During the ice age land went out 250kms to the edge of the continental shelf in places. Aborigines lived on all that land. And then the sea came in. They weren’t one nation. When Europeans came to Australia there were about 250 languages spoken (Australia is bigger than Europe and the aborigines have been here at least five times as long), so the peoples whose land went underwater were very likely to be different tribes, speaking different languages. The seas came in slowly at first and then rapidly enough that they could see the seas rising. It was a time when rock art around Australia shows war. If I’d lived then, I’d wonder whether there would be any land left. I imagine that any people would change the characteristics of their religion.
At that time, it’s calculated that the art of the Kimberley changed completely. The Wandjina style started, and the previous Gwion Gwion style was superseded. Today we visited a rock shelter. You may notice a midden in front of it. This suggests that it wasn’t a sacred site, as people lived there rather than visiting for ceremony.
With an amazing amount of rock art. Later art has been done over earlier art, and older art gradually fades away.
Later, we went to a beach to watch the sunset.
This beach was full of shells and coral rather than sand.
The scenery was wonderful.
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