Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area

An extensive group of engravings, the Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area includes many kangaroos, two rainbow serpents and many other figures.

Situated on a ridge parallel to the old Pacific Highway on an extensive rock plaform, the Mooney Mooney Aboriginal site has a large number of engravings. A number of engravings and stone arrangement were destroyed when the middle of the site was quarried.

  • Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area
  • Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area

At the one end of the Mooney Mooney site there are 24 engravings, including multiple kangaroos (there are eleven kangaroos in total).

Kangaroo at Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area
45

Another kangaroo is quite weathered.

Another kangaroo is even more weathered, with only its head still visible.

Some very distinctive engravings are that of two large anthropomorphic figures, one of them with an elaborate head dress that has long “stalks” topped with round shapes. (Sydney Rock Art has some comprehensive information on this engraving, including comparisons to other sites with similar carvings.)

Source: Sydney Rock Art

A man is shown holding a sword club (boomerang) in a throwing position: “a remarkably good depiction of the throwing posture”.

Man holding boomerang at Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area
Man holding boomerang at Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area

Among the southern group are nine fish.

A small goanna is one of the many animals around the site.

At the opposite end of the large site (as well as more kangaroos) are two eels, which were also described as possibly being “rainbow serpents” by McCarthy. (The Rainbow Serpent in Aboriginal dreamtime stories represents one of the great and powerful forces of nature and spirit: it “lives in the waterholes of their country, and travels between them, either under the ground or in the storm clouds when a rain storm is moving. His presence brings on the rains and if he is offended he can prevent the rains and cause drought or inundations that cause people to perish.“

Source: Sydney Rock Art
  • Location: Just off Old Pacific Highway, Somersby
  • Walking distance to site: 0.2km
  • Ease of access: Easy
  • Type of site: Axe Grinding Groove (AGG), Rock engraving
  • Quality: 5/5
  • Site Condition: Good
  • Number of motifs: 45
  • Motifs: Anthropomorph, Bandicoot, Boomerang, Eel, Fish, Goanna, Ibis, Kangaroo, Man, Mundoe (foot), Oval, Shield
  • View site sketch [PDF]
  • AHIMS Site ID: 45-3-0021, 45-3-1494
  • Originally recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
  • McCarthy Reference: NARARA Notebook 63 - Carvings of Rock Engravings in the Sydney-Hawkesbury District (1983)
  • Sydney Rock Art – Mooney Mooney
  • NPWS – Mooney Mooney Aboriginal Area

Indigenous sites by National Park

Aboriginal 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 Art – Sydney and Sydney South
Many sites Aboriginal engraving sites across the inner suburbs of Sydney have been destroyed or are very weatheredl. The sites which remain are isolated from their natural environment.
Aboriginal Art – Maroota
Located to the north-west of Sydney, just south of the Dharug and Yengo National Parks. Maroota has a high concentration of (known) Aboriginal sites. The original inhabitants of the Maroota area were the Darug people.
Aboriginal Art – Yengo National Park
Yengo National Park was an important spiritual and cultural place for the Darkinjung and Wonnarua People for thousands of years, and 640 Aboriginal cultural sites are recorded in the park and nearby areas.
Aboriginal Art – Brisbane Water
There are over 350 Aboriginal engraving and sites recorded in the Central Coast region, many of these in the Brisbane Water National Park.
Aboriginal Art – Berowra Valley
Over a hundred Aboriginal sites have been recorded in the Hornsby region, with many of these in the Berowra Valley National Park and around the suburb of Berowra.

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