Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve

Infobox Protected area
name = Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve
iucn_category = V


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location = Northern Territory
nearest_city = Alice Springs
lat_degrees= 28|lat_minutes= 53|lat_seconds= |lat_direction=S
long_degrees= 133|long_minutes= 56|long_seconds= |long_direction=E
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world_heritage_site =NoThe Ewaninga Conservation Reserve is an area of low sand dunes, rocky outcrops and a claypan about 35km south of Alice Springs. The site was gazetted on 20 November 1996.The claypan is a slightly concave surface approximately 100m across. It retains water after even light rain, thus attracting many birds and animals. The claypan and surrounding outcrops are also a significant archaeological site.

The Reserve contains many prehistoric abraded and pecked engravings that provide an outstanding example of central Australian rock art.The main feature of the area is a set of about 1000 petroglyphs, distributed among the rock outcrops to the south and south-east of the claypan. Most of the petroglyphs are non-representational, consisting of circles, lines and other geometric motifs, though there are some examples of animal tracks. The motifs have been compared with those found elsewhere in Central Australia and Tasmania. cite journal|title=192. Simple Rock Engravings in Central Australia|journal=Man|date=1960-10-01|first=Charles|last=Mountford|coauthors=|volume=60|issue=|pages=145–147|doi= 10.2307/2797057|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0025-1496(196010)1%3A60%3C145%3A1SREIC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L|format=pdf|accessdate=2007-10-03|month=Oct|year=1960 (logon to JSTOR required for access)]

Aspects of the petroglyphs such as their motifs and degree of weathering suggest an age as great as 30000 years, although a more precise age is unknown. Flood describes the petroglyphs as Panaramitee-style, which, based on dating of other Paranamitee sites, could give a date as early as 40000 years ago. [Flood 1997]

An Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) was signed by the Central Land Council and the Northern Territory Government on 30 November 2005 for the purpose of granting the Park as Aboriginal land under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cth) (ALRA). [ cite web|url=http://www.atns.net.au/agreement.asp?EntityID=3007 |title=Ewaninga Rock Carvings Conservation Reserve Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) |accessdate=2007-10-03 |last=DuVe |first=Marie |coauthors=Prue Elletson |date=2005-11-21 |publisher=Indigenous Studies Program, Melbourne University ]

The site is considered a significant link to the activities of the early (Arrente) people of the region. Permission to access the site has been granted by the Arrente custodians.

In December 2004, laser-scanned 3D images of the petroglyphs were included in the exhibition "Extremes–Great Deserts of the Southern Hemisphere" by the National Museum of Australia. [ [http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/coming_soon/extremes/australia/ Deserts of Australia: The Red Centre] and [http://www.qmisolutions.com.au/article.asp?aid=153 Ancient Art Preserved by Modern Technology] ]

References

*cite book | last = Flood | first = Josephine | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Rock Art of the Dreamtime: images of ancient Australia | publisher = HarperCollinsPublishers | date = 1997 | location = Australia | pages = 372 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0 207 18908 0
*cite web|url=http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/heritage/ntregister/declared/ewaninga/ewaningaconservation.pdf |title=Heritage Notes - Ewaninga Conservation Reserve |accessdate=2007-10-03 |date=2002-05-30 |format=PDF |publisher=Heritage Advisory Council - Northern Territory