Calga Man and Emu Engraving

Summary: A small Aboriginal engraving site in Calga, which has a man next to what appears to be a dog, and two emus.

  • Site type: Rock engraving
  • Number of motifs: 3
  • Motif/s: Emu, Man
  • Quality: 2/5
  • Condition of site: Siltation, Weathered
  • Year first recorded: 1979
  • Originally Recorded by: Ian Sim, Warren Bluff

A small rock platform near the Calga Quarry has a number of very weathered Aboriginal engravings, near a small waterhole.

1X3A7372 LR Calga Man and Emu Engraving

The largest figure is that of a man with a very rounded head: he was documented in the 1970s as “a man 6 feet high with large head and overlapped legs”. One arm is stretched over his head and he has a belt across his waist – but these details are very hard to see.

1X3A7364 LR Calga Man and Emu Engraving
1X3A7363 LR Calga Man and Emu Engraving

Next to the belt of the man is a small figure, which Bob Pankurst described as a small dog, or a dingo.

1X3A7358 LR Calga Man and Emu Engraving

Just above the man is a figure which was described by Pankhurst as the back part of an emu; very little of this figure can be seen.

1X3A7369 LR Calga Man and Emu Engraving

A second emu was recorded (photo below by Bob Pankhurst) two metres north of this one, but it’s now completely covered over by soil and vegetation.

image 5 Calga Man and Emu Engraving
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