Chapman, Val (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland)

Drawing the Line: The Rock Paintings of Cania Gorge, South Central Queensland

A comparative analysis between seven art sites in the Cania Gorge area in south-central Queensland and a sample of those recorded in the Auburn Ranges and adjacent areas closest to Cania indicated a clear spatial dissimilarity of art technique, style, and motif between the two. The paintings in Cania Gorge comprise figuritive and non-figurative motifs, in particular representations of goannas and tridents. In contrast, the art in the Auburn Range area is predominantly stencilled, and as such is similar to descriptions of abundant stencilled art occurring elsewhere in Queensland east of the Great Dividing Range. Ethnohistoric evidence indicates that several groups with different clan and totemic affiliations lived contemporaneously in the region. The apparent lack of artistic continuity across these two areas, therefore, lends itself to inferences of social boundaries, although the chronology is still to be established.

file size: 316 kb

pdf file size: 1.37 mb