S13-14

Gilparrka Almira, a Rock Art Site in Mithaka Country, Southwest Queensland, Australia: Cultural Connections, Archaeology, Dreaming Tracks and Trade Routes

Natalie R. Franklin & Phillip Habgood

School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Australia

This presentation describes a rock engraving site in Mithaka Country in the Channel Country of southwest Queensland, Australia. This is the first rock art site to be recorded in Mithaka Country, which is in a part of Australia’s sandy deserts, where rock art is uncommon. The majority of the motifs at the site consist of crescents or variations on crescent designs. Regional comparisons of the main motif type found that Gilparrka Almira has the highest percentage of crescent motifs and crescent designs compared to other recorded rock art sites. Possible meanings for crescent imagery examined from an ethnohistorical perspective indicate that these motifs may bear a range of “discontinuous” meanings that can be used in different contexts. It is suggested that crescent motifs may have moved/diffused across extensive distances, possibly following the Lake Eyre Basin trade networks and Dreaming tracks, with Mithaka Country lying at the approximate centre. Motifs with “discontinuous” meaning ranges, like crescents, would have been particularly suitable for use in this scenario because of their ability to be readily incorporated into different social contexts. The research on which this presentation is based was undertaken in collaboration with the Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation.