Summary: A shallow sandstone shelter in Dhawaral National Park at the base of a tall cliff with Aboriginal rock art including anthropomorphic figures and macropods.

Located within Dhawaral National Park but previously threatened by longwall mining, this shallow shelter at the base of tall cliffs contains some interesting Aboriginal rock art drawings. Graffiti dating back to the 1930s is present, but doesn’t impact the art.

The most unusual motif is an anthropomorphic figure with a head, eyes, ears, one horizontal arm, an upraised arm and torso; above and next to this figure are two infilled macropods as well as two more weathered macropods.

IMG 9162 LR Stokes Creek Charcoal Figures PanelIMG 9162 LR lbk Stokes Creek Charcoal Figures Panel

This charcoal seems to be a somewhat abstract human figure.

On the bottom of a sloping section of rock is another anthropomorphic figure.

On the lower roof section is this interesting composition, of a charcoal outline and infilled human figure and charcoal outline animal; it appears to be contact rock art depicting a European animal.

There are many more indeterminate and in some cases weathered charcoal motifs.

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Aboriginal Sites by National Park

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. Many more Aboriginal heritage sites are located in the Marramarra National Park. The original inhabitants of the area were the Darug people.
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.
The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area protects over 3,000 known Aboriginal heritage sites, and many more which are yet to be recorded. This area includes the Blue Mountains National Park, Gardens of Stone, Wollemi National Park and Yengo National Park.
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.