La trastienda de los Talleres

D ep ic tio n s of E u ro p e a n s , th e ir livestock a n d m a te ria l goods d e m o n stra te th a t rock pain tin g s were being p roduced d u rin g th e c o n ta c t p erio d (see P late s 33, 75, 9 8 -1 0 3 ; F ig u re 39). O ne exam ple, a painting of a bullock, h a s th e V.R.D. 'bull's head' b ra n d in d ic a te d on th e ru m p a re a (Plate 101). T his b ra n d w as n o t in tro d u c e d u n til 1909 (Makin 1983; 99), so th e p a in tin g (or a t le a s t th e b rand) could n o t have been produced before th a t date.

A n o th er exam ple probably re p re se n ts sh eep w hich were p rese n t on V ictoria River Downs in th e early 1890's (Plate 100).

T he ex trem e fre s h n e s s of 'tra d itio n a l' fig u res a t several o th er lo catio n s su g g ests quite recen t execution or reto u ch in g (eg Plate 104) a n d in two c a se s th is su b je ctiv e a s s e s s m e n t h a s b een confirm ed by E u ro p ean sources.

In 1982 A boriginal c u sto d ia n s took me to a restric ted m en's site w h ich h a s one of th e la rg e st p a in te d g alleries I have seen. P ain tin g s a t th e site co n sist of a very large n u m b e r of h u m a n figures, R ainbow sn a k e s, fish, crocodile, a pelican, a m acropod, a n d sa c re d objects, a n d are am ong th e b rig h te s t I have seen. I la te r le a rn e d from a fo rm er V.R.D. em ployee a n d rock a r t e n t h u s ia s t th a t in 1975 a n o th e r E u ro p e a n s ta tio n em ployee w itn e sse d Tim Y ilngayari re to u c h in g som e of th e s e p a in tin g s (pers. com m . Bill Midgley). Tim w as one of m y in fo rm an ts (see C h a p ter 8); I did n o t questio n him on h is actio n s b ecau se, a t the tim e t h a t I in terv iew ed him , I w as n o t a w a re th a t he h a d reto u c h ed th e p aintings.

A nother se t of p ain tin g s w hich have a strikingly fresh appearance are a series of h u m a n figures in a sh elter on a trib u ta ry of Gordon C reek (Plate 105, see Map 3). The colours of th e se p ain tin g s are extrem ely b rig h t an d , as of 1985, th e re w as only one m udw asp n e s t on th e panel. On th e floor below th e figures a sq u a re slab of rock u se d as a g rin d sto n e is heavily coated w ith red ochre, and th e re are sp la sh e s of red a n d w hite p ig m e n t on ro ck s b e n e a th th e figures.

At th e 1988 AURA C ongress in Darw in, Willie P edersen, a friend of th e th e n m a n a g e r of V ictoria River Dow ns, told m e th a t th e m a n a g e r h a d w itn essed th e creation of th e se p ain tin g s in 1982. T his p an e l of figures, ap p aren tly produced only eight y ears ago, is probably th e m o st re c e n t rock a rt in th e V ictoria River district. It provides d ra m a tic evidence for th e ongoing significance of rock a rt in local Aboriginal cultures.