A PRACTICAL CONSIDERATION OF THE RECORDING OF ABORIGINAL ART IN THE DAMPIER ARCHIPELAGO
by
Alex Leach Dip. Arch. Dip. Phot. (London 1980)
Music:- Goanna - Spirit of place- SOLID ROCK by Shane Howard (Ularu music 1982) e-mail: eraphoto@gmail.com
use mouse to stop movement URGENT Consideration of the recording of
Aboriginal Art of the Dampier Archipelago

"The Dampier Archipelago contains the largest concentration of rock art in the world"
(Archaeology and rock art in the Dampier Archipelago by Caroline Bird and Sylvia J Hallam) ref (A.R.A.D.A.).

Consideration of this fact must be given with regard to any present or future development of industrial infrastructure that will take place.

It is essential that an accurate record of archaeological sites and petroglyphs be made before any further destruction occurs.

URGENT RECORDING IS REQUIRED because: -

· Woodside Petroleum is proposing to double it's industrial site.
· The recording season commences 1st April 2007.
· Woodside will commence operations late 2007.
· Area to be developed contains 2 very important archaeological sites, containing many 100s of petroglyphs.
· These petroglyphs must be photographed and plotted (GPS) for Australia's heritage.
· A team of 5 people is required to complete this operation.
· The results of this survey must be published.

In the past surveys have been carried out in an ad-hoc manner, considering just areas under threat. This must not continue. This new research must be the beginning of a long-term process that will last at least 10 years.
A survey of the complete Archipelago must follow this most essential initial overview.
There is very little time left to set up a team of dedicated recordists before the next season is upon us.

Emergency funding now will enable this very important task to commence.

So far investigations of this material has mostly been limited to the context of development, which has been piecemeal with no determination of the true extent of the material on the ground. In fact, a new proposal by Woodside to extend their gas processing plant, i.e. Pluto Project, has no indication, as yet, as to the true extent of petroglyphs and archaeological sites that will be disturbed here.

A survey of this area is URGENT!!!



THE HISTORIC BACKGROUND

Aboriginal people knew the Burrup as Murujuga = "Hip Bone Sticking Out" (A.R.A.D.A.).
The Aboriginal group who originally inhabited the Archipelago were known as "Yaburara".They were finally destroyed with the "Flying Foam Massacre" in 1868 so direct connection with the land was broken, though the Ngarluma people still living, mainly in Roebourne, retain strong cultural association with the area.



Archaeology

This area, if the total amount of material is considered, has the potential to be the largest "Art Gallery" in the world covering an area more than 130sqkm.
The cultural significance not only lies with the remaining Aboriginal groups who have links, however slight, but also with Australia as a whole.
The material that we see here is extremely old, probably older than the Lascaux cave paintings in Southern France.
It is difficult to age precisely as a direct time line has yet to be established. However there is plenty of evidence of petroglyph displacement indicating earthquakes of considerable strength 5.5+ on the Richter scale.
Research needs to be carried out below sea level to determine if glyphs extend to shorelines of the last ice age 20-30,000 years BP (conservative estimate).


Examples of petroglyph displacement

Petroglyphs

As with Lascaux in Southern France, the rock art is the most spectacular and visible evidence of past human activity. It is the overall density and volume of material that makes this an area of significance on a National and World Scale, even exceeding Lascaux. To date no comprehensive study of the rock art has been carried out. Due to the urgency of proposed development on the Peninsula, we have a golden opportunity to record this National and International heritage for generations to come.


Shell Middens

Flat areas associated with the rock art, which are covered with seashells and tool remains are commonly grouped together.
These shell sites (shell middens) can be quite extensive to the extent of producing a considerable rise in the otherwise flat topography at the base of rock sites.
Rock art is nearly always associated with these shell sites, some of which have been partially excavated. However, insufficient information has so far been retrieved from these shell middens.
It would be very useful to use a system called "Froth Flotation" developed by Tony Legge at London University in the 1970's, which would enable a detailed pollen and mollusc analysis to determine a stratified time line.
It would seem that quite large groups of people gathered at these sites, perhaps while rock art was being created.



INDUSTRIAL INFRUSTRUCTURE

Up till the late 1950's, very little was known in archaeological terms about Murujua, its art or prehistoric significance.
The early 1960's saw the establishment of Dampier, the Iron Ore Project and Dampier Salt, which connected the Archipelago to the mainland.
1978 saw the area become the focus of the new development of Woodside and the North-West Shelf Natural Gas Project.
It was during this period that approaches to Government established the Department of Aboriginal Sites (D.A.S.) within the West Australian Museum to record and protect Aboriginal sites.
From this point, a number of surveys have been carried out which all confirm the importance and richness of the sites throughout the Archipelago. This has led to an apparent conflict of interests.



Much of the work done to date has been piecemeal, more concerned with rescuing material that has been removed because of the developments, rather than any attempt to concisely record either individual sites or an overall picture as to what is really there.
It would appear that there is a certain willingness of the various parties, i.e. Woodside, Dampier Salt, Pilbara Iron, to do something positive about this dilemma, however the State Government has been reluctant to participate in any major effort to record or analyse material of the whole Archipelago.
It seems to be limited to emergency "rescue" operations so far.
Woodside now wishes to double the size of their area covered by development, i.e. The Pluto Project.
Before work can start, this area needs to be surveyed and some sort of proposal needs to be activated to preserve some of the rich material that lies in the centre of the proposed site.
In the past this has involved the removal of artwork to a hidden repository that is difficult to find, with the artwork being given numbers, which are supposed to refer to notes stored, indicating where these individual artworks originated. However, this information is now lost.
This shows that this type of rescue is totally unacceptable.
A different approach needs to be made with regard to saving the rock art.


Hidden rock-art enclosure_____________Rock-Art with numbers

THE SOLUTION

· We need to know the true extent of material on the ground, i.e. distribution of sites and what they contain.
· Areas that are threatened with development need to have a solution that does NOT deposit artworks in a pile that is not accessible to anyone.
· Funds need to be available for the above.



Recording

This will take a long time.
It has been estimated that there are at least 500,000 petroglyphs in the Archipelago, if this is so - then a period of at least 10 years is needed to do this survey.
With this in mind, I decided that a preliminary survey was required to determine how much could be done on a daily basis.
Five days were spent on site between 16 November and 20 November 2006 to determine the challenges that would be encountered.
After gathering information, taking photographs and plotting individual petroglyphs, at a time of year that is not suitable, i.e.: it was too hot at midday, it was determined that 50 petroglyphs per day would be reasonable to record.
This then can be extrapolated to a reasonable estimate of 10,000 petroglyphs per year.
This equates to 50 man-years to complete the project.
I would suggest a team of 5 people working for 10 years would be ideal.



The method should include digital photography with a GPS plot of each petroglyph.
An equivalent 35mm slide should also be taken to record the actual colour of the time.
This would be the only way to remove colour bias generated by shadows, time of day, etc…
Experience shows that this is not a difficult task but does require some fitness and agility to "hop" rocks.
These records would then be collated either on site at the end of the day or in combination at a later date.
The recording season will be between 1st April and the 30th October, i.e.: 6 months in the field.
The rest of the year will be spent co-ordinating the information, with a report published, probably by early March every year.
This would be launched at a public lecture with suitable presentation.
I would not recommend a permanent body of recordists greater than 5.



Areas to be developed.

Woodside are currently proposing to double the area of their industrial development with the "Pluto" project.
In the centre of this area lies an important archaeological site with many important petroglyphs.
It is my suggestion that, rather than destroy the site altogether, the most important part of the site, yet to be determined, be set aside with a small museum attached which the public can access.
This would have enormous PR benefits for Woodside & would attract both federal and state government support.
Woodside would need to work closely with interested parties, which could be a world first in this type of co-operative effort.



There are precedents for this approach, eg: York Minster in the UK, which needed extensive repairs in the 1980's. When a Roman Temple dedicated to Dinah was found during excavations it was decided to work around the site and now is a very popular tourist attraction underneath the cathedral.



Funds.

My trip to Karratha plus costs of vehicle hire, equipment hire but excluding accommodation, came to $3,000 for five days.
During that time, approximately 100 petroglyphs were photographed and recorded.
I would say this figure is conservative as I was using my own photographic equipment.
So the actual cost of this survey can be estimated by considering a cost per petroglyph of at least $A30.
Thus the total cost of the survey and the length of time it will take depends upon the number of petroglyphs on the ground.
We can project an annual cost from this figure.
As earlier stated, 10,000 petroglyphs can be recorded per person per year.
With 5 recordists 50,000 petroglyphs can be recorded each year.
It is important to stress that a project of this nature is unlikely to attract a large sum at the start, however, if this project were to commence, funds should be made available on a yearly basis until the project is completed.

Compared to the cost of the Pluto Project - this is just a drop in the ocean.



CONCLUSION

This project comes at a time when a window of opportunity has appeared.
All the parties concerned with this issue understand the sensitivity this situation will generate in the media, ref: "Gas v. Art", West Australian, Saturday September 30th 2006.
This issue compares with the Franklin Dam proposal of the 1980's, both in scale and political sensitivity.
We cannot let an opportunity to rectify a past neglect pass us by.



The State Government must get behind Woodside, Pilbara Iron and Dampier Salt to jointly fund this solution, which will solve this conflict of interest between industry and Australia's heritage.



Once the World Press and media begin to understand what will be lost if this research is not carried out there will be red faces all over West Australia.
The Federal Government wants World Heritage Listing for the whole Archipelago and rightly so.
This is not just about a small backwater of West Australia but about a unique and primary source of human prehistory.
This surpasses Lascaux not only in volume and size but also in age.



We are dealing with the oldest human art in the world.
I strongly believe this is beyond politics.
No government in their right mind should miss this opportunity to bring to world attention the fact that great artworks were being created in the Southern Hemisphere long before the magnificent genius of Lascaux.



It is my belief that all parties will come together to combine and produce, not only the recording of the material, but also a world class resource centre that will be unique in the world.



Woodside and the West Australian Government will be proud of this unique resource.
It is imperative to make a decision soon.



It has been suggested that the heritage area of the northern part of the Archipelago be made more accessible to the general public.
This would be a mistake.
At present the area can only be accessed by 4-wheel drive vehicles and boats.
4-Wheel drive vehicles must be excluded from the area.
Improving access would hasten the destruction of the area, because vandalism and the disappearance of the artworks would totally compromise the cultural heritage of the area.



We are now in the cyclone season for the Archipelago.
This will be over by the end of March 2007.
The new season for study commences early April 2007.
If we miss this season, Woodside will not wait and will pressure to commence the Pluto Project.
Once this starts - it will be too late and a large area of heritage will be lost forever.
This is no idle threat.



I am sure that the West Australian Government is well aware of the pressure Woodside is pressing to get agreement for the start of their project.



The survey must begin in April 2007