V)56 I a tot tan \ til u> ii.i, \i d3 



MORE PAINTINGS ON FLAT ROCK 



Uv A. Masso* .a* 



\ second nick shelter hearing alfiuTgma) uzftntings Ims Ijjtt.11 



icpoited from Flat Rock Mr A. Hemlev of Stauell accidentally 

 (IhfCrtVcrH lllis new shelter while »»ul liking fuf tin recent h 

 descrihed uiic in the same locality, (Sot.- I in. Xtlt, ?J ; Jb Juiu- 

 1 *>50 ) . So the writer once ngain had the pleasure of \isitiug llie 

 area. This time the party consisted of several member 1 *- <u die 

 Stawell Fiekl Naturalists Club, including the Secretary* Mrs. \\ 

 A. ' *ollm>, ;tnd Mr. I. R. MeCann The latter served as a botanical 

 encyclopedia, identifying the wonderful profusion of wild flnwets 

 f-ir which the Grampians arc famed. 



The new shelter. Flat Rock Kb, 2. is possibly not as interesting 

 pictoriaHy as the earlier, or Xo. I shelter, inasmuch as the design 

 consists, solely of a fev\ sttokes done in red ochre, lint it is precisely 

 this dearth of pictography which renders tin's particular shelter 

 uf major importance. For it presents a prohltm to solve, [-ike Xo 1 

 it is situated half way up the hill, and from it, again as in Xo, 1. 

 a heautiful view of the country to the north-west is obtained, The 

 shelter is cave-like in appearance, ahout \2 feet wide at the 

 entrance and only 9 feet deep at its deepest point. The outside 

 edge of the ceiling presents a flat, smooth beam-like surface \2 feet 

 long and 14 inches wide. It is upon thi-- surface that the aboriginal 

 artist painted his strokes in red ochre. Beginning from the left, 

 there is a small group of only three strokes, covering a mere 

 3 inches by 2 inches of surface; six inches away to the right are 

 four more strokes f covering 3 inches by 3J inches; three feet away 

 are two more strokes, 4 inches by 1^ inches; a further eighteen 

 inches brings us to two more strokes. 3 inches hv H inches. That 

 i* all ! 



But this is tlte problem. The strokes obviously were made for a 

 purpose. The four little groups i;ive the idea that they were pur 

 poselv kept apart. Each stroke m each group L> of the same size 

 ;md length as the others. Were they records of time or distance, 

 *>\ visits bv outlying groups, or memory aids? 



The people who inhabited the locality were apparently a group 

 or sub-lribe of the M 'ukjurativitii . Robinson, the Chief Protector 

 of Aborigines, called ihcm Poihfhtthtts, and stated that they 

 inhahited the country near Mt. Zero {ti'olclcor}. The Mukjafa- 

 Miijtf were said to he hut a section of the Wotjohaluk, a lar^O 

 Nation which seemed to own all the country from the Grampians 

 lo the South Australia horder and north to within twenty miles 

 of the .Murray River. Xo doubt the Xorthern Grampians, with 

 Us plentiful supply of food and water, must have heen a rallying 

 point for all the.^e desert groups. 



• Cnrritor uf Anthrni.i.lnt-y. Wvival MUflfiMm at Vicionu. 



