Summary: One of the larger Aboriginal engraving sites along Flat Rocks Ridge in Gunderman, Group 9 has 30 engravings (including a large Baiame and his wife).

The Flat Rocks Ridge Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site is one of a series along Flat Rocks Ridge in Gunderman: “it is probably a spirit-centre, totem-centre and initiation ground, illustrating an incident in a legend”.

Flat Rocks Ridge Group 9
Baiame (Culture Hero) Baiame's Wife Part of Man Two Men Bird Kangaroo Wallaby and young emu Young striped emu Grinding Grooves

Baiame (Culture Hero)

1X3A0802 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Baiame's Wife

1X3A0801 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Part of Man

1X3A0803 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Three boomerangs and part of a man.

Two Men

1X3A0811 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Two men, smaller than natural siz

Bird

1X3A0813 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Kangaroo

1X3A0817 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Wallaby and young emu

1X3A0822 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Young striped emu

1X3A0819 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

Grinding Grooves

1X3A0823 LR Flat Rocks Ridge - Group 9 Aboriginal engraving site

The engravings are located “on the wider end of a long rock surface which extends for some hundreds of yards as a ledge along the top of the southern side of the ridge”, with two groups of figures separated by about 30m.

Series 1

The larger of the two groups, Series is dominated by two large figures: “a culture hero 12 ft high, and his wife 9 ft high”.

Below these two large figiures are three boomerangs (one of is a right-angled returning type) and part of a man.

This odd-looking and weathered figure was described as “two men, smaller than natural size”.

Near these men is a bird.

Further to the west is a “well posed kangaroo”.

At the western end of this group are a wallaby and young emu; the third figure wasn’t documented or described by McCarthy or Lough.

Another emu is a “young striped emu 4 ft 4 in high, with what appears to be a spear in its lower breast”.

Many of the engravings are very weathered, and some of the other figures – including a bird track (“apparently of an emu), “an unusual figure which is probably a flying-fox” and “an indeterminate but interesting mammal, probably a native tiger-cat” could not be seen.

Series 2

At the eastern end of the rock platform are six axe grinding grooves.

The engravings in this group – a wallaby, flying-fox and goanna – could not be seen.

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Aboriginal Sites by National Park

A review of different techniques for photographing Aboriginal rock art. This includdes oblique flash, chain and planar mosaic imaging which combines hundreds of overlapping photos.