Rock Art Research

This article describes and contextualises the rock art at the Thurk Petroglyph Site on the Murray River in South Australia using multiple methods. The Thurk Aboriginal engravings comprise at least 524 motifs made up predominantly of geometric line elements as well as a small number of other ‘simple’ geometric motifs, two ‘bird tracks’, one figurative design (a ‘fish’) and a possible anthropomorphous figure. This paper provides the first synthesis of rock art sites/complexes and motifs from other sites on the Murray River as well as visual symbols recorded from senior Aboriginal ‘knowledge carriers’. These syntheses allow us to consider the relationship of Thurk to other cultural places and to highlight and honour the traditional knowledges and beliefs which underpin the rock art. Thurk’s placement within the riverscape, its unique geological canvas, lack of observable ‘domestic’ archaeological evidence combined with it being the likely upstream extent of Murray River rock art in South Australia contribute additional dimensions to its cultural significance. That Thurk’s rock art, and the broader site, have been desecrated by gratuitous graffiti, vandalism and infrastructure brings into sharp focus Australia’s poor record of heritage protection and provides a challenge to current and future generations of non-Aboriginal people to remedy this past.