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

Paul S.C. Taçon; Sally K. May; Joakim Goldhahn; Luke Taylor; Liam M. Brady; Alex Ressel; Andrea Jalandoni; Daryl Wesley; Gabriel Maralngurra

doi:10.1017/S0959774322000129

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

Paul S.C. Taçon, Sally K. May, Joakim Goldhahn, Luke Taylor, Liam M. Brady, Alex Ressel, Andrea Jalandoni, Daryl Wesley, Gabriel Maralngurra

College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

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1 Citation (Scopus)

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Abstract

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.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	707-720
Number of pages	14
Journal	CAMBRIDGE ARCHAEOLOGICAL JOURNAL
Volume	32
Issue number	4
Early online date	22 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774322000129
Publication status	Published - Nov 2022

Keywords

Rock art
Arnhem Land
Cultural Heritage

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10.1017/S0959774322000129Licence: CC BY

Final published versionFinal published version, 1.33 MBLicence: CC BY

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AU - Jalandoni, Andrea

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

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Keywords

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