Kimmerikong Ridge Eel and Fish

Summary: An Aboriginal engraving site on a large rock platform along the Kimmerikong Ridge, with three fish, an oval and an eel. Nearby are multiple heaps of stones.

  • Site type: Rock engraving, Stone arrangement
  • Number of motifs: 5
  • Motif/s: Eel, Fish
  • Quality: 3/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • View site sketch – Eel (Mcarthy) / Fish (Campbell)
  • Year first recorded: 1899
  • Originally Recorded by: W.D. Campbell, F.D. McCarthy
  • Campbell Reference: COWAN Plate 22 Fig 2 in Aboriginal Carving of Port Jackon and Broken Bay (Download)
  • McCarthy reference: COWAN Group 143 in Catalogue of Rock Engravings (1983)
  • McCarthy Mankind Vol 5, No. 5 (1958). Sheet 3, Fig D. p.203

A large and party tesselated rock platform along the Kimmerikong Ridge has two sets of Aboriginal rock art, documented by both Campbell and McCarthy. Campbell in 1899 recorded three breamlike fish and an oval. McCarthy later (in 1958) recorded a “swimming and barred eel”, which Campbell overlooked.

Engraving McCarthy Group 143 Kimmerikong Ridge Eel and Fish
Engraving Campbell Plate22 Fig2 Kimmerikong Ridge Eel and Fish

McCarthy also noted “rocks strewn all over the surface”, and it would be easy to imagine from the position of these rocks that they were deliberately placed; many are stacked, and some are sitting upright on their sides.

AWAT3679 LR Kimmerikong Ridge Eel and Fish
AWAT3680 LR Kimmerikong Ridge Eel and Fish

About fifty metres north-west are more stone arrangements, which were also noted by McCarthy. Multiple piles of stone, some about half a metre in height, are situated in close proximity.

AWAT3682 LR Kimmerikong Ridge Eel and Fish

Note: As a restricted nature reserve, photography of Aboriginal engraving sites is not allowed without a permit.

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