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Rock-Art and the History of Puritjarra Rock Shelter, Cleland Hills, Central Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

A. Rosenfeld  and
M. A. Smith
A. Rosenfeld
Affiliation:
Tamlin Lot 1, Forest Home Road, Rothdowney, QLD 4287, Australia. arose@hypermax.net.au
M. A. Smith
Affiliation:
National Museum of Australia, GPO Box 1901, Canberra, ACT2601, Australia. m.smith@nma.gov.au
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Abstract

Elaborate, religiously sanctioned relationships between people and place are one of the most distinctive features of Aboriginal Australia. In the Australian desert, rock paintings and engravings provide a tangible link to the totemic geography and allow us to examine both changes in the role of individual places and also the development of this system of relationships to land. In this paper we use rock-art to examine the changing history of Puritjarra rock shelter in western central Australia. The production of pigment art and engravings at the shelter appears to have begun by c. 13,000 BP and indicates a growing concern by people with using graphic art to record their relationship with the site. Over the last millennium changes in the surviving frieze of paintings at Puritjarra record fundamental changes in graphic vocabulary, style, and composition of the paintings. These coincide with other evidence for changes in the geographic linkages of the site. As Puritjarra's place in the social geography changed, the motifs appropriate for the site also changed. The history of this rock shelter shows that detailed site histories will be required if we are to disentangle the development of central Australian graphic systems from the temporal and spatial variability inherent in the expression of these systems.

Résumé

Les relations complexes, et officiellement reconnues par la religion, entre peuples et lieux sont l'un des aspects les plus distinctifs de l'Australie aborigène. Dans le désert australien, les peintures et gravures pariétales nous fournissent un lien tangible avec la géographie totemique et nous permettent d'examiner à la fois les changements dans le rôle de lieux individuels et aussi dans le développement de ce système de relations avec la terre. Dans cette étude, nous utilisons l'art pariétal pour examiner les changements dans l'histoire de l'abri sous roche de Puritjarra dans l'ouest de l'Australie Centrale. La production d'art pigmenté et de gravures dans l'abri semble avoir commencé avant environ 13 000 B.P. et témoigne d'un souci grandissant chez ces peuples pour l'utilisation de l'art graphique afin de rendre compte de leurs relations avec le site. Au cours du dernier millénaire, les changements dans la frise de peintures qui a survécu à Puritjarra témoigne de changements fondamentaux en matière de vocabulaire, style et composition graphiques.de ces peintures. Ils coïncident avec d'autres témoignages de changements dans les liens géographiques du site. Au fur et à mesure que changeait la place de Puritjarra dans la géographie sociale, changeaiēnt également les motifs appropriés au site. L'histoire de cet abri sous roche montre que nous aurons besoin d'histoires détaillées des sites si nous devons isoler le développement des systèmes graphiques d'Australie Centrale de la variabilité temporelle et spatiale inhérente à l'expression de ces systèmes.

Resúmen

Una de las características más distintivas de la Australia aborigen son las relaciones elaboradas y religiosamente sancionadas entre gente y lugar. En el desierto australiano, las pinturas y grabados rupestres proporcionan un vínculo tangible con la geografía totémica y nos permiten examinar tanto los cambios en el papel de los sitios individuales como el desarrollo de este sistema de relación con la tierra. En este trabajo utilizamos el arte parietal para examinar la cambiante historia del refugio de Puritjarra, en Australia centro-occidental. La producción de arte pintado y de grabados en el refugio parece haber comenzado alrededor de 13,000 BP e indica la creciente preocupación en los grupos humanos que utilizaron el refugio con el uso de arte gráfico para inmortalizar su relación con el sitio. A lo largo del último milenio, cambios en el conjunto de pinturas que han sobrevivido en Puritjarra reflejan cambios fundamentales en el vocabulario gráfico, estilo y composición de dichas pinturas. Estos coinciden con otra evidencia de cambios en los vínculos geográficos del sitio. Según fue cambiando la importancia del refugio de Puritjarra en la geografía social, fueron cambiando también los motivos adecuados al sitio. La historia de este refugio demuestra que historias detalladas de cada yacimiento van a ser necesarias para poder desenmarañar el desarrollo de los sitemas gráficos de Australia central, de la variabilidad temporal y espacial que es inherente a la expresión de estos sistemas.

Zusammenfassung

Elaborierte, religiös sanktionierte Beziehungen zwischen Mensch und Ort gehören zu den deutlichsten Merkmalen im Australien der Aborigines. In der australischen Wüste bilden Felsmalereien und -gravuren eine greifbare Verbindung zur totemistischen Geographie und erlauben die Untersuchung sowohl von Veränderungen der Rolle individueller Orte als auch von Entwicklungen dieser Mensch-Raum-Beziehungen. In diesem Beitrag dient die Felskunst der Untersuchung der wechselnden Geschichte des Puritjarra Felsabris in Westzentralaustralien. Die Produktion von Pigmentkunst und Gravuren an diesem Abris scheint um 13.000 BP aufgenommen worden zu sein und deutet die wachsende Beschäftigung der Menschen mit der Nutzung graphischer Kunst für die Aufzeichnung ihrer Beziehungen zu diesem Ort an. Während des letzten Jahrtausends dokumentieren Veränderungen im überlebenden Bildfries von Puritjarra fundamentale Veränderungen im graphischen Vokabular, Stil und in der Komposition der Bilder. Diese stimmen mit anderen Hinweisen für Veränderungen in den geographischen Verbindungen dieses Ortes überein. Die Geschichte dieses Felsabris zeigt, dass eine detaillierte Geschichte jedes Fundplatzes notwendig ist, wenn wir die Entwicklung zentralaustralischer graphischer Systeme aus der zeitlichen und räumlichen Variabilität ihrer Ausdrucksformen herauskristallisieren wollen.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 68 , 2002 , pp. 103 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 2002

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