Rock paintings

Unlike engravings, the great majority of rock paintings were made in shelters where they are protected from the weather by an overhang. These rock shelters vary in size and shape: from deep caves to rock surfaces protected by only the smallest of ledges. Rock paintings are found all over Australia but the most spectacular cave galleries are in the north of the Northern Territory; in the Laura district of Cape York, Queensland; and in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Here the abundance of rock formations and natural pigments presented Aboriginal people with an almost endless supply of surfaces and colours for their painted images.