Summary: An Aboriginal engraving of an enormous (but incomplete) whale and three kangaroos above Tommos Loop in Brisbane Water NP.

First documented by W.D. Campbell in 1899, this Aboriginal engraving of a whale above the Tommos Loop track was described as: “a whale whose proportions (sixty feet) exceed that of any other carving previously met with; unfortunately it is not perfect, the anterior portion having almost disappeared”. It is virtually impossible to capture the body of the whale, which stretches the full width of the rock platform.

Inside the body of the whale are two small figures:

  • a man who was described by McCarthy as “2′ tall, upright, circular head attached to the arch of the arms and shoulders, no eyes, pointed arms upraised, concave sided body, outspread legs, flat and round ended feet outwrard and upward, pointed penis”.
  • a figure described as a bird: “1′ long, standing upright, flat pointed head horizontal, no eyes, humped back near rump convex belly, short straight leg”.

McCarthy interpreted this site as: “The huge size of this whale indicates a totemic or ritual importance, possibly magical, and the little man is hunting the bird.”

Campbell Plate 28 Fig 5 Tommos Loop Great Whale Site

Close to the whale is a group of three wallabies or kangaroos, all facing (or leaping) in the same direction. These were overlooked by Campbell and McCarthy, but documented by Ian Sim who recorded two kangaroos and a speared fish.

The grooves of these three figures is very shallow, and they would be hard to distinguish without the right lighting.

In the middle of the rock platform is a small well or pothole, with a single grinding groove.

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Aboriginal Sites by 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.
Yengo National Park was an important spiritual and cultural place for the Darkinjung and Wonnarua People for thousands of years, and 640 Aboriginal cultural sites are recorded in the park and nearby areas.
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.