Nine New Painted Rock Art Sites from East Timor in the Context of the Western Pacific Region

Abstract

Few rock art sites are known for the islands of Wallacea. This paper reports nine new painted rock art sites located in East Timor during archaeological reconnaissance in 2000 to 2001; bringing the total number of painted rock art sites in East Timor to 15. Both the new and previously known rock art sites in East Timor are reviewed in the context of painted rock art elsewhere in the western Pacific region. They are also evaluated in terms of the criteria used by Ballard (1992) to define the "Austronesian painting tradition" and the relationship between the art, topography, and language groups for the new sites is described. Motif content, motif placement within the sites, and design elements are compared in a preliminary fashion with that of other painting sites known from East Timor and the western Pacific. The East Timor sites are conformable with Austronesian-painted rock art sites elsewhere although they display some features that appear to be locally or regionally distinctive. It is likely that with systematic survey, and thorough inspection of cave and shelter walls, many more sites will be found in East Timor and elsewhere in Island Southeast Asia. The faded and deteriorated condition of many of the East Timor paintings indicates that recording should be undertaken with some urgency.

Rethinking the Neolithic in Island Southeast Asia, with Particular Reference to the Archaeology of Timor

“…My own analysis of the painted rock art from Timor has largely supported Ballard's (1992) schema 2 (O'Connor 2003). An analysis of the images from Timor-Leste indicates that the most common igurative motifs are small active anthropomorphic igures, and, in areas where detailed recording has been 2.…”

“…An analysis of the images from Timor-Leste indicates that the most common igurative motifs are small active anthropomorphic igures, and, in areas where detailed recording has been 2. I have noted however that in Timor-Leste there are other stylistically distinct images which occur deep within caves and which may pre-date the APT-style paintings (O'Connor 2003). Uranium Thorium dating of pigment encased in layers of calcite suggests that older art was executed in the caves in Timor and older engraved art has also been found (Aubert et al 2007;O'Connor et al 2010).…”

Rock Art Research in Southeast Asia: A Synthesis

“…In inter-site and inter-regional contexts, the rock art depicts several distinct motifs such as the flying fox, anthropomorphs, geometric designs and boats, which show strong affinities to rock art further east in the Maccluer Gulf and the Kei islands in Indonesia. Some of the boats and common sun motifs also share affinity with the Dong Son art depicted on the ubiquitous bronze drums found throughout Southeast Asia [159][160][161]. Attempts to date Lene Hara pigment from exfoliated rock fragments using uranium-series dating indicated multiple phases of painting with pigments dated to younger than 6,300 years BP, and a possibly older paint layer between 24,000 and 29,300 years ago [162].…”

“…Six sites were discovered by de Almeida [157] and Glover [158] and additional ones have been discovered in the last decade [159,163,164]. In inter-site and inter-regional contexts, the rock art depicts several distinct motifs such as the flying fox, anthropomorphs, geometric designs and boats, which show strong affinities to rock art further east in the Maccluer Gulf and the Kei islands in Indonesia.…”

The dynamics of culture and nature in a ‘protected’ Fataluku landscape

“…Rayed circles are another common motif and are often identified as faria, the Fataluku word for eye blinkers on horse bridles. Elaborate forms again use alternating bands of colour (O'Connor 2003). The reproduction of some of these motifs by the original autochthonous ratu is permitted 'in accordance with the ancestors' and they are woven into sacred clothes to be exchanged at marriage ceremonies and worn on ceremonial occasions.…”