Summary: Interpreted as a hunting scene, this small Aboriginal engraving site near the Cook Street Trail features a large emu/turtle, superimposed with a man (or hunter). Nearby sre two snakes.

Documented by Campbell in 1899, the dominant figure at this engraving site near the Cook Street Trail above Bantry Bay was described as a “turtle, pierced by a spear, with ten transverse lines across its body and five across its head”. McCarthy later suggested the figure was a “composite human and emu being although the oval head and short neck are unlike those of an emu; the body, wings and rump are emu in character, and also the legs, but the feet are human”. Campbell describes the legs as “abnormally large and misshapen”and compared them to those of the kangaroo at the Grotto Point site, while McCarthy called them a “pair of wings at different angles”.

The head is very distinctive, with fives bands aross it.

Although parts of the figure are covered by leaves and vegetation, the grooves are very deep and distinct.

AWAT4964 LR Bantry Bay Speared Turtle & Man

Superimposed on the emu/turtle is the figure of a man, who has a belt: “the hunter proclaiming his achievement” (Campbell).

While Campbell and McCarthy had differering views on what animal the larger figure is, McCarthy also interpreted the site as “a mythological incident in which this creature was speared”.

engraving campbell plate8 fig2 Bantry Bay Speared Turtle & Man

On an adjacent rock are two long, snake-like figures.

AWAT5011 LR Bantry Bay Speared Turtle & Man
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Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Red Hands Cave, Glenbrook (Blue Mountains)
The Blue Mountains National Park (and surrounding areas along the Great Western Highway) is thought to have over a thousand indigenous heritage sites, although much of the park has not been comprehensively surveyed. The Aboriginal rock sites in the Blue Mountains include grinding grooves, stensils, drawing and rock carvings.
Yengo National Park was an important spiritual and cultural place for the Darkinjung and Wonnarua People for thousands of years, and 640 Aboriginal cultural sites are recorded in the park and nearby areas.
Located to the north-west of Sydney, just south of the Dharug and Yengo National Parks, Maroota has a high concentration of (known) Aboriginal sites. Many more Aboriginal heritage sites are located in the Marramarra National Park. The original inhabitants of the area were the Darug people.
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area protects over 3,000 known Aboriginal heritage sites, and many more which are yet to be recorded. This area includes the Blue Mountains National Park, Gardens of Stone, Wollemi National Park and Yengo National Park.