Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw) Rock Art — Kimberley
Gwion Gwion · Bradshaw Figures · Gwion Figures · Kimberley Bradshaw
Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene (12 ka BCE – 7 ka BCE)·Pleistocene Kimberley Aboriginal groups (Wunambal, Balanggarra ancestors)·🇦🇺 Western Australia, Kimberley Plateau, Wunambal Gaambera and Balanggarra Country, Australia
About
About Gwion Gwion (Bradshaw) Rock Art — Kimberley
7000 BCE. 6 m in mulberry-red hematite with white infill display dynamic dancing, hunting and ceremonial poses contrasting with later Wandjina large-eyed spirits that superimpose them. The Kimberley plateau's King George and Mitchell Falls galleries house contiguous Gwion tasselled warriors overlapping naturalistic yam and emu panels documenting Holocene monsoon art evolution before sea-level Stabilisation.
Why it mattersOldest Australian anthropomorphic painting tradition predating Wandjina and proving Pleistocene symbolic elaboration independent of western art.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether tassels depict actual fiber skirts or spirit body paint
- 02Why Gwion replaced abruptly by Wandjina eye-motif
Theories
- 01Gwion commemorates pre-sea-level plateau occupation before Kimberley drowned
- 02Climate shift Holocene monsoon intensification demanding Wandjina rain spirits
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.12,000–7000 BCE (Gwion phase)
- Period
- Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene (12 ka BCE – 7 ka BCE)
- Culture
- Pleistocene Kimberley Aboriginal groups (Wunambal, Balanggarra ancestors)
- Builders
- Kimberley plateau hunter-gatherers before Wandjina replacement
- Purpose
- Sandstone shelter ceremony painting marking clan estates and Wanjina cosmology transition
- Abandoned
- Superseded by Wandjina c.4000 BCE but preserved under Wandjina overpainting
- Rediscovered
- 1891 J. Bradshaw records; 1997 G. Walsh renames Gwion; 2010s DNA pollen wasp dating
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
12,000 BCE
Earliest Gwion tasselled figures (wasp nest min age)
7000 BCE
Transition to Wandjina over Gwion
1891
Bradshaw sketches Mitchell Falls Gwion
On the ground
Structures & features
15.6500° S · 126.4500° E · 250 m · 3 mapped features
Mitchell Falls Gwion Panel
panel20-m shelter with 40 tasselled dancing warriors
15.6505° S · 126.4505° EKing George River Mouth Gallery
coastal panelCoastal shelter with yam-Gwion palimpsest above mangroves
14.0500° S · 126.5000° EWandjina Overpaint Ridge
palimpsestUpland where white Wandjina eyes overlie mulberry Gwion
15.6520° S · 126.4480° E
Gallery