Trials and Tribulations of Artificial Silicone Driplines

Abstract

Kakadu National Park in northern Australia contains one of the largest currently known concentrations of rock imagery on this southern continent. The product of Bininj/Mungguy (Aboriginal people) who still reside in the area, they are connected to the storylines and narratives interwoven through time and place. The Park plays an important role in supporting Traditional Owners and site custodians to look after these jewels and with approximately 15,000 rock art sites across the Park, this has been no easy task. Kakadu intersects with Arnhem Land in the far tropical north of Australia and covers an area of 20,000km2. More than 13 Aboriginal clan groups reside here and have long looked after this Country. As pressures from uranium mining, pastoralism, Aboriginal land rights and development increased in the 1970s, the Park itself was established in response. Conservation and management programs were subsequently trialled to support the long-term protection and preservation of the rock art. One of the key programs including a response to water management was that of the installation of artificial silicone driplines to deviate water away from the fragile pigments, an effort to protect them longer. Over the past decade, doctoral research has supported Park programs and aspirations of Bininj/Mungguy to investigate these 40-year-old practices. This paper will provide a review of four case studies evidencing successes and failures of this intervention technique.