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
A deep shelter at the base of a tall cliff-line near Maitland Bay Drive with multiple charcoal motifs and two hand stencils.
- Number of motifs: 8
- Quality: 3.5/5
- Condition of art: Good, Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1980
- Originally recorded by: Stanbury and Clegg
A large rock platform on Darkinjung Land in Mangrove Mountain contains over 100 grinding grooves, as well as a shelter with hand stencils and what appeats to be a stone arrangement.
- Number of motifs: 115
- Quality: 4/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1975
- Originally recorded by: Ian Sim
A "well posed" kangaroo almost four metres in length, this Aboriginal engraving site in Mangrove Mountain was originally recorded by Ian Sim.
- Number of motifs: 1
- Quality: 3.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1960
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
A ridgtetop Aboriginal site at Mangrove Mountain, which has nine figures including an eel or Rainbow Serpent.
- Number of motifs: 9
- Quality: 4/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1960
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
An Aboriginal engraving of a large whale on a flat rock surface in Mangrove Mountains. Nearby are two Aboriginal wells.
- Number of motifs: 1
- Quality: 2/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1963
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
Scattered figures around this small Aboriginal engraving site near Mangrove Road include a Daramulan figure.
- Number of motifs: 5
- Quality: 3/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1976
- Originally recorded by: Ian Sim
- View site sketch
A small Aboriginal engraving site with an eel and kangaroo on a small boulder.
- Number of motifs: 2
- Quality: 3/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1980
- View site sketch
An Aboriginal engraving site in Strickland State Forest with two male figures, and 16 grinding grooves.
- Number of motifs: 2
- Quality: 3/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1945
- Originally recorded by: Ian Sim, Bob Pankhurst
The Corroborree Shelter in the McPherson State Forest has over 100 motifs, including a row of 13 human figures with upraised arms.
- Number of motifs: 132
- Quality: 4.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1988
An Aboriginal engraving of a kangaroo; one of a series of ten sites documented by Ian Sim near the Milyerra Trail
- Number of motifs: 1
- Quality: 2.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1969
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
An Aboriginal engraving site of a man with upstretched arms near the Milyerra Road Firetrail.
- Number of motifs: 1
- Quality: 2/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1969
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
A very weathered Aboriginal engraving of a man, on a sloping rock. It is one of a series of ten sites near the Milyerra Trail documented by Ian Sim.
- Number of motifs: 1
- Quality: 1/5
- Condition of art: Weathered
- Year first recorded: 1967
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
A rock ledge with multiple Aboriginal engravings, axe grinding grooves and a waterhole near the Milyerra Trail
- Number of motifs: 14
- Quality: 2.5/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1969
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch
An Aboriginal engraving site near the Milyerra Road Firetrail, which has two fish.
- Number of motifs: 2
- Quality: 2/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1995
- Originally recorded by: Warren Bluff
A small Aboriginal engraving site with two kangaroos, three fish, an eel and a shield, which is part of a series of ten sites documented by Ian Sim near the Milyerra Trail.
- Number of motifs: 8
- Quality: 2/5
- Condition of art: Good
- Year first recorded: 1969
- Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
- View site sketch