About a month earlier, I had been on a trip to visit a number of Aboriginal art sites near Euroka in the Glenbrook section of Blue Mountains National Park. But there were more sites to visit, or to revisit.
On this trip was Bob, Doug and Will.
Site 1
This was an art cave that Bob and myself had visited back in 2024. It was the last site we had visited on this trip.
It features a number of red ochre hand stencils. This visit, we had a more thorough look and found more stencils than we had seen previously.
on the cave floor was this red ochre source.
This cave is particularly good to demonstrate the advantage of using histogram stretching software to bring put faint art. See the examples below –
The photos have been taken on a iPhone and the histogram stretching is done using the iDStretch app.
At the drip line, Bob found a number of stone tools.
All these small stones have worked edges and are not native to this spot.
Site 2
This was a second art cave, not that far from the first site. This one featured charcoal art. Most of the motifs were indistinct.
One panel had two charcoal motives. the lower one could be a kangaroo or a dingo.
The stretching software is somewhat helpful here –
Site 3
We called this site the Spirit Figure Cave. It was another small overhang but in a different creek to the previous two sites.
On the roof of the cave is this white ochre spirit figure. It has a very prominent penis.
Beard Orchid
Site 4 – Euroka
We then headed to Euroka to have lunch. While there we spotted this large Goanna –
At Euroka are quite a few Aboriginal scar trees. Many of the featured turtles. I think these trees have a very deep spiritual significance to Aboriginal people.
Site 5 – Golden Boomerang Cave
Bob and myself had visited this site on the previous trip I mentioned above.
On the previous trip, we had found these sharpening grooves not far from the cave.
In the photo below – you can just make out a Boomerang motif in red ochre. To the right is a faint human figure in white – probably engraved rather than white ochre.
And to the right in another human figure – this one more horizontal.
And further to the right, and two human figures, one large and one small. All these figures seem to have prominent buttocks.
There are also some red ochre hand stencils present over the large figure.
We tried using a phone torch to see if this would make the art more visible.
It did not help much.
Histogram stretching brings out the boomerang and hand stencils.
Site 6 – Red Hands Cave
This is a well known site and has an amazing tuber of red and white ochre hand stencils handsome other art.
Axe heads –
This had been another very interesting trip.