Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)

Summary: An impressive collection of motifs in red, white and black at the Mungana Rock Art site (one of two publicly accessible Aboriginal art sites in the Chillagoe area). The art surrounded by high limestone cliffs.

  • Site type: Cave Painting
  • Number of motifs: 40
  • Motif/s: Bird Track, Indeterminate figure, Shield, Snake
  • Quality: 4/5
  • Condition of site: Good

The Mungana Rock Art Site at The Archways is one of two Aboriginal rock art sites in the Chillagoe area that is publicly accessible. Visible from some distance away, the rock art is in a shallow but protected shelter, surrounded by high karst cliffs.

AWAT8557 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)

A large panel contain a number of motifs, mostly painted in in red and white.

AWAT8538 Pano LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)

The motifs include what appear to be snakes, as well as many vertical and horizontal lines.

AWAT8539 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8560 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8544 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8545 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8546 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8547 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8548 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8551 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)
AWAT8552 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)

A very small number of motifs are painted in charcoal, in a style that is similar to cave art found on the east coast of NSW.

AWAT8541 LR Mungana Aboriginal art site (Chillagoe)

Indirect dating methods and radiocarbon analysis applied to the rock paintings suggest that most Chillagoe rock paintings are relatively young – less than 3500 years old.

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 548 other subscribers

1 Comment

Exploring The Archways at Mungana Caves | Hiking the World · April 2, 2022 at 7:25 pm

[…] closer, you can see the full extent of the artwork, along multiple walls of the low shelter. The Mungana Rock Art site has paintings in white and red oche, with a number of snakes or serpents, as well as many […]

Reply

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 – 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.