Daryl Wesley – The Conversation

Ian Moffat

January 9, 2024

New analysis unlocks the hidden meaning of 15,000‑year‑old rock art in Arnhem Land

Jarrad Daniel Kowlessar, Flinders University; Alfred Nayinggul, Indigenous Knowledge; Daryl Wesley, Flinders University, and Ian Moffat, Flinders University

Rock art directly represents how our ancestors saw the world. A new approach involving the history of the landscape brings fresh meaning to Arnhem Land rock art.

The view from the Arnhem Land escarpment over the floodplains that contain a hidden landscape. Ian Moffat

May 4, 2023

Remarkable new tech has revealed the ancient landscape of Arnhem Land that greeted Australia’s First Peoples

Jarrad Daniel Kowlessar, Flinders University; Alfred Nayinggul, Indigenous Knowledge; Daryl Wesley, Flinders University, and Ian Moffat, Flinders University

Beneath the floodplains of Arnhem Land lies a hidden landscape that has been transformed over millennia as seas rose and fell.

Rock paintings from the main gallery at Djulirri in Namunidjbuk clan estate, showing traditional Aboriginal motifs as well as European boats, airplanes, and more. Photo by Sally K May.

June 28, 2021

Threat or trading partner? Sailing vessels in northwestern Arnhem Land rock art reveal different attitudes to visitors

Sally K. May, Griffith University; Daryl Wesley, Flinders University; Joakim Goldhahn, The University of Western Australia, and Paul S.C.Taçon, Griffith University

Pictures of boats and ships in rock art at the northwestern tip of Australia show the European incursions from the 1800s — but also the much earlier and lesser known sea trade with southeast Asia.

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