W hile th e g eneralised c h a ra c te r of m u c h V ictoria River rock a rt m a k e s p recise id e n tific a tio n s difficult or im p o ssib le for non- a c c u ltu ra te d people, a t a g en e ra l level of id e n tific a tio n th e m a jo rity of m otifs p o rtra y e d are rec o g n isa b le by E u ro p e a n s. R ecognisable classe s of m otifs include h u m a n s , m aterial cu ltu re ite m s, p la n ts , E u ro p e a n c o n ta c t ite m s, a n d a w ide ran g e of an im als including m am m als, birds, fish an d reptiles.
G eneralised h u m a n or ’h u m a n -lik e’ figures in b o th p ain tin g s and engravings are u su a lly sufficiently realistic to be easily recognised as su c h by b o th Aborigines and E u ro p e an s. Among th e paintings,
m a n y of th e s e fig u res hav e d istin c tiv e fe a tu re s , a n d som e c o n s titu te re c u rrin g types. M ost p a in tin g s a n d engravings of an im al re p rese n tatio n s in V ictoria River a r t ca n also be classed at a general level.
Shape
O n th e b a sis of sh a p e alone, it is n o t difficult for E u ro p e an s to so rt o u t various classes of anim als to a t le a st family level; sn ak es from b ird s, m a m m a ls from fish, a n d so on. A boriginal an d E u ro p e a n id en tificatio n s u su a lly c o n c u r a t th is level. However se v eral s tu d ie s of ro ck a r t in o th e r p a r ts of A u s tra lia have co n clu d ed th a t in m o st in sta n c e s sh a p e alone is a n u n reliab le g u id e to th e sp e cie s id e n tity of fa u n a l m otifs; to arrive a t a p recise species identification, species-specific fe a tu re s m u s t be p re s e n t in th e depiction, or c u ltu ra l know ledge m u s t be available (Rosenfeld 1982; Lewis 1986). W ith o u t sp ecies-sp ecific details encoded in th e art; or ac cess to o th e r c u ltu ra l know ledge, it is g en e ra lly im p o ssib le to a tta in p recise id e n tific a tio n s b e c a u se u su a lly m ore th a n one species from a p a rtic u la r g en u s is found in th e region.
T his is th e case for m o st of V ictoria River d is tric t rock a rt. For in sta n c e , a 'kangaroo' im age could depict an y one of a t le a st six m acropod species th a t have lived in th e region in re c e n t tim es. The sam e applies to depictions of fish, sn a k e s, 'g o an n as', and in th e m o st extrem e case, birds.
P ro b ab ly th e only an im al in V ictoria River ro ck a r t th a t can co n siste n tly be identified to species level on th e b a s is of sh ap e alone is the echidna. This anim al h a s a distinctive sh a p e an d only one sp e cie s is fo u n d on th e A u s tra lia n m a in la n d . Crocodile re p re se n ta tio n s also sta n d a reasonable ch an ce of being identified from th e ir sh a p e ; th e two species w h ich o c c u r in th e region p o sse ss m arkedly different proportions of h e a d a n d jaw . A lthough th is difference could be ren d ered in a n a m b ig u o u s m a n n er, for th e m o st p a r t it is not. For m o st an im al d ep ictio n s in V ictoria River rock a rt, id e n tificatio n s beyond th e level th a t sh a p e will
allow d ep e n d s u p o n o th e r inform ation from th e so c io -c u ltu ral m atrix of w hich the a rt is b u t one com ponent.