Maitland Bay marine engravings

Summary: A small group of Aboriginal engravings on a spur above Maitland bay. The figures include a shark, fish, an eel and a shield.

  • Site type: Rock engraving
  • Number of motifs: 6
  • Motif/s: Eel, Fish, Mundoe (foot), Shark, Shield
  • Quality: 2/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • Year first recorded: 1976
  • Originally Recorded by: Ian Sim
  • Sim Reference: Sim Reference: Sim Collection Site 1/8
  • Ian Sim, Archaelogical Sites in the Sydney Region – A Record of Field Surveys 1958-1973 (“Sim Collection”), Site 1/8 (Kincumber Peninsula), p.3

On a spur above Maitland Bay are a number of Aboriginal engravings, consisting mostly of marine creatures. One small rock has a carving of a fish.

1X3A6189 LR Maitland Bay marine engravings

Nearby is an engraving of a shield, with a single longitudinal line.

1X3A6195 LR Maitland Bay marine engravings

Another sandstone boulder has four figures, which have been “highlighted” by the local Aboriginal Land Council and NPWS.

1X3A6210 LR Maitland Bay marine engravings

There are two

1X3A6203 LR Maitland Bay marine engravings
1X3A6206 LR Maitland Bay marine engravings

The largest figure is what appears to be a shark.

1X3A6198 LR Maitland Bay marine engravings

A single oval (or mundoe) is on a thin rock ledge.

1X3A6211 LR Maitland Bay marine engravings

The site was described rather succinctly by Ian Sim: “4 small groups. Several fish, eels, kangaroo, shield, oval, abraded grooves”. The engraving of a kangaroo may be covered by grass or leaves.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to Hiking the World, and receive notifications of new posts by email. (A hike is added every 1-2 weeks, on average.)

Join 660 other subscribers

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Aboriginal Rock Art – Blue Mountains National Park
Red Hands Cave, Glenbrook (Blue Mountains)
The Blue Mountains National Park (and surrounding areas along the Great Western Highway) is thought to have over a thousand indigenous heritage sites, although much of the park has not been comprehensively surveyed. The Aboriginal rock sites in the Blue Mountains include grinding grooves, stensils, drawing and rock carvings.
Aboriginal Rock Art – Lane Cove
Over 40 sites have been recorded within the park; many were located along the river bank and were flooded by the building of the weir in 1938.
Aboriginal Rock Art in the Greater Blue Mountains
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area protects over 3,000 known Aboriginal heritage sites, and many more which are yet to be recorded. This area includes the Blue Mountains National Park, Gardens of Stone, Wollemi National Park and Yengo National Park.