We have been privileged to see some important Aboriginal heritage sites in the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury River region. The first people of Australia lived a sophisticated life adapted to each particular region of the country they inhabited. They were experts at living on the land using tools of their own making. Their lifestyle was deeply connected to Country* and they were careful not to damage the land or exhaust food sources. For millennia (at least 65,000 years**), these people tread so lightly that there are few obvious signs of their existence though they did leave some traces, including these carvings of fish under a rock overhang on the Hawkesbury River.
(This blog's pictures are best viewed full-size. Click on each one to enlarge it.)
Our guide told us that the local aboriginal people
say these carvings marked a good fishing spot
Acknowledgement of Country is a way for the wider community to demonstrate respect for the traditional Aboriginal owners’ culture and heritage and the ongoing relationship they have with the land. I would like to acknowledge the Gundungurra and the Guringai people who are the traditional owners of the land featured in this blog and the next one. I would also like to pay respect to elders both past and present.
Shelter cave
Looking down into the cave. Notice the high curved rock
ceiling that provided shelter from the elements
This shelter cave on the Kings Tableland, in the ancient country of the Gundungurra people, has been in use for at least 22,000 years and is the oldest Aboriginal site in the Blue Mountains. As well as a shelter, it is thought that it was used as a story telling place and what the modern world would call an art gallery.
Wallaby footprint carvings in the shelter cave
The rocks above the cave also show significant evidence of ancient Aboriginal use with more than 150 grinding grooves in the sandstone next to modified rock pools. Toolmakers used water from the pools as a lubricant to sharpen axe heads.
Those are axe head grinding groves to the left of the top pool
More axe head grinding grooves
The heath covered tableland is very dry and sandy and there doesn’t seem to be any topsoil. Nevertheless, many drought tolerant plants successfully live here. The rocks on the Tableland are also quite interesting and the sky is amazing.
The reptile skin-like texture of this rock is thought to have
been caused by glacial action some 18,000 – 30,000 years ago
*Country, to Aboriginal people, is an expression of the connection between land, nature, culture, and traditions. When doing research for this blog I came across a Welcome to Country video from the Gundungurra people of the Blue Mountains which expresses some of these ideas. The elder in the video, Greg Sims, who is standing on the Kings Tableland, says, “We don’t own the land, the land owns us. We come from Mother Earth.” (http://www.gundungurra.org.au/welcome-video.html)
**New York Times article from 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/science/humans-reached-australia-aboriginal-65000-years.html
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