A giant Rainbow Serpent painted on the ceiling of an Australian rock shelter is among the largest such images recorded in Arnhem Land, according to a study in Australian Archaeology. The serpent at site AW5 in Awunbarna is more than 6 meters long and has a crocodile-like head, sharp teeth and a long tongue.
The painting is part of a wider pattern documented by archaeologist Paul Taçon of Griffith University and colleagues, working with senior Amurdak Traditional Owner Charlie Mungulda. Since 2018, the team has recorded 165 rock art sites across Awunbarna, also known as Mount Borradaile, with particular attention to art made after European arrival.
Their survey identified 29 Rainbow Serpent images at 21 sites—the largest concentration reported anywhere, according to the study. The researchers also recorded a giant human figure more than 2 meters long and what they describe as the only known depiction of a baleen whale in Australia. Large-scale imagery extended beyond paintings: a stone arrangement measuring 124 meters resembles some painted representations of Rainbow Serpents, based on its winding neck, head-like stone and outlined body.
The exact dates of the paintings remain difficult to establish. Many cannot be radiocarbon-dated, while the white pipe clay used for many serpent images tends to fade within a few centuries. However, the researchers point to the layering of serpents over older art and other evidence as indicating that the images were made after contact with Europeans.
The study interprets the giant figures as responses to profound cultural disruption during the 19th and 20th centuries. Rainbow Serpents are described as powerful ancestral beings associated with change, learning and the continuing presence of the Dreamtime. The researchers suggest that depicting them on a massive scale may have helped reinforce traditions, relationships to land and community stability during colonial upheaval.
Awunbarna’s role as a meeting point for trade, ceremonies and social gatherings may have amplified that message. People traveling between neighboring lands passed through Amurdak Country, while the region was also among the first affected by the colonial buffalo-shooting industry in the late 1800s.
The study notes that crocodiles, fish and other powerful animals were sometimes painted over or beside European ships and firearms. Researchers interpret these combinations as emphasizing the continuing importance of Aboriginal traditions, while stressing that the paintings remain part of living Aboriginal culture and an irreplaceable visual heritage.
