Smiths Creek red ochre paintings

Summary: Three very distinct Aboriginal hand stencils and a fish in red ochre, on 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 documtented 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 distamce away.

AWAT9485 LR Smiths Creek red ochre paintings

These were 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
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 1,205 other subscribers

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Aboriginal Sites by National Park

Aboriginal Rock 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.
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.