The signposted Daleys Point Aboriginal Site in Bouddi National Park has both an engraving site, and below the rock platform a Shelter with Art. Five whales dominate the rock platform and suggest that the Daleys Point Aboriginal Site may be whale totem site. Although many engravings are in good condition, some are covered by lichen, and there has been some fracturing of the rock platform.
The 5 whales dominate this group and these mammals frequented Broken Bay and so were often seen by the Aborigines; one of them is intimately entwined with 2 men and this association suggests magic to entice them to become stranded. The site, however, appears to be a whale totem one, with totemites intimately linked with one of them. Another man has caught a large fish and is engraved over one whale; the other animals represented include a leaping kangaroo, several kinds of fish, a manta ray (or turtle) and a flying bird.
Fred McCarthy
One of the whales has a number of bars across its body: “ceremonial markings on the body, it has an unusual marking at the front of the head and a very large fin such as is found on humpback whales” (Bob Pankhurst).
McCarthy describes it as having a “long, round head, no eyes, oval body, 1 large pectoral fin, 2 ventral fins, good tail, triple bar across head, double lines along the inside of both sides of the body from the head to the first of 3 double line bars across the body, 2 of which are curved pairs, and one is pointed at each end, also a bar across the pectoral fin”.
Near the tail of the whale is a “slender fish”.
Another whale has a “long, round head ,long and slender oval body, no eyes, pair of large pectoral fins, poor tail, 4 rays close together on snout, 3 arcs opposed to 2 arcs across the end of the head, 2 bars across 1 fin”.
At the tail of the whale is a manta ray or turtle.
A large fish overlaps the turtle/manta ray.
A human figure and fish overlap – it likely represents a man catching a fish.
The man and fish are inside a whale, which has been speared: it has “a pointed snout on a broad head, crudely shaped and broad oval body, bar halfway across the body, very small and poorly shaped tail attached to the end of the body, no eyes, large pectoral fin with an ellipse of 2 bars across it, a bar 18″ long projecting from the front of this fin with a small pointed half oval projection just below it, a smaller fin with a double outline on top of the head, a very poorly shaped figure”. (McCartthy does not mention the whale as being speared.)
Another whale has a “long, rounded head, no eyes, 2 spikes 4″ long on snout, large dorsal and smaIler ventral pectoral fins, good tail, tail end curved downward in diving”.
Near its snout is a a “broad bodied fish” and an oval…
…and a leaping kangaroo – one of the many food sources depicted here.
Near the speared whale is a man: “6′ tall, convex topped head, no eyes, neck, left side of head peaked at the top and a long pointed hair coil extends 2’3” from it at an angle of 45°, right arm straight and outspread, conical ended, right side of body straight down ankle, left side of his body missing, but the inner side of his left leg is formed by the outline of the whale, flat round ended right foot, long pointed penis with a pit just below its end.
The whale which forms the man’s leg is very weathered and partly exfoliated.
On the edge of the platform are some axe grinding grooves.
A long shelter almost directly underneath the Daleys Point Aboriginal Site rock platform (protected by a steel grill) has a number of paintings in charcoal.
More information on Daleys Point Aboriginal Site
- Sydney Rock Art – Daleys Point
- National Parks (NPWS) – Daleys Point track
- Guide to Bouddi National Park
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