Tommos Loop Dancing Man

Summary: An rock platform above Tommos Loop, which has Aboriginal rock engravings of a man,canoe and emu.

  • Site type: Rock engraving
  • Number of motifs: 3
  • Motif/s: Canoe, Emu, Man
  • Quality: 4/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • View site sketch [partial]
  • Year first recorded: 1899
  • Originally Recorded by: W.D. Campbell, Bob Pankhurst
  • Campbell Reference: PATONGA Plate 27 Fig 4 in Aboriginal Carving of Port Jackon and Broken Bay (Download)

This elevated rock platform above Tommos Loop Track is contains three Aboriginal engravings. It’s interesting that while the small human figure was first recorded by W.D Campbell in 1899, the two other (larger) figures were overlooked – similar to the nearby Tommos Loop Great Whale Site, which also has multiple motifs missed or ignored by the early Australian anthropologists.

1X3A1913 LR Tommos Loop Dancing Man

The small man was described by Campbell as having a “dancing attitude”, and is less than a metre in height.

1X3A1914 LR Tommos Loop Dancing Man
1X3A1919 LR Tommos Loop Dancing Man

A couple of metres away is what may be a canoe, or an eel.

1X3A1922 LR Tommos Loop Dancing Man

A little further away on the same rock outcrop is an emu.

1X3A1924 LR Tommos Loop Dancing Man

The emu figure (which at the time of our visit had been recently “highlighted”) has a pointed beak, and three large toes.

1X3A1926 LR Tommos Loop Dancing Man
1X3A1928 LR Tommos Loop Dancing Man
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