Australian Aborigines Create Wandjina Cave Paintings
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History: The Ancient World, Prehistory-476
- Categories: Arts, Religion, Ethics, Mythology, Folklore
- Subcategories: Painting, Painters, Drawing, Barbarians, Nomads, Ceremonies, Rites, Rituals, Prehistoric Humans
- Curriculum: Australian/New Zealand History, Ancient History
- Geographical Location: Australia
- Date: c. 3000
Article abstract: Early aboriginal peoples in northwestern Australia believed that beings called Wandjina were associated with the Creation and controlled the elements, human fertility, and the maintenance of other natural species. The ritual of repainting these ancestral images on cave walls was believed to guarantee the continuation of life.
Summary of Event
Rock shelter paintings created by the Worrorra, Wunambal, and Ngarinyin peoples in the northwestern part of Kimberley, Australia, are examples of how rock art established both a source of origin...
[The entire page is 958 words long]
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