Where are the Bradshaw rock paintings found?

The Gwion Gwion rock paintings, Gwion figures, Kiro Kiro or Kujon (previously known as the Bradshaw rock paintings, Bradshaw rock art, Bradshaw figures and the Bradshaws) are one of the two major regional traditions of rock art found in the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia.

What are the origins of the Bradshaw cave paintings?

Gwion art written history only begins in 1891, when Melbournian pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw became the first European to discover this stylish rock art after exploring land he had been granted in the Kimberley. The art later became popularly known as the Bradshaws.

When were the Bradshaw paintings found?

Fortuitously, in 1996 Walsh discovered a Bradshaw Painting partly covered by a fossilised Mud Wasp nest, which scientists have removed and analysed using a new technique of dating, determining it to be 17,000 plus years old. These small rock paintings are of human figures.

What are the characteristics of the Bradshaw paintings?

Named after Joseph Bradshaw (1854-1916) who was the first European to encounter them in the 1890s, Bradshaw pictures consist mainly of small, long-bodied, human figures, wearing accessories such as headdresses, tassels and dilly bags and carrying spears and boomerangs, and have long been acclaimed for their elegant …

What is a wandjina figure?

Three Wandjinas painted by a contemporary artist of the Mowanjum Art and Culture Centre. Image used with kind permission. Unique to the Mowanjum people, Wandjinas (sometimes pronounced ‘wannias’) have large eyes, like the eye of a storm, but no mouth.

How can I see the Bradshaw paintings?

The easiest way to find a few is to join a local Indigenous tour guide – giving you unique insights into the early history and legends of one of the oldest living cultures on Earth. This incredible collection of rock art remained hidden from the eyes of the world until they were discovered by Joseph Bradshaw in 1891.

What is the Bradshaw Foundation?

The Bradshaw Foundation provides an online learning resource. Its main areas of focus are archaeology, anthropology and genetic research, and its primary objective is to discover, document and preserve ancient rock art around the world, and promote the study of early mankind’s artistic achievements.

Who is the aboriginal God?

Baiame
In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Baiame (or Biame, Baayami, Baayama or Byamee) was the creator god and sky father in the Dreaming of several Aboriginal Australian peoples of south-eastern Australia, such as the Wonnarua, Kamilaroi, Eora, Darkinjung, and Wiradjuri peoples.

What is Bunjil the Eagle?

Bunjil is a creator deity, culture hero and ancestral being, often depicted as a wedge-tailed eagle (or eaglehawk) in the Australian Aboriginal mythology of some of the Aboriginal peoples of Victoria.

What are the Bradshaw paintings made of?

Indigenous Australians
Gwion Gwion rock paintings/Media

Is Rainbow Serpent real?

The Rainbow Serpent (Snake) has a significant role in the beliefs and culture of the Aboriginals in western Arnhem Land. Today it is associated with ceremonies about fertility. The Rainbow Serpent is part of the philosophies of Aboriginal people in various parts of Australia, but is best known in Arnhem Land.

How do you say white in Aboriginal?

Gubba: Is one of many words that means white people. Gubba actually comes from the word government and is used mostly in a derogatory manner. Other more traditional words used to describe white people include migaloo & wadjela.

Where are the Bradshaw paintings in Western Australia?

Bradshaw Paintings – Ancient Paintings in the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. We have been fascinated by the Bradshaw paintings for some time. These are rock paintings, figures painted with ochres on exposed rock walls and predating Aboriginal paintings.

Who was the Bradshaw rock art named after?

Bradshaw Rock Paintings The Bradshaw Rock Paintings were first recorded by pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw in 1891, after whom they were named. Since the first discovery of these ancient art sites, the majority of the known examples of Bradshaw art have been damaged, and fires have destroyed many sites.

How old are the Bradshaw paintings in Costa Rica?

Bradshaw, or Gwion rock art, are sophisticated paintings dotted across approximately 100,000 sites spread over an area of 50,000 square kilometres [1] (about the size of Costa Rica in Central America, or Slovakia in Europe). They are thought to be at least 17,000, perhaps more than 25,000 years old.

Why was the Lost World of the Bradshaws painted?

For a number of reasons, Walsh proposed that they were painted by an Asiatic people prior to the last ice age. For Walsh, one piece of evidence was the oral history of the local Aboriginal people who told him that the paintings were before their time and that they did not know what they communicated.