Boat Cave (McPherson State Forest)

Summary: The Boat Cave (or Many Drawings Cave) has a large panel with male figures, a lizard and kangaroos.

  • Art type/s: Cave Painting
  • Number of motifs: 20
  • Motif/s: Goanna, Kangaroo, Man, Snake
  • Quality: 4.5/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • Year first recorded: 1982
  • Originally Recorded by: Val Attenbrow
  • Val Attenbrow, What’s Changing: Population Size or Land-Use Patterns? The archaeology of Upper Mangrove Creek, Sydney Basin, 2006. Download.

Originally called the Boat Cave by locals, and later the Many Drawings Cave when documented by Val Attenbrow, this small shelter contains a number of Aboriginal drawings. (Located in the McPherson State Forest, it’s in a section that now forms part of the Mangrove Creek Dam catchment, and approval is required to access this site.)

AWAT5766 LR2 Boat Cave (McPherson State Forest)

Along the back of the shelter is a panel with male figures as well as a snake, goanna/lizard and kangaroos. The “boat cave” name comes from one of the drawings, which was thought to be (possibly) a boat, indicating it was draw after European occupation.

AWAT5785 LR2 Boat Cave (McPherson State Forest)
AWAT5788 LR2 Boat Cave (McPherson State Forest)
AWAT5781 LR2 Boat Cave (McPherson State Forest)

Some additional drawings are next to the main panel.

AWAT5778 LR2 Boat Cave (McPherson State Forest)
AWAT5771 LR2 Boat Cave (McPherson State Forest)

Research by Val Attenbrow dates deposits at Boat Cave to 2370 BP (third millennium BP), with over 20 stone artefacts being found.

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