Muogamarra Bulbous Head engraving

Summary: A "bulbous head" (one of only four recorded around Sydney) and a second weathered figure near the end of Kimmerikong Ridge in Muogamarra National Park.

  • Art type/s: Rock engraving
  • Number of motifs: 2
  • Motif/s: Head, Man
  • Quality: 4/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • View site sketch
  • Year first recorded: 1899
  • Originally Recorded by: W.D. Campbell, F.D. McCarthy
  • Campbell Reference: COWAN Plate 22 Fig 4 in Aboriginal Carving of Port Jackon and Broken Bay (Download)
  • McCarthy reference: COWAN Group 141 in Catalogue of Rock Engravings (1983)

Near the end of Kimmerikong Ridge in Muogamarra National Park is a figure with a bulbous head, or as McCarthy described it: “an oval bulbous, radiating in a semi circle”. Campbell also documented this site in 1899 – but didn’t describe the engraving. One of the four “bulbs” is no longer easily visible, and the lower part of the figure has weathered away. The engraving was interpreted by McCarthy as “a headdress, a frog’s foot or a branching plant”.

Engraving PLATE XXII Fig4 Muogamarra Bulbous Head engraving

It’s a somewhat rare engraving: McCarthy refers to a similar figure occurring in a group at Patonga. Bob Pankhurst later identified four similar figures in the Sydney-Hawkesbury area: this one, one at Patonga, Mooney Mooney and Audley.

There a second figure next to the bulbous head (not recorded by Campbell of McCarthy) although it’s also very weathered and hard to make out what it is. It may be a man or woman, with upraised arms.

Note: As a restricted nature reserve, photography and off-track site visitation within Muogamarra is not allowed without a permit.

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