Knowra Gwion Gwion rock paintings Gwion Gwion rock paintings Gwion Gwion rock paintings are finely detailed human figures painted on rock shelters in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They are an ancient Aboriginal art tradition, formerly often called Bradshaw paintings.
Kimberley rock art : Kimberley rock art comprises Aboriginal paintings and engravings on rock surfaces across northwestern Australia. Gwion Gwion figures are one distinctive tradition within this broader regional record.
Kimberley region : The Kimberley is a large region in northwestern Western Australia, home to diverse Aboriginal peoples and rock-art traditions. The paintings occur across this region, whose landscapes and communities shape their context.
Tassel Gwion : Tassel Gwion is a named style of Kimberley rock painting, identified by figures with tassel-like ornaments. Its characteristic appendages make it one of the recognizable Gwion figure styles.
Luminescence dating : Luminescence dating estimates when mineral grains were last exposed to light or heat. It has been used on mineral deposits associated with Kimberley paintings to constrain their age.
Wandjina : Wandjina are powerful ancestral beings represented in paintings by Aboriginal peoples of the Kimberley. Wandjina paintings form another major Kimberley tradition, with markedly different imagery and cultural associations.
Wunambal people : The Wunambal are Aboriginal people whose Country includes parts of the northern Kimberley. Wunambal cultural knowledge and custodianship inform interpretation of rock art in their Country.
Sash Gwion : Sash Gwion is a named style of Kimberley rock painting, featuring figures with sash-like bands. The sash details distinguish this figure type within classifications of Gwion imagery.
Radiocarbon dating : Radiocarbon dating estimates the age of once-living materials by measuring radioactive carbon-14. Organic material associated with rock-art sites can provide dates, though painted pigment itself is often unsuitable.
Ochre : Ochre is a naturally occurring earth pigment used in art, ceremony, and other cultural practices. Mineral pigments, including ochres, are part of the material history investigated at Kimberley rock-art sites.
Ngarinyin people : The Ngarinyin are an Aboriginal people of the central Kimberley region of Western Australia. Ngarinyin people are among the Kimberley communities connected to Gwion Gwion sites and their interpretation.
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