There are thousands of Aboriginal engraving and shelter art sites recorded around Gosford and across the Central Coast region. These rock art sites include animals, birds, sea creatures, bird tracks, human footsteps, male and female figures, hunting weapons and ancestral beings. Many sites are protected in the national parks of the Central Coast, but a surprisingly large number of recorded sites are on rural properties and industrial estates.
Many of the sites were documented by W. D. Campbell in 1899, and later by Fred McCarthy and Ian Sim. Â The Central Coast Original Recordings page lists all the publicly documented Campbell, Sim and McCarthy sites.
An article by Coast Magazine (Ancient Art Galleries of the Central Coast – download PDF or read online) covers some of the significant rock art sites of the Central Coast area.
Aboriginal rock art sites by park: Bouddi NP / Brisbane Water / McPherson SF / Popran NP / Strickland SF
At the end of the 248 Track is a large rock outcrop, which has some faint engravings and what may be a stone arrangement.
- Number of motifs: 2
- Quality: 1/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1992
- Originally recorded by: Warren Bluff
Along the 248 Track is a long rock shelf protected by a series of timber logs; it’s hard to make out the individual engravings due to natural tesselation.
- Number of motifs: 3
- Quality: 1/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1976
An intriguing Aboriginal engraving site near Alison's Cascades, which has two birds, a shark and a long line of mundoes.
- Number of motifs: 26
- Quality: 3.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1971
- Originally recorded by: Ian Sim
An Aboriginal rock engraving of a (possibly dead) emu along the bed of a creek near Kariong.
- Number of motifs: 1
- Quality: 1/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1899
- Originally recorded by: W.D. Campbell, F.D. McCarthy
- View site sketch
An Aboriginal rock art site in Kariong which has contact motifs (two sailing ships) and a single mundoe.
- Number of motifs: 3
- Quality: 3/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1965
- Originally recorded by: Bob Pankhurst
A small Aboriginal rock engraving site near the Bambara Trail, which includes a stingray and a fish
- Number of motifs: 3
- Quality: 1/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1999
- Originally recorded by: Warren Bluff
A very long but shallow overhang with a series of alcoves, the Banksia Shelter in the McPherson State Forest includes two large Aboriginal paintings in red ochre.
- Number of motifs: 3
- Quality: 4/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1988
One of the most spectacular shelters in the McPherson State Forest, the Basalt Hill Shelter (also known as the "Big Cave") contains over 100 Aboriginal rock art motifs.
- Number of motifs: 125
- Quality: 4.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1979
- Originally recorded by: R Taplin
An Aboriginal rock art shelter with charcoal and red ochre figures in a shallow shelter near Big Jims Point.
- Number of motifs: 5
- Quality: 3/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 2020
- Originally recorded by: C. Douchkov
The Boat Cave (or Many Drawings Cave) has a large panel with male figures, a lizard and kangaroos, in both charcioal and red ochre.
- Number of motifs: 20
- Quality: 4.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1982
- Originally recorded by: Val Attenbrow
The Boomerang Headed Men Cave has a number of kangaroos and men drawn in white and red ochre. Many of the Aboriginal rock art motifs are quite weathered.
- Number of motifs: 11
- Quality: 3/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1979
- Originally recorded by: R Taplin
A complex Aboriginal engraving site over eight rock platforms, which was recorded by Ian Sim in the 1960s. Most of the figures have now been covered over by vegetation.
- Number of motifs: 62
- Quality: 2.5/5
- Condition of art: Partially Destroyed, Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1960
- Originally recorded by: Ian Sim
- View site sketch
An Aboriginal rock art shelter near Peats Ridge which has four large, anthroporphic deity figures, as well as charcoal art and numerous hand stencils.
- Number of motifs: 14
- Quality: 4/5
- Condition of art: Good, Graffiti damage
- Year first recorded: 1979
- Originally recorded by: Bob Pankhurst
A small Aboriginal engraving site which is in the grounds of the Broken Bay Sport and Recreation Centre. The site has eleven figures, including a man, bi-sexual figure, kangaroo and fish.
- Number of motifs: 11
- Quality: 3.5/5
- Condition of art: Good, Siltation
- Year first recorded: 1966
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
Aboriginal rock engravings near Patonga spread over four rock platforms, which are separated by thick scrub. The most unusual of these engraved figures is a "Bulbous Headed Man".
- Number of motifs: 21
- Quality: 3.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1947
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Bob Pankhurst
- View site sketch