Webb: Grinding patches on granite bedrock around Cue, WA 
The dome lies east of the Great Northern Highway, 2 km 
south of Tuckanarra and south of the road to Reedy. The 
depression is probably an enlargement of a pre-existing 
Aboriginal soak. It appears to be fed by precipitation 
running off the adjacent dome. The soak's original 
dimensions are unknown, but that it may have held a 
considerable volume of water in the past, is suggested by 
the dense artefact scatter (40-50/m^) that now covers an 
area about 300 m x 250 m around the depression (Figure 
4 top). The size of this scatter suggests that the area was 
either visited frequently for short periods, or 
intermittently for longer periods, by unknown numbers 
of people. 
Five petroglyphs and 14 grinding patches were found, 
about 20 m from the soak, in an area 10 m by 5 m where 
the granite emerges at a shallow angle from the present 
ground surface (Figure 4 bottom). Patch 8 could not be 
measured because the bedrock on which it formed is now 
broken. The long axes of patches 1, 6 and 10 are 
\ 
N 
% 
2.5 m 
A 
sandy soil 
granite 
dome 
1 2 
D ^ 
C5/6 
.. 7/8 
O 9 
10 o H 
jiam 
Q12 
13,.^ Ol4 
A petroglyph 
O grinding patch 
Figure 4. Archaeological features recorded at Camel Soak, with 
details of the grinding patches (GP) and petroglyphs (adapted 
by AM Rossi from an original by RG Gunn). 
transverse to the slope of the bedrock; that of the others, 
parallel. The surface on which they have developed is 
subhorizontal. 
These are the first petroglyphs made on an open 
granite pavement found in this region, although well- 
patinated petroglyphs were found on a dolerite dyke 70 
km northwest of Cue (Gunn & Webb 2003). Most of the 
other petroglyphs recorded in this region were made in 
rockshelters or on protected vertical walls (Gunn & Webb 
2000, 2002). 
The petroglyphs flanking the grinding patches 
comprise, west of patches 3-4, a pair of pounded half- 
patinated emu footprints and a fragment, and a pair of 
unpatinated abraded macropod tracks, east of patch 2 
(Figure 4). Another, isolated, pair of macropod tracks 
was found 6 m to the north of the grinding patches. 
The grinding patches and petroglyphs at Camel Soak 
are patinaled to a similar degree, suggesting that they 
were made penecontemporaneously and should probably 
be viewed as a 'set'. Such juxtapositions have rarely been 
recorded in the southern half of Western Australia. They 
are discussed further below because they raise the issue 
of who made what. In the report on this site, we noted 
that 'the association of grinding patches with petroglyphs 
is well known in the Pilbara, where it is generally 
accepted that the patches were probably made by 
women, while the petroglyphs were probably made by 
men' (Gunn & Webb 2006). 
While these patches and petroglyphs are likely to be 
of similar age, when they were made is not known 
because no temporally diagnostic 'formal tools' were 
noted in the area of the artefact scatter selected for 
analysis (Gunn & Webb 2006). A quartz flake with some 
edge retouch was identified, but could not be classified 
further and is chronologically uninformative. 
Djungari 
Djungari, also called Garden or Bald Rock, is a 
prominent granite dome about 1.5 km in diameter that 
lies about 20 km east of Cue, just north of the road to 
Sandstone. It is known to have been a traditional 
campground; rainwater collects in pans on the dome and 
the surrounding vegetation provides shade, shelter and 
food. At the northwestern end of the dome, near an 
ephemeral creek, there are two wells of European 
construction (Figure 5 top). A fairly dense and extensive 
artefact scatter was noted across the creek from the wells 
(Gunn & Webb 2002), suggesting that the wells may be 
sited near an Aboriginal soak. The area around Djungari 
is very rich in archaeological sites, some of considerable 
ceremonial significance (Gunn & Webb 2002). That more 
sites await rediscovery in this area is shown by the fact 
that five grinding patches have now been identified on 
the western edge of the dome adjacent to the creekline 
(Gunn & Webb 2006). All are on horizontal surfaces only 
a few millimetres above the ground surface and less than 
a metre from the edge of the dome (Figure 5 bottom). No 
grinding patches were found near any of the gnammas 
known in the surrounding area, despite a careful search. 
Pool Paddock 
Pool Paddock on Coodardy pastoral lease, northwest 
of Cue, contains a gnamma measuring 2.6 m x 1.8 m x > 
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