Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses

Summary: Three unusual motifs at an Aboriginal engraving site above the Milyerra Trail. They include a large turtle and two figures with head-dresses.

  • Site type: Rock engraving
  • Number of motifs: 3
  • Motif/s: Daramulan, Deity, Man, Turtle
  • Quality: 3.5/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • View site sketch
  • Year first recorded: 1969
  • Originally Recorded by: Bob Pankhurst

On a rock platform above the Milyerra Trail are several unusual Aboriginal engravings. One of two figures with a headress is a Daramulan-like figure, which is very lightly engraved (or very weathered) and hard to see.

IMG 5469 LR enhanced Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses

The figure has a very small and pointed head (almost like that of a kangaroo), from which the long head-dress emerges.

IMG 5474 LR Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses

About eight metres to the west on a slightly lower rock platform is what could be a large turtle – it’s a very unusual figure.

IMG 5454 LR Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses

The turtle has been re-grooved along slightly different lines; you can see in the photos below the grooves and separate line of peck-marks.

IMG 5458 LR Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses
awat7957 lr Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses
awat7958 lr Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses

About 40m south-east is a man or warrior with a club across his waist. He also has a head-dress (photo: Sydney Rock Art).

milyerra figure6 Milyerra Trail Figures with Headdresses
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 744 other subscribers

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Aboriginal Rock Art – Hornsby Shire
Hornsby Shire - which is the largest LGA in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan region - contains approximately 600 recorded Aboriginal rock art sites (and over 1,200 Aboriginal heritage sites). These date back from thousands of years to post-European contact art.
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.
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.
Photographing Aboriginal rock art
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.