Picturing Change and Changing Pictures: Contact Period Rock Art of Australia

Abstract

The production of rock art by Indigenous Australians continued throughout recent centuries, often documenting the arrival of Asians and Europeans in various parts of Australia, but this very recent rock art has until now not been explored in detail from a continent-wide perspective. In this chapter, we outline the nature of this imagery, the issues associated with identifying contact period rock art, and the results of case studies in Wollemi National Park, near Sydney (New South Wales), the Pilbara region, near Roebourne (Western Australia), the deserts and ranges of Central Australia, and Western Arnhem Land (Northern Territory).