Extraordinary Back-to-Back Human and Animal Figures in the Art of Western Arnhem Land, Australia: One of the World's Largest Assemblages

Depictions of mythical beings appear in many different forms of art world-wide, including rock art of various ages. In this paper we explore a particular type of imagery, back-to-back figures, consisting of two human-like figures or animals of the same species next to each other and facing in opposi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCambridge archaeological journal Vol. 32; no. 4; pp. 707 - 720
Main Authors Taçon, Paul S.C., May, Sally K., Goldhahn, Joakim, Taylor, Luke, Brady, Liam M., Ressel, Alex, Jalandoni, Andrea, Wesley, Daryl, Maralngurra, Gabriel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.11.2022
Subjects
Bats
Birds
Ethnography
Mythology
National parks
Native peoples
Petroglyphs
Visual artists
Australia
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:Depictions of mythical beings appear in many different forms of art world-wide, including rock art of various ages. In this paper we explore a particular type of imagery, back-to-back figures, consisting of two human-like figures or animals of the same species next to each other and facing in opposite directions. Some human-like doubles were joined at the back rather than side-by-side, but also face opposite directions. In this paper, we report on new research on rock art, bark paintings and recent paintings on paper and chart a 9000-year history of making aesthetically, symbolically and spiritually powerful back-to-back figures in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia.
ISSN:0959-7743
1474-0540
DOI:10.1017/S0959774322000129