Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park in North Sydney on the Hawkesbury River is home to many Aboriginal sites. Two of them, Red Hand Cave and the Guringai rock engravings, are particularly significant and accessible. Within the park, West Head at the mouth of the Hawkesbury River is a stunning place, offering a beautiful view of Barrenjoey Headland. Barrenjoey is an English approximation of the Aboriginal word for small wallaby given to this bit of land by Governor Phillip in 1788. Phillip was the Commander of the First Fleet which brought the first Europeans to Australia most of whom were convicts being transported from Great Britain for petty crimes.
The lighthouse on the head was built in 1891
Aboriginal tribal groups inhabited the entire Sydney basin when the First Fleet arrived. Though relations between the two groups were initially peaceful, the arrival of smallpox carried by the British had a dreadful impact on the local people. The Aboriginal people of the West Head were virtually wiped out by this disease within a year of the First Fleet’s arrival in 1788 and by 1791 there were just three members of the tribe left. It is shocking and tragic that almost half of all the tribal people in the Sydney Harbour area were dead from smallpox by 1789.
Because of the smallpox devastation, there is little known about the traditional owners of the land at West Head. Their art in Red Hand Cave was made at a time when Aboriginal people were thriving and is thought to be about 2,000 years old. Handprint stencils like this one were created by spraying an ochre mixture through ones lips across a hand held against the rock. Fragile and vulnerable to weather damage, this handprint has only survived because it was made under a rock overhang which has provided weather protection through the millennia. It is quite rare and marvelous to see such an ancient artifact.
Because of the smallpox devastation, there is little known about the traditional owners of the land at West Head. Their art in Red Hand Cave was made at a time when Aboriginal people were thriving and is thought to be about 2,000 years old. Handprint stencils like this one were created by spraying an ochre mixture through ones lips across a hand held against the rock. Fragile and vulnerable to weather damage, this handprint has only survived because it was made under a rock overhang which has provided weather protection through the millennia. It is quite rare and marvelous to see such an ancient artifact.
The Guringai rock engravings, also found in the park, are magnificent. They are estimated to be between 3,000 – 5,000 years old.
A wallaby and an engraving of a fish to the upper left
Though the sandstone at this site is relatively soft, creating these carvings still required a great deal of effort. An outline was made by drilling small holes in the rock, perhaps with a sharp shell or bone. These pits were then connected to create a solid line, probably using a sharpened stone. Some think that the human figure engravings were created by outlining the shadow of a person standing on the rock in the sun.
This engraving is a bit obscured by sand but if you look closely you
can see a man and a woman with arms and legs entwined
can see a man and a woman with arms and legs entwined
We recently saw ancient Aboriginal axe heads at a museum. These are the type of stone axe heads that were sharpened on sandstone as shown in photos in the blog posted on 9 March. This kind of tool may have been used by the people who created Red Hand Cave and the Guringai engravings.
The flora of the West Head region of the park is beautiful.
A magnificent gum tree
Peach Blossom Tea Tree
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