Ubirr

Ubirr lies in Kakadu National Park in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Kakadu encompasses nearly 5 million acres of land, most of which is inaccessible by car. Darwin, the closest city of any size, is a 12-hour drive from Ubirr. Ubirr first appears to be a rather chaotic collection of rock art. Australian Aborigines have been painting and repainting the walls of Ubirr for thousands of years. In fact, Aborigines can boast the longest continually practiced artistic tradition in the world. Tribes of Aboriginal hunters and gatherers established the site over 20,000 years ago for its desirable location. The site was central to a large variety of plant and animal resources from the East Alligator River, the Nadab floodplain, marshes, nearby woods, and the surrounding rocky outcrops, making the area very valuable. The rock art at Ubirr and other sites in the area has been divided into three distinct periods based on the content of the pictures and the styles in which they were painted: Pre-Estuarine (ca.40000–6000 BC), Estuarine (ca. 6000 BC–500 AD), and Fresh Water (500 AD to the present).

Scholars have identified 11 main art styles at Ubirr, spread across the three time periods. During the Pre-Estuarine period, the climate was drier and the sea level lower. Art at this time consisted of large naturalistic humans and animals, object prints, which are hands or other objects dipped in paint and pressed on the rock surface, dynamic figures, simple figures, and yam figures. Dynamic figures are small, detailed drawings of humans and animals. The human figures are generally animated, involved in some activity. Simple figures are stylized images drawn with a single thick line. Many are shown with boomerangs. The yam figures are human or animal forms blended with wild yams. The yam is usually the head of the figure.

The Estuarine Period began when flooding filled river valleys and created mangrove swamps. Crocodiles, barramundi, and catfish first appear in the landscape and in the rock art during this period. Beeswax art also first makes an appearance. Beeswax was applied to the rock walls to create simple designs and human figures. The x-ray descriptive style portrays both the external and internal structure of humans, animals, or inanimate objects.

During the Fresh Water Period, freshwater bill-abongs and swamps replaced saltwater systems. The paintings reflect new resources attracted to the area. Waterlillies, geese, and human figures carrying goose feather objects or goose spears were depicted. There are two styles of Fresh Water art: contact art and x-ray decorative style. The x-ray decorative style evolved from the earlier x-ray descriptive style. Some artists appear to have lost interest in the detail of internal organs and simply divided the figures they painted decoratively. Contemporary artists use both forms of x-ray art. Contact art records the initial contact of the natives with outsiders, both Chinese and European.

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