From Paul Tacon, Australian Museum
I was spellbound by Alan Coukell’s recent report on interpreting the
so-called Bradshaw rock paintings
(19 May, p 34). We were told that Per
Michaelsen and his colleagues had come up with a “new” theory that these figures
may relate to shamanism. What amazed me most was that this is not new at all.
Indeed, the idea that some north Australian rock art might reflect aspects of
shamanism was first explored in print by Kim Sales in 1992 (Archaeology in
Oceania, vol 27, p 22). In terms of the Bradshaw paintings, I published an
extensive piece in Nature Australia (vol 26[3], p 40) in 1998/99, well
before Michaelsen et al’s piece in Mankind Quarterly (2001).
Sydney
