Smiths Creek red ochre paintings

Summary: Three very distinct Aboriginal hand stencils and a fish in red ochre, on two adjacent rock overhangs along Smiths Creek.

On a low cliff along Smiths Creek are red ochre drawings of hands fish, about 2-3 metres above the water. Although these are documented and illustrated as a single site, these two Aboriginal rock art sites are are some distance apart.

Painting Smiths Creek hands Smiths Creek red ochre paintings

On one rock surface is the red ochre fish, which can be seen from some distance away.

AWAT9465 LR Smiths Creek red ochre paintings
AWAT9458 LR Smiths Creek red ochre paintings

Near the fish and not documented by Campbell is an additional solid red drawing, and some indeterminate figures also drawn in red ochre.

AWAT9469 LR Smiths Creek red ochre paintings
AWAT9472 LR Smiths Creek red ochre paintings

A few hundred metres away on a separate overhangs are the three handprints, also visible from some distance away.

AWAT9485 LR Smiths Creek red ochre paintings

The hand stencils are still very much as described by Campbell in 1899: “In the case of the three stencilled hands upon the rock, the surrounding surface has been stained red for several inches:.

AWAT9476 LR Smiths Creek red ochre paintings
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Aboriginal Sites by National Park

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