Kimberley Gwion Gwion Rock Art
Late Pleistocene to Holocene (c.12,000–4000 BCE Gwion phase)·Aboriginal Australian (Kimberley)·🇦🇺 Western Australia, Australia
About
About Kimberley Gwion Gwion Rock Art
Kimberley Gwion (Bradshaw) – elegant, tasselled dancing figures with elaborate headdresses and dillybag (c.12,000–4,000 BCE), 2,800+ sites on Kimberley Plateau. Distinguished from Wandjina phase; controversy over age (biogenic pigment crusted). Roche art galleries preserve thylacine and extinct fauna; Aboriginal custodians (Ngarrindjeri debate) integrate Gwion into Wanjina cosmology.
Why it mattersKimberley's Bradshaw elegant dancer tradition with extinct fauna depictions
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Dating precision and pigment chronology
- 02Symbolic meaning and shamanic interpretation
Theories
- 01Ceremonial centre and cosmological alignment
- 02Territorial marker and ritual landscape
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Gwion (Bradshaw) paintings c.12–4 ka BCE
- Period
- Late Pleistocene to Holocene (c.12,000–4000 BCE Gwion phase)
- Culture
- Aboriginal Australian (Kimberley)
- Builders
- Kimberley Aboriginal ancestors
- Purpose
- Aboriginal ritual rock painting with tasselled figures; creation narratives
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
Gwion (Bradshaw) paintings c.12–4 ka BCE
Initial construction
On the ground
Structures & features
15.3000° S · 126.7000° E · 320 m · 3 mapped features
Gwion Bradshaw Gallery – Tassels
rock art panelElegant tasselled dancer rows with dillybag and headdress
15.2970° S · 126.7020° EWandjina Overpaint Layer
rock art panelMouthless white Wandjina faces over Gwion layer illustrating phase succession
15.3020° S · 126.7030° EThylacine Extinct Fauna Panel
rock art panelThylacine and giant kangaroo depiction dating to Pleistocene fauna memory
15.2990° S · 126.6990° E