Controversy
Research concerning Bradshaw art is controversial. This has primarily been directed towards Walsh’s interpretations regarding the origins and ethnicity of the Bradshaw artists, and his rejection of Aboriginal people as being their descendants. The implications of his interpretations generated considerable criticism in the mid nineties due to its potential to undermine native title claims in the Kimberley.
According to Walsh, Bradshaw art was associated with a period he called the Erudite Epoch, a time before Aboriginal people populated Australia. He suggested that the art may be the product of an ethnic group that had likely arrived in Australia from Indonesia, only to be displaced by the descendants of present day Aboriginal people. Walsh based this interpretation on the sophistication of Bradshaw art when compared to other art in the Kimberley region, such as the much later Wandjina styles.
These claims were widely supported in the media with emphasis on his claims of mysterious races. However, these claims have been met with a general lack of acceptance within the Australian archaeological community. For example, Dr Andree Rosenfeld argued that the aesthetics of the art did not support claims for a non-Aboriginal origin when comparison is made to the aesthetic value of contemporary Aboriginal art. The Australian Archaeological Association in a press release made this clear stating, "No archaeological evidence exists which suggests that the early colonisation of Australia was by anyone other than the ancestors of contemporary Aboriginal people", the release quoted Claire Smith: "such interpretations are based on and encourage racist stereotypes".
Aboriginal people were also critical of Walsh, arguing that he failed to listen to them in regard to the significance that the paintings had in their culture.
Scholarly research has quashed the idea that Bradshaw art was painted by anyone other than Aboriginal people. Statistical analysis undertaken by Michael Barry has concluded that the Bradshaw art shares no stylistic attributes with prehistoric figurative art overseas. Moreover, Barry argues that stylistically, Bradshaw art has more in common with art found elsewhere in Australia such as figures painted in Arnhem Land. Nevertheless, this has not detracted "popular" historians and amateur researchers from continuing to suggest exotic origins, although these interpretations are considered fringe by reviewers.
Read more about this topic: Bradshaw Rock Paintings
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