone or shell, which is possible because the

Sydney Basin The Sydney Basin is an interim Australian bioregion and is both a structural entity and a depositional area, now preserved on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia and with some of its eastern side now subsided beneath the Tasman Sea ...

is relatively soft. * Finally, the holes were joined by rubbing a sharp stone along the line. This results in a U-shaped groove which is typically about 2 centimetres deep and 2 centimetres wide. It is easily distinguished from natural grooves in the sandstone, which are usually V-shaped, modern grooves made with steel tools, which are usually narrower and deeper, or those made by bulldozers, which usually have a square section. The grooves were often maintained by "re-grooving" during ceremonies, which complicates attempts at dating them.

Purpose

While their purpose is not known definitively, some educated guesses may be made by analogy with the culture of other indigenous groups who survived into modern times, as follows. Some sites may have been "increase sites", where a ceremony would be held to increase the availability of a food source such as kangaroos or fish. It is thought that most of the sites depicting animals are of this type. Another group of sites may have been where initiation ceremonies were held, to celebrate and facilitate the transition of a young boy into manhood. In other parts of

, we know that an initiation ceremony often involves a ceremonial path from childhood into manhood, and so the lines of steps, or mundoes, may indicate initiation sites. Other sites show "Culture Heroes" or "Ancestral Beings" such as Baiame, who has a striped head-dress and often a striped body, and Daramulan who has a large club foot and may have been part-emu. Some sites also show evidence of

Aboriginal Astronomy Australian Aboriginal astronomy is a name given to Aboriginal Australian culture relating to astronomical subjects – such as the Sun and Moon, the stars, planets, and the Milky Way, and their motions on the sky. Traditional Aboriginal cu ...

, as the rock's patterns resemble the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

and this may have been purposed as an astrological guide. It should also be recognised that increase sites, initiation sites, culture-hero sites, and astronomical sites are not necessarily distinct, and one site may fall into any or all of these categories.

Themes

The aboriginal rock engraving sites usually contain images of sacred spiritual beings, mythical ancestral hero figures, various endemic animals, fish and many footprints. Surrounding the rock engravings, there are art sites,

burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

sites,

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s, marriage areas, men’s areas, women’s areas, birthing areas,

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

sites, stone arrangement sites and tool manufacturing locations. Les McLeod, a local indigenous guide in Hawkesbury stated, “A lot of Aboriginal people believe they were created from animals – there are engravings here of wallabies, fish and emus”. “Sydney sandstone is easy to engrave but easy to fade. The Guringai people would have visited a couple of times a year to re-engrave it.” In some small cave on the water’s edge, there are ochre hand stencils from a group of Guringai men (and from a smaller handprint, a minor). The stencils would have been a way of letting other members of the clan know that this cave or ledge is a safe place to dwell in. Rock paintings of a fish just above the water line signaled to others that fish could be found at this area. The majority (97%) of the etched motifs are outline only. The only systematically infilled engravings are

culture hero A culture hero is a mythological hero specific to some group ( cultural, ethnic, religious, etc.) who changes the world through invention or discovery. Although many culture heroes help with the creation of the world, most culture heroes are impo ...

es which are usually decorated with a number of pecked lines of dots.

Characteristics

Shelters with art are characterised by stencil art or

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ...

. Stencil is created by mixing

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

in the mouth and then into a wet paste, where it is sprayed over the object to be stencilled onto the wall of the shelter. Other forms of artwork include ochre paintings, charcoal drawings and etchings. Rock painting illustration usually feature humans, kangaroos, emus, echidnas, grid patterns, animal tracks, boomerangs, axes, hand stencils, among others. Black is the frequent colour used in Sydney, accounting for 46.2% of the pigment art. Followed by white (34.6%), red (16.6%) and yellow (2.8%). There are also a number of grinding grooves located throughout the general Sydney area. Burial sites are present throughout the Sydney region, and many have been found over the past years in middens and within shelters. Rock engravings in Sydney would usually feature fish, animals, humans, wooden artefacts, and mythological beings. Stone quarries are sites where Aboriginals accumulate types of

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

for the manufacturing of tools, ceremonial and sacred items. The majority of the fine stone flakes and tools recovered in the local area would have been traded from other areas such as the north coast,

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and ...

, and the Nepean River. Dug wells in the Sydney region were used by the local tribe to sharpen tools and also as a source of fresh

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ...

Motif frequency

A total of 7,804 motifs were studied from the 717 engravings sites, with a salient focus on tracks, followed by a predilection for marine animals and land animals,

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

models and cultural items.

Sites

There are approximately 2,000 rock engraving sites, which are usually located on highly elevated, smooth and flat surfaces. More than half of the engraving sites (55.9%) are located on ridgelines. Hillside locations are the next most frequent (41.2%), while

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

bottoms are comparatively rare (2.8%). The average distance to drinking water from any engraving site in the region is 650m and the maximum distance is approximately 3km. The minimum distance is 2m (rock wells or creeks).McCarthy, F. D. 1959. ‘Rock Engravings of the Sydney-Hawkesbury District (Part 2): Some Important Ritual Groups in the County of Cumberland’. Records of the Australian Museum 24 (14): 203–15. Rock art within Sydney is found in these locations: ;Sydney * Bantry Bay in Garigal National Park,

(extensive engraving site featuring a wide range of engravings, including animals, people, symbols, and a whale) *North Bondi Rock Carvings in

Bondi Beach Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Easter ...

(features engravings of humans, sharks, fish, whales and a turtle) *

Allambie Heights Allambie Heights is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17.5 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Nort ...

(features a whale and many smaller engravings) *

Heathcote National Park Heathcote National Park is a protected national park that is located in the southern region of Sydney, New South Wales in eastern Australia, and is situated on Dharawal country. The national park is situated approximately southwest of the Sy ...

, south of Sydney. Various sites are known, including a shield tree west of the Bullawarring Track, adjacent to an occupation cave, plus a group of charcoal drawings alongside Myuna Creek. * Grotto Point at Dobroyd Head in the Northern Suburbs (well-maintained engraving site within the Sydney metropolitan area, with many engravings) *

Balls Head Reserve The Balls Head Reserve is a forested headland nature reserve situated on Balls Head in Sydney. The headland is in Port Jackson, west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, between Berrys Bay to the east and Balls Head Bay to the west. It is named ...

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman S ...

(art sites, middens and a prominent petroglyph of a marine creature) *

Tamarama Tamarama is a beachside suburb, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Tamarama is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. Tamarama has a small ...

(large engraving of a shark and fish) *

Berowra Waters Berowra Waters is an outer suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Berowra is located 40 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Hornsby Shire. Berowra Waters is no ...

(contains vertical rock with a complex of carving) * Terrey Hills (lone emu on a ledge) *

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the M1 Pacific Motorway, sou ...

, north of Sydney (contains many sites, notably those along the Basin Track, the Echidna Track, the Cowan Track and the Red Hand Track) *

Muogamarra Nature Reserve The Muogamarra Nature Reserve () is a protected nature reserve that is located in the Sydney region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The reserve is situated in the northern edge of Sydney and lies between the suburb of to the sou ...

, Hawkesbury River area (contains numerous sites including carvings and grinding grooves) ;Blue Mountains *

Faulconbridge Faulconbridge is a village located in the Blue Mountains 77 km west of Sydney, New South Wales and is 450 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Faulconbridge had a population of 4,025 people. History and description The Faulconbridg ...

(three emus, some mundoes and axe-grinding grooves) *

Lawson Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas * ...

(a single kangaroo on a rock) *Kings Tableland Aboriginal Site, Wentworth Falls (a rocky knoll is topped by a group of large grinding grooves, plus carved images of wallaby, emu tracks and an occupation cave) *Red Hands Cave,

Blue Mountains National Park The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney, and the park boundary is quit ...

, outside Glenbrook (contains large collection of hand stencils) *

Wollemi National Park The Wollemi National Park () is a protected national park and wilderness area that is located in the northern Blue Mountains and Lower Hunter regions of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The park, the second largest national park in New ...

, north of the Blue Mountains (contains many Aboriginal sites, notably at Eagles Reach Cave, discovered by bushwalkers in 1995)

Gallery

Image:Ku-ring-gai Chase - petroglyph.jpg, A figure with a swollen leg and the lack of a neck (Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park). File:Aboriginal rock carvings, Terrey Hills, New South Wales, Sydney - Wiki0159.jpg, Rock engravings in Terrey Hills File:(1)rock carving Bondi.jpg, A rock engraving believed to be a

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

File:(1)rock carvings bondi-3.JPG, Petroglyph of a shark in

North Bondi North Bondi is a coastal, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. North Bondi is a mostly residential ar ...

Image:Ku-ring-gai Chase - petroglyph2.jpg, A petroglyph at Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park File:Petroglyph_-_well_endowed.JPG, A male figure at KC NP File:Ku-Ring-Gai_Chase_National_Park_20_metre_long_petroglyph.JPG, 20 metre long petroglyph at KC NP File:(1) rock carvings Bondi-1.JPG, Engraving of a human figure in

File:Rock carving in Sydney Australia 01.jpg, Petroglyph of a whale, Bondi File:Aboriginal rock carvings, Terrey Hills, New South Wales, Sydney - Wiki0157.jpg, Rock carving in Terrey Hills, featuring kangaroos File:AboriginalSite0009.jpg, Rock carving in Garigal National Park

References

{{commonscat, Australian Aboriginal culture Australian Aboriginal mythology Australian Aboriginal cultural history Rock art in Australia Culture of Sydney