The Rock Art of Malarrak - Slideshow - Archaeology Magazine Archive

In addition to the site called Djulirri, the subject of "Reading the Rocks" in the January/February 2011 issue of ARCHAEOLOGY, there are 5,000 other rock art sites in the Wellington Range of Arnhem Land in northern Australia. While none of them are quite as large as Djulirri, many offer surprising and unique works that provide additional insight into how the Aborigines saw and reacted to the world around them, especially the changes that came with the arrival of seafarers from Indonesia and eventually Europe. One site not far from Djulirri, called Malarrak, contains 17 discernable layers of paintings, including a number that may depict Southeast Asian subjects. "Every time I return I actually see a new thing," says Paul S. C. Taçon, a rock art expert from Griffith University in Queensland.

Samir S. Patel is a senior editor at ARCHAEOLOGY.

Feature: Reading the Rocks

Video: The Rock Art of Djulirri