The focus of m y field rese arch w as in th e big river co u n try of the V ictoria River valley. My d a ta from th e d esert co u n try is sketchy as I have h a d to rely on published sources, b u t I have visited one h u n d re d a r t sites, including nine w ith pecked engravings, w ithin th e sa ltw a te r zone. In com paring th e a r t of th e river an d coastal zones, several features are apparent.
F irst, th e a r t in b o th regions seem s to be b u ilt on a com m on foundation. W ith re sp e c t to pecked engravings, m y sam ple from sa ltw ate r c o u n tiy is too sm all for reliable sta te m e n ts to be m ade. However, m o st of th e figures I have recorded to date exhibit no
ap preciable difference from those in th e river country. The series of large a n d e lab o rate an th ro p o m o rp h ic figures in W a rd am an c o u n try a t Ja lijb a n g (Lewis an d M cC ausland 1987) a p p e ar to be u n iq u e in local as well as regional term s. There is no re a so n to believe th a t they serve to distin g u ish engravings in the W ardam an la n g u ag e a re a from engravings in o th er V ictoria River language a re a s, or engravings in the sa ltw ate r co u n try from th o se in the river country.
M uch the sam e m ay be said of th e paintings from th e two regions. B oth regions exhibit a g reat diversity in su b je c t m a tte r, b u t no figures c a n be singled o u t w hich c h a ra c te rise e ith e r region in te rm s of style, form , colour schem e, an d perspective. A g re a t m a n y of th e p ain tin g s from one region are basically th e sam e as th o se in th e o th e r (cf Plate 51 w ith Plate 54 a n d Plate 52 w ith Plate 136; see S ta n n e r 1979; 116, 347).
O ne difference m ay be se en in s u b je c t m a tte r. As w ould be e x p e c te d w h e n lo o k in g a t fig u ra tiv e a r t from d iffe re n t en vironm ents, th e re are differences in th e species portrayed. For in sta n c e , stin g ray s, saw fish an d s h a rk s are found in th e su b je ct m a tte r in sa ltw ate r country, b u t n o t in the river co u n try (except, p e rh a p s , w ith m arg in al overlap). Sim ilarly, E u ro p e a n b o a ts of various types are virtually restricted to the saltw ater region.
A n o th e r difference b etw e en th e two reg io n s is se e n in th e relative frequency of highly elaborated figures. In th e sa ltw a te r region, figures th a t have sections filled in w ith different colours, sectio n s infilled w ith dots or parallel strip es of different colours, a n d w ith th re e or m ore colours or sh a d e s of colours u se d are com paratively com m on (eg see P lates 98, 99, 137, 138; W alsh
1988: p la tes 221, 194, 232-34, 237, 239, 240, 241, 242).
O th e r differences in c o n te n t seem to be a m a tte r of relative frequency ra th e r th a n a clear-cut division b ased on environm ental factors. For example, in th e saltw ater country a t le a st eleven 'su n ' m otifs are know n (1.13% of my sample) as opposed to five sim ilar figures (.14% of m y sam ple) in th e th e river country. T hese are c irc u la r m otifs s u rro u n d e d by or infilled w ith 'rays', som etim es w ith a line dividing th e circle and a p a tc h of pigm ent on each
dividing line crea tin g th e a p p e a ra n c e of a face (eg P lates 104, 139, 140, 141, 142 an d Figures 117, 118; see S ta n n e r 1979: 47; W alsh 1988: plates 174, 176).
A ccording to W alsh (1988: 152) th e se 'su n ' m otifs are a highly- developed featu re in th e repertoire of th e a rt of th e F itzm aurice River h ead w aters an d lower V ictoria River countiy, 'b u t are found w ith varying frequency over a t le a st 600km .' My own observations te n d to s u p p o rt W alsh's view. It a p p e ars to be th e case th a t the
f r e q u e n c y of s u c h fig u res d ec lin e s as one m oves from th e sa ltw a te r co u n try in the n o rth , to th e river co u n try in th e so u th , th a t th e re are clines in th e art, ra th e r th a n b o u n d arie s, b u t I do n o t have sufficient sam pling d a ta to m ake firm sta tem en ts.
H ighly e la b o ra te d fig u re s seem p a r tic u la r ly com m on, a n d p a rtic u la rly distinctive, in W ard am an language area, a territo ry w hich is largely w ithin th e D a ly /F lo ra /K a th e rin e c a tch m en t (see M aps 3 an d 4), an d w hich h a s been influenced to som e degree by A rn h em Land c u ltu re s (see P lates 91, 143, 144; W alsh 1988: p la te s 221, 194, 2 3 2 -3 4 , 237, 239, 240, 241, 242). However, figures a s elaborate, or n ea rly so, an d som etim es elab o rated in sim ilar w ays, are occasionally found in th e river co u n try (eg see P lates 25, 35, 37, 56).
Ritual Communities
R itu al co m m u n ities are n o t lan d u n its in th e m a n n e r of family areas, skin are a s or language areas. In the Victoria River valley, all river co u n try people an d m ost, if n o t all, saltw ater co u n try people are linked by a netw ork of D ream ing tra c k s th a t is focused on a site in B ilin ara country. T hese g roups clearly c o n stitu te a ritu a l com m unity a n d th e rock a r t in the te rrito ries th a t m ake u p th is com m unity is of a hom ogeneous ch aracter. I do n o t have d a ta on th e e x te n t of V ictoria R iver-type pecked engravings beyond th e V ictoria River valley. However, V ictoria R iver-type p ain tin g s are n o t r e s tric te d to th is r itu a l g ro u p in g ; p a in tin g s of sim ila r c h a ra c te r occur far beyond th e V ictoria River valley. It is possible th a t th is type of rock painting is one m ark er of a cu ltu re area.
Culture Area
Defining a 'cu ltu re area' is su b ject to m an y of th e sam e problem s a s a tte m p ts to define a 'trib e'; d istin c tiv e A boriginal g ro u p s p o sse ss m any different c h a ra cte ristic s an d different com binations of th e s e m a y be s h a re d w ith th e ir n e ig h b o u rs . S e ts of c h a r a c te r is tic s do n o t o ften co in cid e to fo rm a c le a r- c u t boundary; u su a lly different cu ltu ra l featu re s extend over different geographical ran g es (see P eterson 1976). D ue to lack of available d a ta , th e m ax im u m ex ten t of th e a re a in w h ich V ictoria River- type a r t o cc u rs is difficult to d eterm ine, b u t available evidence te n d s to confirm P eterso n 's (1976: 50-71) su g g e stio n s a b o u t the c o n s tra in ts im posed by topography. P e te rso n (ibid) a rg u e s th a t drainage b a s in s ten d to define the lim its of c u ltu re a re a s - w here d ra in a g e b a s in s a re w ell defin ed th e y o ften co in cid e w ith b o u n d a rie s in c u ltu ra l fe a tu re s su c h a s la n g u ag e or art; w here w ate rsh e d s are of very low relief they are n o t likely to be of great im p o rta n ce.
W ith reg ard to th e R oper River valley, for exam ple, th e re are several lines of evidence w hich su g g e st th a t it is n o t p a r t of a 'V ictoria River' c u ltu re a re a . F irst, b etw e en th e V ictoria River valley and the Roper River valley, there is a n extensive area of flat, re la tiv e ly w a te rle s s c o u n try w h ich fo rm s a n a t u r a l b a r r ie r betw een th e two regions. Second, to my know ledge th e re are no D ream in g lin k s b etw e en th e two valleys. T h ird , in 1975 an eld e rly G u rin d ji m a n (Long J o h n y K itn g a y a ri - d ec ea sed ) e x p re sse d th e o p in io n th a t th e 'R oper R iver m ob' w ere wild people w ho p ra c tic e d c a n n ib a lism . It is n o t com pletely clear w h eth e r th is m an h a d specific Roper River g ro u p s in m ind or w as referrin g to R oper River people in general. It is clear, however, th a t th e re is alm o st no co n tact betw een th e two regions a t th e p re s e n t tim e.
Few, if any, rock a r t sites exist in the arid c o u n try betw een the two valleys (pers. obs.). In th e Roper River valley only five a r t sites have been p u b lish ed an d th e m otifs in th e se galleries do n o t fit w ith in th e range of V ictoria River a rt. At four sites th e m otifs are c le a rly re la te d to A rn h e m L and a r t (E lk in 1952: 2 4 5 -5 5 ;
M acin to sh 1952: 256-74; M addock 1971: 44-63). At th e th ird site (Mountford an d B randi 1967: 371-82) a few motifs have w hat a p p e a r to be sim ple X-ray featu re s (eg th e ir figures 5A, 5L, 6A, 8E); th e o th ers show little sim ilarity w ith A rnhem Land. Some of th e m otifs are sim ilar to V ictoria River a rt (eg th e ir figures 4B, 7L), b u t th e su b je c t m a tte r a n d / o r decoration of m an y figures does n o t fit w ithin th e range of V ictoria River valley p ain tin g s (eg th e ir figures 4A, 4L, 5J, 5C, 6K, 6L, 8C, 8G, 8K).
The u p p e rm o st re a c h e s of th e V ictoria River valley are relatively arid a n d m erge g rad u ally into the flat arid sa n d p la in co u n try of th e n o r th e r n T a n a m i d e s e rt. T he sa m e G u rin d ji m a n w ho e x p re s se d n eg a tiv e o p in io n s a b o u t R oper River people also e x p ressed a dislike of W arlpiri people from th e d e s e rt region. N evertheless, th e valley a n d th e sa n d p la in s are con n ected by a n u m b e r of D ream ing tra c k s, w hich in d icate a degree of social in te ra c tio n b etw een th e two regions in th e p a s t. R elatio n s of m arriage, tra d e an d ritu a l are m aintained a t th e p re se n t time. Rock sh e lte rs an d o u tc ro p s w here rock a r t m ig h t be found are scarce in th e san d p lain country and are scattered over a v a st area. No exam ples of a rt from th is region have been published, an d the only site I have se en , a t T an am i Rockhole, is d o m in a te d by p eck ed en g rav in g s of co n c en tric circles a n d a n im a l tra c k s - m otifs typical of d esert art.
V arious lines of evidence suggest th a t the F itzm aurice River valley is p a r t of th e 'V ictoria River' c u ltu re a re a . F irst, J a m in ju n g - sp eak in g people occupy the co u n try betw een th e rivers (Map 3). Second, th e two regions are connected by a n u m b e r of im p o rta n t D ream ing tra c k s. A m ajor trad e ro u te extends from th e V ictoria River valley, th ro u g h th e F itzm au rice River valley to th e P ort Keats area.
The w ate rsh ed betw een th e two valleys co n tain s a re a s of rugged ran g e c o u n try , b u t th e re are also wide co rrid o rs of flat, well w ate re d c o u n try jo in in g th e two river sy ste m s. A n u m b e r of p h o to g ra p h s of rock p ain tin g s from the F itzm aurice River valley have b ee n p u b lish ed by S ta n n e r (1960: cover photo, 1979: 45, 116, 138, 347). In s u b je c t m a tte r, g en e ra l style a n d colour
schem e, th e p ain tin g s in th ese p h o to g rap h s fit w ithin th e range of V ictoria River art. Indeed, m ost ap p ear to be p ainted in th e full