I had been canyoning up the Blue Mountains with Bob, and after an early finished we decided to visit a few heritage sites on the way down Bells Line of Road. Our first stop was the Emu Cave.
This is well known Aboriginal art site close to the Bells Line Of Road. It also has some early European heritage. Near the cave is this engraving –
The engraving was believed to be made by Thomas Shearwood (or Sherwood) around 1871/2. He was the son of convicts and was born in Richmond in 1823. More information can be found in the Blue Mountains Heritage Report for the site.
But far more interesting is the Aboriginal art found inside the nearby cave. There are many engravings of Kangaroo footprints. Eg –
And many more engravings of Emu footprints –
Bob had heard that the cave also contains some ochre hand stencils. We looked at the walls and could not see any. I then used my phone to photograph some of the walls and used the iDStretch app. This can be used to enhance rock art by stretching the histogram and applying artifical colours to emphasise certain shades to hopefully make any artwork more apparent.
Using this software was like using magic to reveal the very faint art.
Here are more examples –
This section of the wall was covered in graffiti. The software revealed a hand stencil –
We then headed up to the rock platforms above the cave. On previous visit Bob had found some sharpening grooves and I was keen to see them.
There were also series of circles. We were unsure if they were of Aboriginal origin or perhaps the you’d have been made by the road workers at some stage. The circles were small – about 5 cm in diameter.
We then visited another heritage site, not too far away. This is spring. It is marked on an old map – The Mt Wilson 1:31,580 sheet.
Close to the spring is some chiselled graffiti –
And here Bob is at the spring.
It is small pool, chipped into the rock, to collect water seeping down.
I wonder who made this? Perhaps road builders?