An archaic face from the Woodstock Abydos Protected Reserve, northwestern Western Australia: An archaic face from the Woodstock Abydos Protected Reserve, northwestern Western Australia

Liam Brady, Anneliese Carson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper discusses an archaic face motif recently recorded from the inland Pilbara region of northwestern Australia. Although these motifs are well-known from other parts of arid and semi-arid Australia, very few have been previously reported from the inland Pilbara. Located at the Lukis Granites site in the Woodstock Abydos Protected Reserve (WAPR), the archaic face forms one small part of a much larger cultural complex. Using one of Mulvaney's (2010) four classes of archaic faces recently identified from the Dampier Archipelago - the 'Concentric' style face - this find reinforces suggestions of a stylistic link between the Dampier, inland Pilbara and the Durba Hills (near the Canning Stock Route) areas. Building on recent observations of other shared graphic styles we highlight the potential of the inland Pilbara, and more specifcally the WAPR, to contribute to our understanding of social networks and interregional interaction in both the Pilbara and further afield. We conclude by highlighting the importance of this motif in the context of arguing for better protection of the WAPR archaeological landscape.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)98-102
Number of pages5
JournalAustralian Archaeology
Volume74
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2012

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