CRAR+M Monograph 2

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Dynamics of the Dreaming was a collaboration between Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, UWA and RioTinto. The project researched both deep time and contemporary values. The aim was to understand the scientific and cultural values of the National Heritage Listed Place - and to support the World Heritage nomination.

Dynamics of the Dreaming recognised the urgent need for systematic recording of rock art and stone structures across the entire archipelago. We contextualised rock art production through excavation in landscapes associated with the oldest art sites to improve our understanding of human lifeways through time.

Here we describe our archaeological documentation of Murujuga’s rock art. The conventions of our classificatory typology are discussed, as are the digital forms which were created throughout the project. The chapter concludes with a broad summary of the overall results, which are provided in more detail in each of the different island’s survey chapters.

Stone structures, features and arrangements are important, geographically fixed archaeological resources. These are anthropogenically moved or placed stone which range from symbolic arrangements of highly cultural significance to structures that reflect a broad range of subsistence behaviours.

Almost 5,000 motifs and sixty-six stone structures were recorded across western Enderby Island. Art production commenced here when this was still part of the coastal landmass, and continued after it became an island.

Five excavations on Enderby Island included a deep sand body first occupied 15,760 years ago, mangrove-focussed midden between 10-8kya, changing occupation patterns when the island formed, and a reported whaler’s grave on the north coast.

Rock art across Rosemary Island includes the earliest Murujuga stylistic phases, and most of its recorded subsequent phases. The earliest known Australian domestic structure was recorded here.

Eight excavations along the western side of Rosemary Island have shown earliest occupation was around 10,500 years ago at Wadjuru Pool. Early Holocene mangrove-focussed habitation was found in four landscapes and there was a changed economic focus after island formation.

Almost 1,430 motifs were recorded on West Lewis Island’s basalt geology along with 10 stone structures. As well as having a deeper time depth (including dot-headed anthropomorphs, this art records historic encounters with whalers and pastoralists.

Rockshelters are rare across the archipelago. We excavated a small test square here at the request of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation who were seeking a suitable repository for repatriating human remains.

The historical settlement at West Lewis Island includes ruined stone structures from a nineteenth-century pastoral station. Why was this desert island chosen for sheep farming? We sought evidence for early interactions between pastoralists, pearlers and Aboriginal people.

Flying Foam Passage was a focus for the colonial-era pearling industry. Our work on Dolphin Island investigated a place named previously as ‘Rock Pool Creek’ or ‘Cemetery Beach at Watering Bay’. The rock art here reveals a deep-time use of this place by Aboriginal people, and more recent inscriptions by historically significant figures.

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These Burrup digs targeted previously unexplored landscapes. Old Geos is in the centre of the Burrup while the Watering Cove Holocene sand dunes are on its east.

Marine life of the Dampier Archipelago thrives in a diverse range of habitats: from estuarine and nearshore, to reefs and open-water (pelagic). While not all of the 650 identified fish species from these aquatic zones are depicted in the rock art, these depictions include the full range of marine habitats.

Each of the seven turtle species known to have inhabited the archipelago can be identified in the rock art of the Murujuga. Where species could not be identified, this was due to engravings having characteristics of multiple species, a possible deliberate decision by the artist.

Modelling tools (ArcGIS 10.8.1 (ESRI 2021) with the 3D visualization platform of Terragen 4.5.7) have been used to develop coastal terrain models at Murujuga over the last 125,000 years. This provides a basis for interpreting human landscape use.

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