Fern Cave, rock art and social formations: rock art regionalisation and demographic models in southeastern Cape York Peninsula

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, evidence is presented to show that there have been significant changes in the distribution of rock art types in northeastern Australia during the mid‐ to late‐Holocene. The observations are made that 1) the more recent art can be divided geographically into two distinct groups, corresponding to two relatively disparate, ethnographically documented trading networks, located to the north and southwest of the Walsh River, and 2) within each of these regions rock paintings are formally extremely regionalised. The earlier art, on the other hand, shows a very different, more homogeneous spatial distribution. The antiquity of these art forms is first established, followed by a brief discussion of the ethnographic literature for clues as to the relationship between material behaviour and social formations during ethnohistoric times. It is concluded that the changes observed in the rock art from the region reflect relatively recent changes in patterns of interaction, including a regionalisation of social formations after 2500 years ago. These changes may express alterations of strategies related to systems of dispute management, which may be directly related to growing populations. The paper concludes with a brief examination of some of the implications of these observations.

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