Bradshaws
Encyclopedia
Bradshaw rock paintings, or the Bradshaws are a distinctive style of rock art
found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia
. They are named after the pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw who was the first European to discover them in 1891, whilst searching for grazing land for his cattle. The Bradshaws are also known as Gwion Gwion by the local Aboriginal people.
Scientists estimate that there may be more than 100,000 sites spread over 50,000 km² of the Kimberley. In 1996 one of the paintings was dated by analysing an ancient wasp
nest covering it (using thermoluminescence
). The nest was found to be over 17,000 years old, indicating that some paintings are at least this old.
Debate rages as to who actually created the art. On one side of the debate is Grahame Walsh, an amateur archeologist and the leading expert on the Bradshaws with over 1.2 million images he has amassed over 21 years studying them. His hypothesis claims that the Bradshaws were painted by a culture predating present day Indigenous Australians
. On the other side are the mainstream scientific community who believe that it is completely plausible that the art was produced by the local people.
Controversy surrounds this debate as it is believed by some non-indigenous Australians that if the Bradshaw art is found not to be Aboriginal in origin, land rights claims by Indigenous Australians may be undermined. Regardless of whether the Bradshaw art is Aboriginal or exotic, "mainstream" Indigenous art is also found in the Kimberley region - proof that Indigenous people have inhabited and had cultural connection to the area.
Many of the ancient rock paintings maintain vivid colors because they have been colonized by bacteria and fungi, such as the black fungus, Chaetothyriales
. The pigments originally applied may have initiated an ongoing, symbiotic relationship between black fungi and red bacteria. Their presence makes the work very difficult to accurately date.
Pre-historic art
In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate, prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops writing or other methods of record-keeping, or it makes significant contact with another...
found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Kimberley region of Western Australia
The Kimberley is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northern part of Western Australia, bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami Deserts, and on the east by the Northern Territory.The region...
. They are named after the pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw who was the first European to discover them in 1891, whilst searching for grazing land for his cattle. The Bradshaws are also known as Gwion Gwion by the local Aboriginal people.
Scientists estimate that there may be more than 100,000 sites spread over 50,000 km² of the Kimberley. In 1996 one of the paintings was dated by analysing an ancient wasp
Wasp
The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...
nest covering it (using thermoluminescence
Thermoluminescence dating
Thermoluminescence dating is the determination, by means of measuring the accumulated radiation dose, of the time elapsed since material containing crystalline minerals was either heated or exposed to sunlight...
). The nest was found to be over 17,000 years old, indicating that some paintings are at least this old.
Debate rages as to who actually created the art. On one side of the debate is Grahame Walsh, an amateur archeologist and the leading expert on the Bradshaws with over 1.2 million images he has amassed over 21 years studying them. His hypothesis claims that the Bradshaws were painted by a culture predating present day Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. On the other side are the mainstream scientific community who believe that it is completely plausible that the art was produced by the local people.
Controversy surrounds this debate as it is believed by some non-indigenous Australians that if the Bradshaw art is found not to be Aboriginal in origin, land rights claims by Indigenous Australians may be undermined. Regardless of whether the Bradshaw art is Aboriginal or exotic, "mainstream" Indigenous art is also found in the Kimberley region - proof that Indigenous people have inhabited and had cultural connection to the area.
Many of the ancient rock paintings maintain vivid colors because they have been colonized by bacteria and fungi, such as the black fungus, Chaetothyriales
Chaetothyriales
Chaetothyriales is an order of ascomycetous fungi within the class Eurotiomycetes and within the subphylum Pezizomycotina.-References:*C.J. Alexopolous, Charles W. Mims, M. Blackwell, Introductory Mycology, 4th ed. ISBN 0-471-52229-5...
. The pigments originally applied may have initiated an ongoing, symbiotic relationship between black fungi and red bacteria. Their presence makes the work very difficult to accurately date.
External links
- TLS review of Lost World of Kimberley
- Bradshaw Foundation Bradshaw Paintings of the Kimberley, North West Australia
- Rock star of the Kimberley