Rock Art Research

This paper attempts to contribute to the discussion of finger markings or flutings found in limestone caves around the world by presenting data on two crescent-shaped grooves made in soft clay and found amongst the largest known collection of Pleistocene human footprints in the world, in the Willandra Lakes region of south-eastern Australia. The site represents activities of a band of Aboriginal people during the last glacial maximum, between about 17 000 and 23 000 years ago. Pintubi people from central Australia identified the grooves as finger markings made by children playing on the clay surface of an ephemeral soak. The markings are similar to the finger flutings found elsewhere in Australia and in other parts of the world on montmilch deposits on the walls and ceilings of limestone caves. They are amongst the oldest markings of this kind. If the Pintubi interpretation is correct, these markings are extremely rare examples of what was once probably a widespread form of marking world-wide, preserved in clay in the open air, rather than the much more usual limestone caves. This paper highlights the remarkable continuity in the practice of making such markings over a considerable period of time, from this site through to observations that finger markings were still being made during ceremonies in the Western Desert in the 1960s.