Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils

Summary: Six red hand stencils in a fairly small and shallow rock overhang on the Asgard Plateau.

  • Site type: Cave Painting, Stencil - Hand
  • Number of motifs: 6
  • Motif/s: Hand
  • Quality: 2.5/5
  • Condition of site: Weathered
  • Year first recorded: 1996
  • Eugene Stockton & John Merriman, Blue Mountains Dreaming (2nd Ed), 2023

The Asgard Plateau – described as a “self-contained entity centred on the Asgard Swamp” (Stockton & Merriman) as it’s surrounded on three sides by cliffs – was an area of significance to the Dharug and Gundungara Aboriginal people. A total of 36 indigenous sites have been recorded on the Asgard Plateau (although only four of these are art sites).

Near Asgard Swamp is a stencil, which has six hand stencils in red ochre.

1X3A4121 LR Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils
1X3A4106 LR Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils

One of the red ochre hand stencils is very distinct; the remainder are hard to see without image enhancement.

1X3A5980 LR Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils1X3A5980 LR yre Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils
1X3A4120 LR Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils
1X3A4120 LR yre Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils
1X3A4113 LR Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils
1X3A4113 LR yre Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils

There are also some charcoal lines, which may be a remnant of a drawing.

1X3A4112 LR Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils

At least one artefact (a stone cutting tool) was found at the shelter.

1X3A5991 LR Asgard Swamp Hand Stencils
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