“…Maddock (1970) interpreted rock paintings of back-to-back male and female kangaroos at Gudabubi:m in Dalabon Country, southern Arnhem Land, in relation to Wubarr ceremonial dances. Djarrng also has a unique pair of back-to-back introduced water buffalo (May et al 2021; Taçon et al 2021).…”
Section: Rock Paintingsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…All three mediums have also been used to convey information about the arrival and ongoing impact of outsiders from Asia (Macassans and Chinese) and Europe (mainly British) (e.g. May et al 2010; 2021; Taçon et al 2010; Wesley 2013). Figure 1.Map of western Arnhem Land with key locations mentioned in the text.…”
Depictions of mythical beings appear in many different forms of art world-wide, including rock art of various ages. In this paper we explore a particular type of imagery, back-to-back figures, consisting of two human-like figures or animals of the same species next to each other and facing in opposite directions. Some human-like doubles were joined at the back rather than side-by-side, but also face opposite directions. In this paper, we report on new research on rock art, bark paintings and recent paintings on paper and chart a 9000-year history of making aesthetically, symbolically and spiritually powerful back-to-back figures in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
“…Maddock (1970) interpreted rock paintings of back-to-back male and female kangaroos at Gudabubi:m in Dalabon Country, southern Arnhem Land, in relation to Wubarr ceremonial dances. Djarrng also has a unique pair of back-to-back introduced water buffalo (May et al 2021; Taçon et al 2021).…”
Section: Rock Paintingsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…All three mediums have also been used to convey information about the arrival and ongoing impact of outsiders from Asia (Macassans and Chinese) and Europe (mainly British) (e.g. May et al 2010; 2021; Taçon et al 2010; Wesley 2013). Figure 1.Map of western Arnhem Land with key locations mentioned in the text.…”
Depictions of mythical beings appear in many different forms of art world-wide, including rock art of various ages. In this paper we explore a particular type of imagery, back-to-back figures, consisting of two human-like figures or animals of the same species next to each other and facing in opposite directions. Some human-like doubles were joined at the back rather than side-by-side, but also face opposite directions. In this paper, we report on new research on rock art, bark paintings and recent paintings on paper and chart a 9000-year history of making aesthetically, symbolically and spiritually powerful back-to-back figures in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
This Element volume focuses on how archaeologists construct narratives of past people and environments from the complex and fragmented archaeological record. In keeping with its position in a series of historiography, it considers how we make meaning from things and places, with an emphasis on changing practices over time and the questions archaeologists have and can ask of the archaeological record. It aims to provide readers with a reflexive and comprehensive overview of what it is that archaeologists do with the archaeological record, how that translates into specific stories or narratives about the past, and the limitations or advantages of these when trying to understand past worlds. The goal is to shift the reader's perspective of archaeology away from seeing it as a primarily data gathering field, to a clearer understanding of how archaeologists make and use the data they uncover.
By investigating the materiality of colonial encounters, specifically the consumption of introduced commodities by Indigenous peoples, archaeologists can explore questions concerning value, agency, consumer choice and localization. This has the significant capacity to broaden understandings of intercultural encounters and challenge colonial narratives. Glass beads represent one of the earliest foreign material culture introductions to the Indigenous peoples of Australia. The rock-shelter site of Madjedbebe, best known for yielding the oldest evidence to date for human occupation in Australia, also contains one of the largest assemblages from an Indigenous site context in Australia—51 glass beads and associated fragments. We present here an analysis of these objects—through attribute and microwear analysis—in concert with the archival record, to reveal the ways in which Bininj (Aboriginal people) incorporated glass beads into their own lifeways.
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