Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory region of Australia
contains a fascinating display of rock paintings, particularly at
sites called Nourlangie, Ubirr and Nanguluwur. Highlights
include the magical representation of hunted animals, the
presence of ritual ceremonies, stories linked to Aboriginal
ancestor-creators, and paintings for magical purposes, intended to
influence people's lives and control social or atmospheric
situations.
Their purpose must have been didactic and warning, although
their deeper meaning is rather enigmatic. In any case, the
paintings relate to Australian Aboriginal cosmology, in particular
to Alcheringa, the Dreamtime, the Dreaming, and the mythical,
remote and archaic time when enormous beings (ancestors)
emerged from the earth and shaped the world in the course of
their travels, conflicts and various vicissitudes.
Aboriginal people firmly believe that nature is a living organism,
and that if we can read it, it tells us stories of the past, but also of
the future. From their perspective, Australia is a spider's web
whose threads were formed by the journeys of the magical beings
of Dreamtime. The web defines routes, itineraries and boundaries
of separation between the tribes themselves. Natural objects, such
as stones, caves or lagoons, the work of the Ancestors, still retain
some of their power, from which it follows that the earth and all it
contains is sacred, whether inanimate or alive. These ancestors
include, among others, Mother Earth and the Rainbow Serpent. It
is important to note that Aboriginal rock art in this region
continues to have a strong social function for the communities
that inhabit it. For the aboriginal people, most of the spirits still
live in the places where they settled after their wanderings and
exploits to find a place in creation. These entities are guardians of
culture and manipulate atmospheric phenomena such as rain and
wind, thus symbolically conditioning the fertility of the land and
of women.
Prof. Julio López Saco. http://asiahistoria.blogspot.com/ 2009 / 04 /arqueologia-en-australia-pinturas.html