CONCLUSIONS

If the samples that have been gathered for comparison are representative, and if the means used to compare them are valid, then from a world perspective the Bradshaw genre is unique to Australia. In the 1,694 examples of human figures from outside Australia there is not one area that displays images of significant enough affinity with the Bradshaws to be classified with them. This lack of affinity indicates that Walsh's model of their coming from outside Australia is unsubstantiated. That model was founded on alleged similarities between Bradshaws and some extra-Australia figures. From an Australian perspective the Bradshaws are not unique to the Kimberley. Arnhem Land rock art has many figures that have much in common with the Bradshaws.

The statistical analysis supported the visual analysis and dispelled the possibility that there could have been some relationship between the Kimberley and Algeria. It supported the contention that the closest degree of relationship is between the Kimberley and Arnhem Land.

No evidence of a proto-Bradshaw genre was found across the water. It is very unlikely that their form or style, or genre, or whatever you like to call it, was the direct result of a migration wave. This is not to say that somewhere outside of Australia there are not images that may bear great affinity with the Bradshaws, that I have not found. The first task for those who hold this belief is to find them and substantiate their hypothesis.

The entirety of this study has now established a model that is an alternative to the publicly accepted and published model—a more acceptable model. This model for the development of the Bradshaw paintings is based on the evidence of the images. It is a structured model based on archaeological evidence. There appears to be no archaeological evidence for any other conclusion.

In the whole world the only figures that can be both similar to and culturally related to the Bradshaws are in Arnhem Land. The origin of this relatedness could stem from Chaloupka's concept of there being common ancestors. Or the geographical proximity of the two areas could have enabled either culture to have affected the other across land. My evidence does not support the migration wave model.

FOOTNOTES

1 J. Clegg, conversation with author, Sydney, 24 June 1997.

2 MVNUTSHELL© 1994 Richard Wright.

REFERENCES

HOME