Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20145
Title: Continuity and Change in the Anthropomorphic Figures of Australia's northwest Kimberley
Contributor(s): Travers, Meg E  (author); Ross, June  (author)
Publication Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1080/03122417.2016.1210757
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/20145
Abstract: One of the largest concentrations of rock paintings in Australia is found in the rugged Kimberley region in the northwest of the continent. A temporal sequence of visually distinctive figurative styles is presumed to span periods of cultural change and major climatic events. As the nature and course of these changes are poorly understood, this paper investigates the relationships between continuity and change in the stylistic attributes of the selected anthropomorphic figures in the rock art assemblage. Some previous Kimberley rock art researchers have argued for an abrupt discontinuity in the art assemblage between the Wararrajai Gwion (the most recent of the Gwion styles) and Painted Hand Periods (formally Clothes Peg Figure and Clawed Hand Periods respectively), while others have argued for more gradual change. Based on the study of 204 rock art sites from 15 site complexes, which included a total of 7,579 motifs and 3,685 identifiable anthropomorphic figures, we identify the core characteristics of anthropomorphic figures in each of the established stylistic periods and show that there is no evidence to support notions of an abrupt discontinuity of art through time. Rather, attribute preferences changed gradually, existing as clades of variation rather than discrete units, with identifiable threads of continuity and periods when certain attributes (core characteristics) are preferentially adopted. A quantitative analysis supports our interpretation.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Grant Details: ARC/LP0991845
Source of Publication: Australian Archaeology, 82(2), p. 148-167
Publisher: Routledge
Place of Publication: Australia
ISSN: 2470-0363
0312-2417
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 210101 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Archaeology
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 450101 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 970121 Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280114 Expanding knowledge in Indigenous studies
280113 Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article
School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Files in This Item:
2 files
File Description SizeFormat 
Show full item record

SCOPUSTM   
Citations

15
checked on May 18, 2024

Page view(s)

2,162
checked on May 19, 2024
Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.