Kakadu rock art and the Aboriginal stories of the Top End

The ancient galleries of Kakadu National Park reveal tens of thousands of years of Aboriginal culture, belief and storytelling layered into stone.

The lightning man and Aboriginal mythology

There are more lightning strikes here than anywhere else on the planet, and the being responsible for them is depicted right in front of us.

Namarrgon, the lightning man, makes the big thunderstorms happen. According to the sign next to it, he broke incest laws and later became Ginga, the great saltwater crocodile.

That information hints at a far bigger story. Outsiders don’t have the required cultural knowledge to hear the deeper versions. Visiting the Aboriginal rock art of the Northern Territory rarely gives neat answers – it leaves you with more questions.

Anbangbang Gallery and the Arnhem Land Escarpment

The Anbangbang Gallery sits on an outcrop of the Arnhem Land Escarpment at the eastern edge of Kakadu National Park. Within Kakadu alone there are more than 5,000 documented rock art sites.

Beyond that, in the permit-only and rarely visited expanses of Arnhem Land, there are tens of thousands more. People have used these shelters for at least 40,000 years, layering their paintings over and over again.

Rock art as history and cultural record

It quickly becomes clear that the rock art of Kakadu is about much more than pictures on cave walls. The art is inseparable from history, culture, geology and the environment.

At times it acts as a restaurant menu, with many paintings depicting food. At others it plays a crucial role in the Indigenous worldview, passing on moral lessons, information about life, and stories that structure society.

The stories outsiders hear are often simplified fragments of complex narratives that can take hours to tell.

Layers of knowledge and storytelling

“Knowledge is layered,” says Venture North’s head guide Dave McMahon. “You have to know everything at one level before getting some of the next.”

The art itself also tells a story, some of which can be studied through science. Carbon dating of fire remnants and stone tools near rock shelters can help place the paintings in time.

Interpreting styles and subjects

Dave points to a kangaroo drawn in a simple, naturalistic style. “That’s probably about 5,000 years old,” he explains, noting that style is often a clue. Around 1,500 years ago a more technical style emerged, depicting the internal organs of animals.

The subject matter helps too. A change in climate 1,500 years ago made Kakadu hot and wet. If a boomerang is painted, it dates to before that time. “If you threw one now, you’d just hit a tree,” says Dave.

Signs of contact and European arrival

Some of the content is far more recent. A figure painted entirely in white looks like he has his hands in his pockets – something that must have puzzled Indigenous people when Europeans arrived.

Next to him is a gun, unmistakably a white man’s weapon. Spot one of these and you know the painting is less than 200 years old.

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More information

Tour options: Venture North runs a five-day tour through Kakadu, Arnhemland and the Cobourg Peninsula from A$4,490 per person.

However, there are several other Kakadu tours available. You can, for example, do a day tour from Darwin that includes the Nourlangie rock art and a wildlife-watching cruise.

More Northern Territory travel

Other Northern Territory travel articles on Planet Whitley include:

• Swimming with crocodiles in Darwin’s Cage of Death.
• Six reasons to visit Darwin on an Australian holiday.
• Guide to Florence Falls in Litchfield National Park.
• The Victoria Settlement on the Cobourg Peninsula: Australia’s lost city.
• What to climb in Australia instead of Uluru.