Sails Set in Stone: A Technological Analysis of Non-indigenous Watercraft Rock Art Paintings in North Western Arnhem Land

In 2008 researchers from the Australian National University's Archaeology and Natural History Department and Flinders University's Program in Maritime Archaeology recorded nine non-Indigenous watercraft rock art images in a rock-shelter in the Wellington Range of north western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. During the project it was recognised that one of the missing elements of interpreting watercraft in rock art was a comprehensive analytical framework that can be tested and reproduced. The development of such a framework can be used by future researchers to begin addressing the larger issues and considerations represented in non-Indigenous watercraft depictions across Australia.