Rock Carvings Document the Secret History of Aboriginal Contact with Outsiders


Photo: Rick Stevens

Hidden in the rugged hills of Arnhem, Australia, are stunning Aboriginal rock carvings that depict the history of Aboriginal contact with outsiders - from sailing ships to 19th-century steamships and even a World War II battleship!

Alongside exquisite rock art more than 15,000 years old are paintings that capture some of the 19th and 20th centuries' most important technological innovations - a biplane, bicycle, car and rifle - as well as portraits of church ministers, sea captains and traders.

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I don't think it is particularly cynical to see a fraud at work when all the visual cues scream HOAX.

All the drawings scratched into rock supposedly in the 19th century but oddly have not weathered back to the colour of the rock in a century.
And they are all the same state of unweathered, like they were all done at once.

Also the pics are all obviously photo referenced, thr sailing boat is at an angle, which wold be a big leap from no perspective non realist art to an action shot including fore shortening.
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Has anyone calling hoax actually read the story and seen ALL the pictures instead of just the one featured here? I call not a hoax (many of the pictures are quite recent, some are 1000s of years old) and do some research first before calling hoax.
"Aboriginal art simply doesn’t look like the object being depicted" - what does "aboriginal" art look like?
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Mati

"Aboriginal Art" uses a very distinct visual lexicon and system of symbols that is not used by Occidentals.

And within the definition of Aboriginal to mean The aboriginal peoples of Australia including the Torres Strait Islanders even there ther is no homogeny. But they do have more in common artisically than they do with the European traditions.

Are you saying it's racist to say Aboriginal art?
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The majority of the images seen in the slide show look like what you'd expect to see for aboriginal art. There's even a couple other depictions of ships that blend right into that style.

What's pictured above looks like someone Photoshopped some 19th century etchings onto a cave wall. Those are suspicious.
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I went back and ahad a really rthorough look at the slide show, and sure enough the boats are painted not scratched in. Which blows my line of thinking out of the water.

But it does throw up some very odd things, a lot of the "modern" drawings are painted over older paintings.

THis as far as I kow simply doesn't happen with in aboriginal art/tradition.

The pantings are semi mystical in themsselves and are maintianed generation after generation, going back a SERIOUSLY long time.

So it would be frankly bizarre for some one to decide that drawing a a biplane or the missionaries should be domne over the old sacred paintings.

It may well be from the 19th century but it does seem very strange to attribute it to aboriginal peoples.

As their population has gone into decline many of the old sites simply don't have enough informed people to maintain them, and quite a few have had significant vandalism problems.

19th century vandalism?

Just a thought.
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I believe this could be the real thing, however would be extremely interested to know if they actually bothered to ask the traditional land owners permission to photograph these rocks.
I have studied australian aboriginal art under Sally Butler from University of Queensland.
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