Prehistoric Rock Art Reveals Creator's Bird Obsession

The Djulirri Rock Shelter in northern Australia is well known to fans of rock art.

Archaeologists probing remote nooks and crannies of the shelter, however, have just discovered a prehistoric individual's secret obsession with a single bird, which the artist stenciled over and over again.

The over 9,000-year-old bird stencils, featured in the latest issue of the journal Antiquity, are the first ancient stencils of whole birds ever documented, according to the researchers.

"Small birds were usually not stenciled, so our find is unique," lead author Paul Tacon told Discovery News. "In recent times and for some people today, small birds are sometimes said to be spirits of ancestors and were not harmed. Perhaps this is why they were usually not stenciled."... Slideshow Discovery news

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Ancient bird stencils discovered in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. Antiquity Volume: 84 Number: 324 (June 2010).
The rock art that redraws our history (2008)