Work

The seascape in stone: Archaeological and cosmological assessment of maritime motifs in Yanyuwa ‘rock art’

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Relationships between landscape and motifs have featured in ‘rock art’ research worldwide. Yet there has been comparatively little exploration of rock art’s significance in constructing maritime lifeways. This paper uses a dataset of 3183 images from 65 island and coastal rock art sites in Yanyuwa Sea Country in northern Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria to investigate how marine-centric concepts linked to rock art are applied to inscribe a seascape. To do this, we integrate a formal, style-based spatial analysis with knowledge shared by the Yanyuwa community over a 45+ year period. Yanyuwa understandings demonstrate how maritime imagery is implicated in a web of connections involving kinship, ceremony, spiritual beings, and the ancestral realm. Integrating western scientific and Indigenous approaches to rock art interpretation highlights how characterizing maritime-themed motifs goes beyond a consideration of iconographic content. This archaeological engagement with Yanyuwa rock art provides a framework for how deeper interpretations of Indigenous seascapes can be realised.

Source: Journal of Social Archaeology

DOI: 10.1177/14696053251337116

Authors: Iris Roos Jacobs, Liam M Brady, John Bradley, Amanda Kearney

Institutions: California Department of Water Resources, Flinders University, San Diego State University

Language: English

Topic: Australian Indigenous Culture and History

Subfield: Anthropology

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650

Funder: Australian Research Council