Dr Samuel Dix presenting at the AAA Conference 2022
Contact has had a lasting impact on the trajectory of First Nation Peoples and has influenced what was observed, recorded and understood in the landscape.
The motif of a twin masted ship at the rock art site of Djulirri, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, indicates an ongoing understanding and interest in these ships, with the changes in technology observed over time carefully recorded.
Biosis' Senior Archaeologist, Dr Samuel Dix, will be presenting at the AAA Conference 2022, to be held at the Darwin Convention Centre from 7-9 December.
Presentation details
Title: A First Nations Library? – the documenting of technological change in ships through rock art at Djulirri, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
Day: Friday 9 December
Session: 10.30am - 12.30pm
Abstract
First detailed in the 1600s as what was possibly an observation of a Dutch ship, this motif was added to over time, continuing through to the advent of steam propelled ships of the mid-1800s.
Technical analysis undertaken such as identification of different stratigraphic layers seen through changes in pigment, digital tracing and dating of beeswax over pigment has helped to clearly identify the narrative present.
This analysis has helped to further support the importance of this site as a long-term place of recording points of contact and change. The motif at Djulirri, starting from the early observation of a possible Dutch ship, represents a clear example of how First Nations People recorded and documented change as it happened during contact events, and highlights the complex and lasting trajectories contact had with First Nations People.
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