| Description |
126 pages, 1 unnumbered pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Summary |
Includes mention of the Indigenous name for the Jenolan Caves 'Binoomea' p. 10; Skeleton Cave named because of a skeleton found partly embedded in the stalagmitic floor p. 18; states that in Yarrangobilly when explorers lost their horses they enlisted Aboriginal people as baggage-carriers, and also found bones of Aboriginal people p. 20; mentions "Blackfellows' Rock" natures monument to vanished tribes p. 24; states the Buchan township's name is based on the Aboriginal word 'Bukkan" for dilly-bag p. 25; describes Blanche Cave and tells of when Aboriginal people threw three hundred sheep down the cave onto the rocks below, and tells the story of the dried and shrivelled body of an Aboriginal person almost petrified by the dripping limestone, and of it twice being stolen p. 30-31; describes Punyelroo cave near Naracoorte and recalls the author searching the cave for evidence of occupation but of only finding a few small chipped flakes of quartz and crumbling valves of river mussel shells, and recounts the Aboriginal story of a crow who chased a goanna into a hole in the river cliffs and blocked it with stone, but finding some time later a hole out of which the goanna escaped - the mouth of the Punyelroo cave p. 34; describes the Yonderup Cave which may have been used as a burial cave by the extinct Yanchep tribe, and the skeletal remains of an Aboriginal person being protected from vandalism by a barrier of strong wire-netting p. 43; states the local Aboriginal people believe the Mereguda Cave is haunted and fear to enter the cavern, and that a relic of a vanished tribe was found - a wooden weapon shaped like a waddy and studded with dingo teeth representing the eyes and nose of a grotesque human face p. 47-49; states the Murrawijinnie Caves contain the only known example of Aboriginal art on the Nullarbor - red hands imprinted on the rock p. 53; mentions burial caves on the Wessel Islands where human skulls and bones are piled on rock ledges, and of rock surfaces being decorated with totemic and other designs p. 53; talks of Aboriginal rock pictures, some of them centuries old, decorating the walls of shallow caverns on Ayers Rock p. 68; mentions Sphinx Rock of Elcho Island which figures in an Aboriginal creation myth p. 70; states Aboriginal people from Bloomfield River believe Mount Peter Botte is haunted by the spirits of their ancestors p. 78; it is believed that for thousands of years Aboriginal people gathered in the Bunya Mountains for the feast of bunya nuts, with many tribes meeting ina time of general amnesty p. 78-80; mentions Albert Namatjira of Hermannsburg having captured the vivid colours of the Macdonnell Ranges in his paintings p. 88; mentions the Jervois Skull, which may be ancient or modern, Aboriginal paintings of mostly "calendar" strokes on the rocks of Emily Gap, and Glen Helen Gorge where the Finke River broke through before the Alcheringa or Dream time p. 89; states Lake Albina comes from the Aboriginal word for 'where the eagles drink' p. 94; states the original discoverers of Lake Tali-Karng were two men of the Welwenduk tribe p. 98-99; provides overview of the original people of Australia and their artefacts, the Puralka Flint with a probable age between 20,000 and 30,000 years, and the Tartanga excavations p. 114-116; mentions William Buckley, the escaped convict, sometimes lived in caves near Queenscliff and the Geelong district p. 120; provides several pages of information on cave art p. 121-126; images 'Cave of Fishes, Grampians, Victoria' p. 53, 'Human skulls in burial cave, North Wessel Islands' p. 54, 'Secret (totemic) rock, Elcho Island, Northern Territory' p. 60, 'The great rock shelter, Mootwingee, N.S.W.' p. 123, 'Aboriginal paintings on wall of cave, Wessel Islands' p. 125, 'The Lightning Brothers; ancient rock painting' p. 127 |
| Subject |
Caves -- Australia.
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Caves.
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Physical geography -- Australia.
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Waterfalls -- Australia.
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| Author |
Namatjira, Albert, 1902-1959.
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| LC no. |
11918260 |
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