Description
Book SynopsisA fascinating case study of the archaeological site at Murujuga, AustraliaLocated in the Dampier Archipelago of Western Australia, Murujuga is the single largest archaeological site in the world. It contains an estimated one million petroglyphs, or rock art motifs, produced by the Indigenous Australians who have historically inhabited the archipelago. To date, there has been no comprehensive survey of the site's petroglyphs or those who created them. Since the 1960s, regional mining interests have caused significant damage to this site, destroying an estimated 5 to 25 percent of the petroglyphs in Murujuga. Today, Murujuga holds the unenviable status of being one of the most endangered archaeological sites in the world. Jose Antonio Gonzalez Zarandona provides a full postcolonial analysis of Murujuga as well as a geographic and archaeological overview of the site, its ethnohistory, and its considerable significance to Indigenous groups, before examining the colonial mistreatment of M
Trade Review"It is hoped that this scholarly and extremely detailed publication will assist in providing the necessary research impetus and evidence to demand a review of the existing legislative framework of the
WA Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 and its administrative processes . . . Hopefully the book can assist in preventing future landscape iconoclasm and be used as a scholarly reference and factual record of this significant but under protected part of our important cultural heritage of international significance. It is an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the importance of this remote area of Australia, and a passionate plea for more effective strategies to conserve and protect its significant heritage values." *
Historic Environment *
"In his deep and valuable analysis of the destruction of Murujuga petroglyphs and landscapes, José Antonio González Zarandona helps us better understand a cultural catastrophe and, hopefully, prevent future landscape iconoclasm." * Jean Clottes, author of
World Rock Art *
"In this outstanding book, José Antonio González Zarandona argues persuasively that the categorization of Murujuga art as 'heritage' has marginalized contemporary Aboriginal perspectives and that the damage done to rock art imagery, sites, and landscapes adversely impacts indigenous well-being. This harsh critique is an impassioned call for the development of new strategies to conserve culturally significant places across Australia and the world." * Paul S.C. Taçon, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia *
Table of ContentsForeword by Michel Lorblanchet
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
PART I. MURUJUGA
Chapter 1. Situating Murujuga
Chapter 2. Murujuga and Its Meanings
PART II. FROM THE COLONIAL GAZE TO THE ACADEMIC APPRECIATION OF ROCK ART
Chapter 3. The Colonial Gaze
Chapter 4. Rude Aesthetics
Chapter 5. The Colonization of the Landscape
PART III. ICONOCLASM, LANDSCAPE, AND HERITAGE
Chapter 6. The Destruction of Landscape in Murujuga
Chapter 7. The Making of Heritage
PART IV. A THEROY OF LANDSCAPE ICONOCLASM
Chapter 8. Landscape Iconoclasm
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
