Woy Woy Road Warriors

Summary: Two significant sites near Woy Woy Road, which represent "a ritual and mythological story".

  • Site type: Rock engraving
  • Number of sites: 2
  • Number of motifs: 30
  • Motif/s: Eel, Fish, Man, Oval
  • Quality: 2/5
  • Condition of site: Good
  • View site sketch
  • Year first recorded: 1946
  • Originally Recorded by: F.D. McCarthy, Ian Sim
  • McCarthy reference: PATONGA Notebook No. 62B in Catalogue of Rock Engravings (1983)
  • Sim Reference: Sim Collection Site 3/6
  • Ian Sim, Archaelogical Sites in the Sydney Region – A Record of Field Surveys 1958-1973 (“Sim Collection”), Site 3/6 Series 4, 6 & 7 (Kariong)

Two sites first documentd by Cambell in 1899 and then Ian Sim in the 1970s are located near Woy Woy Road, and thought to represent “a ritual and mythological story”.

McCarthy Series 2

This site above Woy Woy Road has a total of 34 motifs, including complex series of six men, in three pairs: “one of the most remarkable depicting a single ritual incident yet found, both for the elaborately decorated and equipped figures, their animation and tense poses”.

One of the men has a line protruding from his right side, possibly a parrying shield. A line of three eels form a line diagonally across his body. The figures is weathered, and it’s hard to make out all the details.

AWAT0693 LR Woy Woy Road Warriors

The two men below are positioned one above another; both are very weathered.

Engraving McCarthy Unpublished 62B S2a Woy Woy Road Warriors

The two men are androgynous, with penises and breasts, and both have rayed headdresses. The first (top) man is holding a fish in in his right hand, and a sword club in his left hand. Across his waist is another sword club. The second man holds a fish in his right hand and a club in his left hand.

TwoFigures Woy Woy Road WarriorsTwoFigures highlighted Woy Woy Road Warriors
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