Ubirr Rock Art
Obiri · Kakadu Escarpment Galleries
Late Pleistocene to present (~4000 BCE – contemporary)·Bininj/Mungguy (Aboriginal Australian)·🇦🇺 Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, Australia
About
About Ubirr Rock Art
Five main sandstone galleries on the Nadab floodplain edge of the Arnhem escarpment display the classic X-ray style: translucent kangaroo, emu, long-necked turtles and thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) extinct on the mainland for 3,000 years, overlaid by Rainbow Serpent (Ngalyod) and Mimi spirits. Successive layers document freshwater–saltwater transition and European contact (1930s buffalo shooters). Ubirr is the most visited gallery within Kakadu National Park.
Why it mattersFive main sandstone galleries on the Nadab floodplain edge of the Arnhem escarpment display the classic X-ray style: translucent kangaroo, emu, long-necked turtles and thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) exti
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Thylacine depiction 2,000 km north of its Tasmanian refuge
- 02Rainbow Serpent iconography continuity over millennia
Theories
- 01Pedagogical gallery for initiation and seasonal calendar instruction
- 02Dynamic living tradition where repainting renews Dreaming potency
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.4000 BCE onward with repainting to present
- Period
- Late Pleistocene to present (~4000 BCE – contemporary)
- Culture
- Bininj/Mungguy (Aboriginal Australian)
- Purpose
- Creation-ancestor galleries, X-ray art teaching and contact-period chronicle
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.4000 BCE onward with repainting to present
Initial construction
c. 1061 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
12.4033° S · 132.9517° E · 60 m · 2 mapped features
Main Gallery
rock painting panelThylacine, X-ray barramundi and Rainbow Serpent sequence
12.4035° S · 132.9520° ENadab Floodplain Contact Panel
rock painting panelWhite-pigmented buffalo and Europeans with rifles
12.4040° S · 132.9510° E
Gallery