Rock Paintings of Ngiangu

Author(s): Liam Brady

Editor(s): Lynette Russel

Year: 2010

Summary

Ngiangu is a small, six-hectare, flat-topped rocky island with numerous caves cut into the steep sides of the island. It is the western-most island in the Torres Strait. In 1985 and 1990 a Queensland Museum expidition, under the direction of Ron Colemen, undertook archaeological and geological surveys of the island. Coleman's team documented rock paintings from four caves. A total of 152 monochrome and bichrome paintings have been documented from Ngiangu. All of the documented rock-art sites are located in shoreline caves exposed to coastal forces (water and salt damage). Slides of the rock paintings held at the Queensland Museum were scanned and subjected to computer enhancement. Slide enhancement was able to identify three heavily deteriorated paintings, as well as clafify design elements on many other paintings.The conditions of the paintings vary from good to heavily deteriorated; many suffer from water damage and graffiti.

Cite this Record

Rock Paintings of Ngiangu. Liam Brady, Lynette Russel. In Pictures, Patterns and Objects: Rock-Art of the Torres Strait Islands, Northeastern Australia. North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing. 2010 ( tDAR id: 367127)

Keywords

Culture
Aboriginal Rock Art

Material
Mineral

Site Name
Rock-Art of the Torres Strait Islands, Northeastern Australia

Site Type
Petroglyph • Pictograph • Rock Art

Investigation Types
Archaeological Overview • Bioarchaeological Research • Data Recovery / Excavation • Environment Research

General
Aboriginal Activity Zone • Rock Art • Rock Art Documentation

Geographic Keywords
Torres Strait Islands

Spatial Coverage

min long: 141.064; min lat: -11.222 ; max long: 144.426; max lat: -7.471 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Principal Investigator(s): Liam Brady

Record Identifiers

isbn(s): 9781921875069