Large boab tree with coiled snake carving, northern Tanami Desert. Credit: Darrell Lewis
For Indigenous Australians, carvings in boab trees are as significant as rock art. Now, there is a race against time to document the ancient art in the bark of boabs before the remarkable heritage trees die.
In a race against time, in some of the roughest terrain on Earth, researchers are working with a group of First Nations Australians to document ancient art in the bark of Australia’s boab trees.
Carvings in the boab trees tell the stories of the King Brown Snake (or Lingka) Dreaming in a remote area of the Tanami desert, a desert in northern Australia which straddles the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
After more than two years of fieldwork, the research team found 12 trees with carvings. Working alongside five Traditional Owners, the scientists conducting the research are from The DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2022.129
Funding: Australian Research Council, Rock Art Australia, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage
