Incredibly rare pieces of tiny Neolithic rock art found in a shallow Australian cave were made by creating tiny stencils out of beeswax, researchers have concluded.
Located in the Yilbilinji rockshelter in northern Australia’s Limmen National Park, miniature stencils of this type are only known from two other sites across the globe.
Although the site — traditionally owned by the Marra Aboriginal people — has been known for decades, the tiny art was only documented in 2017.
Each of the images is less than 4.7 inches (12 centimetres) in length.
The miniatures appear among around 300 larger scale stencilled images, the latter of which are common among the 28,000-year history of Aboriginal art.
The large images are made by spraying paint across objects held against the rock face — with hands, boomerangs and animal parts often used as stencils.
However, the tiny stencilled images are too small to have been made using ordinary objects — which encouraged researchers to explore how they were made.
Scroll down for video
Incredibly rare pieces of tiny Neolithic rock art found in a shallow Australian cave, pictured, were made by creating tiny stencils out of beeswax, researchers have concluded
Archaeologist Liam Brady and colleagues including Marra Rangers and Park Rangers recorded a total of 17 of the tiny stencils — including such motifs as human figures, animals, boomerangs and geometric shapes.
‘We have found the largest concentration of these images anywhere in the world,’ said Dr Brady, who hails from Australia’s Flinders University.
‘We wanted to know how they were made and what they might mean,’ he added.
The team concluded that the shape of the stencilled images meant that they were likely made using a material that could be easily moulded and stuck to the surface of the rock — as there was no sign anything else was used to affix the stencils.
With anthropological studies in the region noting that children often shape beeswax into tiny items like cattle and horses the team set out to test if the sticky substance could be used to produce stencilled art similar to that found in the rockshelter.
The researchers heated and shaped beeswax, proving that it could be employed successfully to make miniature stencils.
‘Our experiments show how important the role of precision, carefulness, time and effort are in decorating and inscribing the landscape with symbols’ said Dr Brady.
The miniatures appear among around 300 larger scale stencilled images, the latter of which are common among the 28,000-year history of Aboriginal art
The large images are made by spraying paint across objects held against the rock face — with hands, boomerangs and animal parts often used as stencils. However, the tiny stencilled images are too small to have been made using ordinary objects — which encouraged researchers to explore how they were made
Located in the Yilbilinji rockshelter, pictured, in northern Australia’s Limmen National Park, miniature stencils of this type are only known from two other sites across the globe
According to the researchers, understand how the images were made may help shine light on exactly why they were made, as well.
Among some Aboriginal populations for example, beeswax is conferred a spiritual significance and is associated with the ancestral beings — or ‘Dreamings’ — that are said to have originally shaped the world, as well as the practice of sorcery.
At the same time, however, the researchers noted that the fact that children are often seen making things with beeswax could suggest that the art was the product of play — or practice for making the similar, but full-sized, art also found in the cave.
This conclusion is supported by the fact that some of the tiny stencils were left on the rock at child height.
‘The Marra were making these miniature stencils in their landscape that is filled with the memories of their ancestors who continue to care for it,’ said Dr Brady.
The team concluded that the shape of the stencilled images meant that they were likely made using a material that could be moulded and stuck to the surface of the rock — as there was no sign anything else was used to affix the stencils. Pictured, the team made beeswax stencils
With anthropological studies in the region noting that children often shape beeswax into tiny items like cattle and horses the team set out to test if the sticky substance could be used to produce stencilled art similar to that found in the rockshelter, pictured
The researchers heated and shaped beeswax, proving that it could be employed successfully to make miniature stencils, as pictured
Although the site (pictured) — traditionally owned by the Marra Aboriginal people — has been known for decades, the tiny art was only documented in 2017
Regardless of the reason that the rock art was originally stencilled, the researchers said that the study shows the potential of collaboration between archaeologists, rangers and the Marra Traditional Owners.
‘Since this work was published we have already discovered three new miniature motifs, a human figure, freshwater turtle, and an echidna,’ said Dr Brady.
‘For the Marra, studies of this sort are also about re-connecting knowledge, people, and place to sustain an on-going system of care.’
The only other known sites featuring tiny stencilled rock art exist in New South Wales’ Nielson’s Creek and on Indonesia’s Kisar Island.
Unlike those found at the Yilbilinji rockshelter, however, these images are both of figures, rather than the diverse range of motifs seen in the north Australian site.
The full findings of the study were published in the journal Antiquity.
Located in the Yilbilinji rockshelter in northern Australia’s Limmen National Park, miniature stencils of this type are only known from two other sites across the globe