Along the America Bay Track are two significant Aboriginal engraving sites; one of them was previously signposted but the signage has now been removed (as is the case with many sites, where visitation is discouraged). Two additional engraving sites are in the vicinity of the America Bay Track.
America Bay top site
The upper America Bay site has a number of overlapping figures, with a whale in the middle of the group.
Within and overlapping the large whale is the figure of a woman and a stingray (or skate), and next to the whale is a goanna.
Daramulan site
To the west of the main site is a representation of Daramulan, an ancestral creation being and the son of Baiame and Bootha, and a number of additional figures.
Daramulan
A representation of Daramulan who is over six metres long and a metre wide. Within the Daramulan figure is an oval-bodied skate, or stingray.
Boomerang and mundoe
Below his foot is a boomerang, and next to the boomerang is a mundoe (another seven mundoes above the figure lead away from the rock towards Topham Hill
Iguana
Below the Daramulan's foot is another goanna (Campbell uses the term iguana, a term used by the early European settlers for monitor lizards, which eventually became corrupted into the word “goanna”).
Man
A man with “broad shoulders, outspread arms slightly upraised"; he is very weathered and hard to make out.
Fish
A small distance away, but on the same rock platform, is a second fish (described by McCarthy as a leatherjacket).
Fish
Next to the Daramulan figure is a bream-like fish (“no eyes, poor tail, arc across body, and an arc 19″ long along its top side”)
A small engraving site above a small waterfall depicts man who is striking a wallaby (the man is very faint). This is a separate site some distance away.
A large Darumalan figure dominates the site – these ancestral beings are said to possess a deep thundering voice) and are always depicted with one leg. Below his foot is a boomerang, and within the figure is a mundoe. Another seven mundoes above the figure (some very shallow) lead away from the rock towards Topham Hill, another very significant area with multiple engraving sites.
Next to the Daramulan figure is a small fish, and below his foot a goanna.
Man Striking Wallaby
Another site above a small waterfall depicts man and wallaby (although the man is very hard to make out): “they depict a man, below natural size, striking a wallaby with a boomerang, and a number of straight lines which probably belong to an unfinished figure. The site is an obvious habitat of rock and scrub wallabies but it is not possible to determine whether the hunter stalked and struck his victim, or whether he threw his boomerang…” (McCarthy Group 34).
Near the wallaby and very hard to discren are some “unfinished” lines which resemble a shield, and a stingray.
Kangaroo and Shield
On the opposite side of West Head Road to the America Bay track is a large kangaroo and shield, on adjacent rock platforms.
The kangaroo was recorded and described by Campbell as “a very fine figure of a kangaroo over eighteen feet long, with all four legs shown and open mouth.” (Plate 17 Fig 5).
On an adjoining rock platform is a shield, with many of the puncture marks still clearly visible.
Summary of America Bay Aboriginal sites
| Site Name | No. Motifs | Motifs | AHIMS ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| America Bay top site | 9 | Whale, goanna, stingray, woman | 45-6-0189 |
| America Bay Daramulan site | 31 | Daramulan, goanna, fish, stingray | 45-6-0194 |
| Kangaroo and Shield | 3 | Kangaroo, shield, mundoe | 45-6-0277 |
| Man Striking Wallaby | 4 | Man, wallaby, stingray | 45-6-0199 |
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