Rock Art Research

Rock inscriptions purportedly related to Dutch shipwrecks and other early exotic visitors on the west coast of Western Australia are examined. The question of authenticity is investigated by microscopic analysis of weathering phenomena, such as the retreat rate of carbonate cement in calcareous sandstone. Dated rock inscriptions are of great value in developing quantitative and repeatable methods of estimating the age of petroglyphs. In this context, they can be of considerable importance in scientific studies of rock art. Moreover, the study of rock art should not be arbitrarily divorced from the analysis of rock inscriptions, a similar scientific methods study the two forms of rock markings and can provide mutually complementary information.