Menngen ALT IPA Cultural Heritage

This project aims to investigate the cultural and archaeological values of Wardaman rock art in and around Menngen Station in partnership with the Northern Land Council and Wardaman Indigenous Protected Area Aboriginal Corporation. The project aims to contribute to the development of a culturally informed conservation plan.

The Wardaman rangers have identified several rock art sites to undertake conservation monitoring, and archaeological and anthropological recording activities in 2025. These sites are within the Wardaman Indigenous Protect Area and nearby pastoral leases. Madeleine has been contracted onto the project as an archaeologists/anthropologist and rock art expert.

The project will involve Madeleine undertaking a preliminary desktop evaluation of the sites and providing a report summarising previous work and site registrations, and recommending future conservation and recording works. It will also involve 10 field days monitoring and recording sites, which includes identifying unregistered sacred sites, recording current site conditions, recording Elder's and ranger's knowledge, 3D photography, and more. The fieldwork will involve training the Wardaman rangers to undertake these activities in order to build the cultural heritage capacity of the ranger team and contribute to Wardaman rangers efforts to care for and manage Country.

The work contributes to Madeleine's ongoing research with Wardaman rangers investigating decolonial, multidisciplinary, relational approaches to rock art and heritage. This work emerged out of their PhD research, which weaves passed Elder's stories with an archaeologically systematic temporal and spatial analysis of rock art across Wardaman Country.