A03_03

Dating the stylistic periods of Australian Aboriginal Rock Art

Finch D¹, Gleadow A¹, Hergt J¹, Heaney P³, Green H¹, Myers C⁴, Levchenko V²

¹University Of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia, ²Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Sydney, Australia, ³Rock Art Australia, Melbourne, Australia, ⁴Dunkeld Pastoral Company, Dunkeld, Australia

The Kimberley region in north-western Australia is home to one of the world’s richest rock art provinces. Field observations at almost 4000 rock art sites over the last 40 years led researchers to define five main styles of painted rock art, some of which were thought to date back to the Pleistocene. While there is general agreement regarding the relative sequence of stylistic phases, there has been very little geochronological evidence to support the proposed sequence or its antiquity. Only some of the rock art from the most recent period contains material that is suitable for radiometric dating. All recent attempts to date the art, therefore, focus on determining the age of material found overlying or underlying paintings to establish minimum or maximum age constraints for individual motifs.

Our research uses radiocarbon dating of mud wasp nests found in contact with rock art to constrain the age of individual paintings. Results to date have established that the stylistic sequence spans at least 17,000 years. Age constraints for multiple motifs, of the same stylistic period, are used to estimate when that particular style of painting was employed. Statistical analysis of the results then explores the level of uncertainty associated with the currently available data and is used to estimate what additional dating results are required to achieve higher levels of confidence.