Reading the signs: Depictions of people and things in the rock art of Mirarr Country, Northern Territory, Australia
Abstract
This thesis focuses on rock art paintings from western
Arnhem Land and, specifically, those depicting human figures
interacting with material culture items - people and things.
Previous researchers have found that some of the earliest
depictions of the human figure in this region, which are thought
to date back to over 10,000 years ago, are often shown with
spears, boomerangs and large headdresses. The intense association
that people had with things has been an ongoing theme for artists
throughout the history of rock art, continuing through to the
middle of the twentieth century. How such paintings are
interpreted is dependent upon the viewpoint of the observer.
Traditionally, rock art has been associated with hunter gatherer
cultures and has, therefore, been interpreted as depictions of
these activities. In my study, I move beyond these
generalisations to provide a more detailed, social interpretation
of people and things in rock art. Rather than assuming that
artefacts are just functional and technological objects, I
consider them as meaningful things in both a social and art
context, and evaluate the choices that artists made when
constructing a composition of human figures with material culture
as having meaningful significance. These ideas are explored
through semiological and materiality frameworks, as well as
incorporating first-hand recordings from ethnographic collections
as comparative data, which add to a more nuanced understanding of
the material culture items depicted in rock art.