Good morning,everyone.I've been invited to talk about my research project into Australian Aboriginal rock paintings.The Australian Aborigines have recorded both real and symbolic images of their time on rock walls for many thousands of years.Throughout the long history of this tradition,new images have appeared and new painting styles have developed.And these characteristics can be used to categorise the different artistic styles.Among these are what we call the Dynamic,Yam and Modern styles of painting.

One of the most significant characteristics of the different styles is the way that humans are depicted in the paintings.The more recent paintings show people in static poses.But the first human images to dominate rock art paintings,over 8,000 years ago,were full of movement.These paintings showed people hunting and cooking food and so they were given the name 'Dynamic' to reflect this energy.It's quite amazing considering they were painted in such a simple stick-like form.In the Yam period,there was a movement away from stick figures to a more naturalistic shape.However,they didn't go as far as the Modern style,which is known as 'x-ray' because it actually makes a feature of the internal skeleton as well as the organs of animals and humans.