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A changing perspective: the impact of landscape evolution on rock art viewsheds

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Abstract

Arnhem Land, which has one of the longest records of human activity on the Australian continent, also holds one of the most important assemblages of rock art in the world. Indigenous artistic practice in this region has continued since before the Last Glacial Maximum through to the modern day, a period of at least 28 thousand years, during which time the region has undergone significant environmental and palaeogeographical changes. Rock art research in the area, however, has not  considered high resolution palaeolandscape data, but rather has used coarser scale regional environmental models. This paper addresses this issue, applying detailed palaeogeographic modelling of current and former landscapes in the Red Lily Lagoon region in eastern Arnhem Land, to the spatial analysis of rock art site placement in this important cultural landscape. The resultant elevation, land cover and visibility modelling reveal significant changes in site placement strategies for rock art in the region, which appear to relate to four key phases of the landscape change that have occurred from the late Pleistocene to the late Holocene.

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Funding

Jarrad Kowlessar is the recipient of a Flinders University Postgraduate Scholarship. Ian Moffat, Tristen Jones and Daryl Wesley were all supported by George Chaloupka Fellowships from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Daryl Wesley is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career award (project number DE170101447) funded by the Australian Government. Ian Moffat is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career award (project number DE160100703) and an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship award (project number #FT220100184) funded by the Australian Government and a Flinders University Early Career Researchers Award. Thank you to the Njanjma Rangers who provided outstanding support for the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, Australia

    Jarrad Kowlessar, Daryl Wesley, Mark Willis & Ian Moffat

  2. Sacred Sites Research, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    Mark Willis

  3. Archaeology, School of Humanities, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, Australia

    Tristen Jones

  4. Njanjma Rangers, Kakadu, Australia

    Shay Wrigglesworth & Alfred Nayinggul

  5. Kakadu National Park, Kakadu, Australia

    Shay Wrigglesworth

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  1. Jarrad Kowlessar
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All authors undertook fieldwork. J.K., M.W. and I.M. undertook data processing. J.K. wrote the main manuscript text and prepared figures. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jarrad Kowlessar.

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This research was approved by Northern Land Council permit #79130 and via Flinders Human Research Ethics application #7704.

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Kowlessar, J., Wesley, D., Willis, M. et al. A changing perspective: the impact of landscape evolution on rock art viewsheds. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 16, 18 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01917-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01917-y

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