Aboriginal/Koori Art - Parramatta River -Tennyson

The above carvings were discovered by accident. I had been working my way patiently along the rivers edge-which sometimes involved asking permission to walk down the backyards of river-side homes, which is how I found the above carvings in the water-It was low tide and I was fortunate to be there at the right time. On subsequent visits the many carvings have been under water. Many people allowed myself access which greatly helped in finding obscure carvings, where their are no public access points to the river except by boat or by walking down peoples driveways. I am sure there would be hundreds more carvings to be discovered where homes are the only access to the waters edge. .For this reason many of the lost carvings are re-awaiting discovery.

Not all carvings are Aboriginal/Koori.

Parramatta River Survey - New South Wales

Tennyson

Aboriginal/Koori Art - Ancient Script - Modern Graffiti
By Greg Foster

Tennyson: I had begun to backtrack from the Gladesville Bridge trying to find other avenues to reach the water. As I drove down one street after the other I found that all river entrances were blocked by homes. Next to one home there was a small pathway with stairs that finished on the edge of the River. A home and jetty once stood on this site, now long gone. Only the stairs remain. As you walk down to the bottom of the stairs there is a very deep and long section of sandstone that has been cut out. In front of this and on the edge of the water are many large and small slabs of rocks. It appears that many of these stones have been dropped there from another area. Some of the larger ones resemble slabs taken from Sydney Harbour and which are used for head stones on graves. The carvings in the water though are natural rocks and are from the area.

The two images at the top of this page
The left side image -an aboriginal/koori carving of a Wallaby -Kangaroo? which is usually under water.
The right side image shows a standing figure holding what appears to be a staff.

The large central image
This is a close-up of the Wallaby -Kangaroo? showing other faded carvings.

The three images at the bottom of this page

The left image
This faded carving appears to be different things from different angles. It resembles some kind of water bird-possibly a local water fowl, yet from other angle resembles a Wombat, with part of it's head missing. The top of the rock has eroded away, which may explain its age. Other Aboriginal/Koori occupation sites in this area date from around 8,000BP - 4,000BP up until the early 1900's.

The centre image
Shows the amount of rubble mixed with natural river rocks. The large long oblong rock on the left and middle of the image is possibly from Sydney Harbour. Those style of rocks are usually used for grave stones. On the opposite bank of the river I have discovered a dumping ground of this type o0f rock including grooves used for the plaque on the headstone.

The right image
This carving carved very deep and shows weathering from the water, comprises of a single raised circle-two lines resembling an arrow and other strokes.