Gwion Gwion

Visit graceful Gwion Gwion figures so old they have become part of the rock itself, impervious to the elements and impossible to date using carbon dating technology.

Current dating technologies estimate this art form at approximately 28 500 years old, (some suggest older) even the pigments used to pain these exquisite art forms cannot be determined.

According to legend they were painted by the Sandstone strike thrush using their tail feathers and their own blood.

Usually set high with commanding views these elegant images are characteristically painted in groups with well defined body features adorned with sashes, bangles, and tassels.

This sophisticated art is testing some of the world’s best scientific minds and there is continuing conjecture about their origin. In 2010 archaeologists and rock art specialists commenced a 3 year project exploring this region through intensive site studies. They believe the Kimberley may hold vital clues to understanding the origins of the first Australians.

 

Wandjiina Art

With permission from traditional land owners, visit Wandjina figures, some of the most visually striking of all rock art images in the Kimberley.

It is the belief of Aboriginal people that the Wandjina are the creator beings of the dreaming. They made their world and all it contains.

Wandjina figures with their elaborate head-dresses and mouthless faces can, if offended, take their revenge by calling up lightning to strike the offender dead, or the rain to flood the land and drown the people, or the cyclone with its winds to devastate country.

 

Entry to these sites is on the condition that the utmost respect is shown at all times.