Scratching the surface: Subtractive rock markings from the Cockburn Ranges, eastern Kimberley, Western Australia

Abstract

This article deals with visual expression in the form of subtractive rock markings from the Cockburn Ranges, situated within the Balanggarra Native Title determination in the east Kimberley, Western Australia. We present examples of subtractive rock marking diversity, ranging from cupules and abraded grooves, recursive cultural practises in the form of battering and scratching of extant artworks, figurative and non-figurative images, potentially random scratches and battering of the rock surface and tally marks. These kinds of visual expressions in rock art research have a tendency to fall under the radar when researchers discuss the meaning and significance of Aboriginal Australian rock art. We argue that the broad diversity of subtractive rock markings is employed through time and space, stretching from the Pleistocene through to the more recent past. The article presents two avenues for interpreting this often-neglected corpus of Kimberley rock art: rock art as an intergenerational cultural knowledge transfer and its connection to maintenance rituals.