Waratah Track Man and Fish

Summary: Aboriginal engraving site which represents a man with fish which are his totem (or which he hopes to catch) near the Waratah Track. (Part of the Arden Trig series.)

  • Art type/s: Rock engraving
  • Number of motifs: 8
  • Motif/s: Fish, Man
  • Quality: 2/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • View site sketch
  • Year first recorded: 1899
  • Originally Recorded by: W.D. Campbell, F.D. McCarthy
  • Campbell Reference: BROKEN BAY Plate 19 Fig 11 in Aboriginal Carving of Port Jackon and Broken Bay (Download)
  • McCarthy reference: BROKEN BAY Group 115/116 & Mankind Group 48 S3 in Catalogue of Rock Engravings (1983)

On the opposite side of the road to the Waratah Track are a group of figures representing a man with fish which are his totem (or which he hopes to catch). This site is part of the Arden Trig Station group of Aboriginal engravings. The main figure is the man who is in “an active pose”; above his head is one of the five fish carved near him.

AWAT5835 LR highlighted Waratah Track Man and Fish

While the bottom half of the mean is quite weathered and his feet are hard to see, his upper torso is fairly distinct. His hair is bound in a conical coil, and he has five triangular fingers on each hand.

AWAT5841 LR Waratah Track Man and Fish

Directly above the man is a bream-like fish.

AWAT5849 LR Waratah Track Man and Fish

Some of the figures at this site are covered in leaves and debris; two more fish can be seen poking out from leaf litter next to the man’s outstretched arm.

AWAT5850 LR Waratah Track Man and Fish
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