La masculinidad como parte de las relaciones de género

In C h a p te r 3 I d escrib ed a se rie s of m otifs in red or b lack p ig m en t an d suggested th a t th e se m ay be th e earliest in a two- p a r t chronological se q u e n c e of V ictoria River p a in te d a rt. In A rn h em L and a n d to som e e x ten t th e K im berley, th e earlier p h a s e s of s u c h relative se q u en ce s have b een ten tativ ely dated th r o u g h c o r r e la tio n of s u b je c t m a tte r in th e a r t w ith geom orphological, archaeological or ecological d a ta of know n age (see Craw ford 1968 for th e Kimberley; Lewis 1988a for A rnhem Land).

In V ictoria River a rt su c h correlations are n o t yet possible. There is v ir tu a lly no in fo rm a tio n a v a ila b le a b o u t eco lo g ical, archaeological or geom orphological ch an g es in th e V ictoria River valley an d even if su c h inform ation w ere available, th e paintings th a t I have recorded do n o t ap p ear to p o rtra y su b je ct m a tte r th a t w ould facilitate s u c h co rrelatio n s. The only w ay th a t even the ro u g h e s t d a te s c a n be su g g e ste d for th e s e p a in tin g s is by com paring them w ith sim ilar p ain tin g s in areas w here d ates have b ee n su g g ested . T his is possible for a n u m b e r of th e V ictoria River p a in tin g s w hich resem ble p a rtic u la r m otifs a n d styles in A rnhem land.

In 1984 I arg u ed th a t a n u m b e r of V ictoria River red ochre p a in tin g s including an unidentified an im al w ith su rface features in d icated (Figure 4), 'g ra ss’ p rin ts (Figure 5), and h u m a n figures w ith h e a d d re s s a n d b o o m e ra n g s (Figure 7), w ere re la te d to c e rtain styles of A rnhem Land Mimi art. In th e case of the 'grass' p rin ts , m y re a so n s for suggesting s u c h a rela tio n sh ip were th e fact th a t previous to my discovery, s u c h p rin ts w ere only know n from A rnhem Land, an d th a t in b o th a re a s th e p rin ts are in red o ch re w h ich a p p e a rs to have b o n d e d w ith th e rock face. In A rnhem Land the 'grass' p rin ts are often spatially associated w ith p rin ts of h a n d s a n d th ro w n o b jects. T he re c e n t discovery of p rin ts of 'grass', h a n d s, an d throw n objects on a single rock face

a t a site in th e W est B aines River ca tch m en t h a s su b sta n tia lly stre n g th e n e d th e arg u m e n t th a t V ictoria River 'grass' p rin ts and A rnhem Land 'grass' p rin ts are contem porary (see Plate 28).

The age of p rin ts of 'g ra ss’ an d associated m otifs is problem atic. At p re s e n t, age e s tim a te s are b a s e d u p o n little m ore th a n a p p e a ra n c e a n d s p e c u la tio n . C h a lo u p k a (1984: 16-17, 20) su g g e sts th a t s u c h p rin ts are a t le a s t 18,000 a n d possibly 35 ,0 0 0 y ears old. My own estim ates are far m ore conservative. I hav e su g g e ste d t h a t s u c h p r in ts are p ro b a b ly p a r t of th e 'B oom erang Period' an d the 'Hooked S tick /B o o m eran g Period' of A rn h em Land a rt, covering a period of ap p ro x im ately 6-9 0 0 0 years (Lewis 1988a: 70, 105). It is quite possible th a t som e 'grass' p rin ts are m u c h m ore recent; all th a t can be said for th e V ictoria River 'g ra ss' p rin ts is th a t th e y are likely to p re d a te th e m o st rece n t period of pain ted art, an d m ay be som e th o u sa n d s of years old.

In colour, p ain tin g technique, and certain stylistic features, some of th e possibly old V ictoria River p aintings resem ble certain early A rn h e m L and p a in tin g s . E arly A rn h em L and p a in tin g s are c h a ra c te rise d by th e u se of red ochre w hich, in m any in stan ce s, a p p e ars to have bonded to the rock face. M any are line paintings w ith su rface d etails indicated. H um an figures are u su a lly sm all, a n d a re o fte n p o rtra y e d w e a rin g h e a d d re s s a n d c a rry in g b o o m eran g s. T he re la tio n sh ip betw een p a in tin g s in a group is conveyed th ro u g h th e careful overlapping of th e figures.

M any of th e possibly old V ictoria River p aintings sh a re a n u m b er of th e se tra its. For exam ple, all of th e red ochre p ain tin g s ap p ear to have bonded to th e rock face. The birds an d m am m al in Figure 10 a n d th e an th ro p o m o rp h ic being in F igure 11 are fine line p a in tin g s a n d th e b ird s have su rfa c e fe a tu re s in d ic ated . The unidentified anim al in Figure 4 also h a s surface featu res indicated w hile th e g ro u p of h u m a n s in F ig u re 7 h a s b o o m e ra n g s, 'h e a d d re ss', an d is connected as a group by careful overlapping. T hese tra its are sufficiently c h a ra cte ristic of early A rnhem Land a r t to su g g e st th e possibility of a sh a re d a rtis tic trad itio n , an d th e re fo re th e p o ssib ility th a t th e V ictoria River p a in tin g s are som e th o u sa n d s of years old.

The o th e r p a in tin g s - in p a rtic u la r th e a n im a l-h e a d e d beings a sso cia ted w ith p la n ts w ith 'tu b ers' - are m ore difficult to relate to rock a r t in A rnhem Land or elsew here. In one A rnhem Land a rt period th e re is a clear asso ciatio n b etw een flying foxes, yam p la n ts w ith tu b e rs , a n d R ainbow s n a k e s (B randi 1973: 174; C h a lo u p k a 1984: 34; Lewis 1988a: 39), b u t th e y a re q u ite different in a p p e a ra n c e from th e V ictoria River p a in tin g s. It is possible th a t th e V ictoria River an d A rnhem L and p ain tin g s are different w ays of expressing a sim ilar, co n tem p o rary se t of ideas, b u t th is rem a in s conjectural. Like th e h a n d p rin ts, 'grass' p rin ts an d th ro w n object p rin ts, all th a t can be said is th a t they ap p e ar to p re d a te th e m o st rece n t period of V ictoria River rock a rt. It is to th is m o st re c e n t period - en c o m p assin g th e b u lk of V ictoria River p ain tin g s - th a t I now tu rn my atten tio n .