A trek into the Drysdale Escarpment in search of Bradshaw art
Submitted: Saturday, Jan 15, 2011 at 18:07
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Mick O
I have some friends over tonight who we met on last years trip up north. I put this little video together this afternoon of a walk we did and thought others might enjoy it as
well.
This little video follows a full day trek into the Drysdale Escarpment in the remote north
Kimberley in search of ancient Bradshaw art.
Our camp was situated on the
Drysdale river west of the Carson River and old Carson River Station. There are not many tracks into this remote area and
our camp was situated at the end of a self made track.
We hiked a cross the river and into a narrow cleft climbing through the tangled scrub to the top. From here is was a matter of avoiding the ever present and nasty green ants and searching for caverns and overhangs in which ancient artists have shared their work. The Bradshaw art figures are believed to be over 17,000 years old and the their meanings and style of art has been lost in antiquity.
It was a hard slog through some pretty unforgiving country but thoroughly enjoyable none the less. Some great company, boats, quads, a chopper and a lot of foot work made for a memorable 8 days on the Drysdale.
Mick
Reply By: Member - joc45 (WA) - Saturday, Jan 15, 2011 at 20:51
Saturday, Jan 15, 2011 at 20:51
Hi Mick,
Great Stuff!
Was out there back in 2001 on the Drysdale, but we were limited to our activities by the conditions on our permit, and would have dearly loved to have seen some good Bradshaws.
I did, however, back in the mid-90's, have the good fortune to be camping at a remote spot where Grahame Walsh was based, where he was collecting and cataloging pics of Bradshaws. Some fascinating campfire stories were told. He had a particular knack of identifying Bradshaw sites from the chopper. One beeswax figure we told him about, he was able to successfully walk into the site with only a very rough description of its location. In the world of anthropology, he was revered by some and detested by others for his
views on the history of the Bradshaws.
cheers,
Gerry
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Reply By: Motherhen - Sunday, Jan 16, 2011 at 00:18
Sunday, Jan 16, 2011 at 00:18
Fantastic Mick
It is amazing how the Bradshaw paintings have stood the
test of time; they are magnificent and so many of them out there and not even available to the general public. Painted by birds with their wing tip feathers dipped in their own blood when time began.
Seeing names carved across ancient
rock paintings and engravings in the
Carnarvon Gorge, maybe keeping much of it away from the public is a good idea.
I am now re-doing my travelogues of our
Kimberley trip for a website, and looking back, think the
Kimberley is the best of what Australia has to offer, and we didn't even venture off the regular roads.
Motherhen
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Follow Up By: Mick O - Sunday, Jan 16, 2011 at 01:10
Sunday, Jan 16, 2011 at 01:10
Amen! .....and here endeth the lesson!
(mind you one should never discount
the rock art in the isolated
places east of the Calverts like Yowyungoo and Mungulu).
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