The rock art of Kakadu represents some of the oldest documented history of any people on Earth. Although there are thousands of art sites in Kakadu, only a few are open for everyone to view.
I visited the Nourlangie art site, which is very beautiful to see.
Here creator ancestor spirits are painted to tell a story, including the pretty scary Lightning Man, Namarrgon.
Depictions of animals are very natural, such as these kangaroos.
This is Nabulwinjbulwinj (pronounced Nar-bull-win-bull-win). He is a dangerous spirit who eats women after striking them with a yam.
The Anbangbang gallery depicts an important story. We are not told the story, but it imparts a valuable lesson.
At Ubirr (pronounced Oo-beer), some of the most outstanding rock art can be seen. The art covers a vast area and depicts these ancient peoples interaction with their environment.
One painting shows a thylacine (Tasmanian tiger) which have been extinct on the mainland for 4,000 years.
But my favourite art site was Nanguluwur, which was 4 km return walk to reach. In the heat of the day, not many people were doing this, so this site was peaceful and beautiful.
The walk leads to the shady cool of an overhanging cliff, where Aboriginal people camped for thousands of years. They used the smooth rock face as a canvas to capture their lives and beliefs.
Hand stencils are possibly thousands of years old.
Other artwork shows animals in the x-ray style, which is much more recent.
Some paintings document these peoples first contact with Europeans, including a two-masted sailing ship in incredible detail. The artist has included the anchor chain.
Paintings show the intricate details of lace gloves worn by European women in the 19th Century.
Some paintings are of the spiritual ancestors and these tell scary stories and teach important lessons.
Algaigho (pronounced Al-guy-go), is the fire woman. She was a Creator spirit and planted the yellow banksias, using their smouldering flowers to carry fire. People are afraid of her because she burns and kills people.
In this painting, she has four arms and the banksia flowers are attached to her head.
All of the Creator spirits have special powers. These are the Namarnde (pronounced Nah-marn-deh). They are invisible to ordinary people and live in caves and hollow trees. Coming out at night, they can call people to them. The Namarnde are really scary, because they eat human flesh.
The Namarnde are depicted with six elongated fingers on each hand. They carry dilly bags for their victim’s heart, liver, lungs and kidneys.
