page_title: Sydney rock engravings
section_title: Sites
hierarchical_section_title: Sydney rock engravings / Sites
caption_attribution_description: English: Ku-ring-gai_Chase_-_ (phallic) petroglyph &amp; Global Positioning System
context_page_description: Sydney rock engravings, or Sydney rock art, are a form of Australian Aboriginal rock art in the sandstone around Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that consist of carefully drawn images of people, animals, or symbols. Many thousands of such engravings are known to exist in the Sydney region, although the locations of most are not publicised to prevent damage by vandalism, and to retain their sanctity, as they are still regarded as sacred sites by Indigenous Australians. There are two art environments in Sydney Basin, rock shelters and engraving sites.
  There are 1,500 pieces of Aboriginal art in Sydney, more than half of which contain rock art, and around 1,500 caves or shelters which contain cultural deposit. They are comparable with the petroglyphs of Native Americans and the rock art found elsewhere in Australia, but have their own distinctive style which is quite unlike rock art found anywhere else in Australia. Dating to around 5,000 years, with some possibly as old as 7,000 years, Sydney rock art is predominantly found in Ku-ring-gai Council, Sydney Harbour and the Blue Mountains.
context_section_description: There are approximately 2,000 rock engraving sites, which are usually located on highly elevated, smooth and flat surfaces. More than half of the engraving sites (55.9%) are located on ridgelines. Hillside locations are the next most frequent (41.2%), while valley bottoms are comparatively rare (2.8%). The average distance to drinking water from any engraving site in the region is 650m and the maximum distance is approximately 3km. The minimum distance is 2m (rock wells or creeks). Rock art within Sydney is found in these locations:
  Sydney
  Bantry Bay in Garigal National Park, Sydney Harbour (extensive engraving site featuring a wide range of engravings, including animals, people, symbols, and a whale)
  North Bondi Rock Carvings in Bondi Beach (features engravings of humans, sharks, fish, whales and a turtle)
  Allambie Heights (features a whale and many smaller engravings)
  Heathcote National Park, south of Sydney. Various sites are known, including a shield tree west of the Bullawarring Track, adjacent to an occupation cave, plus a group of charcoal drawings alongside Myuna Creek.
  Grotto Point at Dobroyd Head in the Northern Suburbs (well-maintained engraving site within the Sydney metropolitan area, with many engravings)
  Balls Head Reserve in Port Jackson (art sites, middens and a prominent petroglyph of a marine creature)
  Tamarama (large engraving of a shark and fish)
  Berowra Waters (contains vertical rock with a complex of carving)
  Terrey Hills (lone emu on a ledge)
  Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, north of Sydney (contains many sites, notably those along the Basin Track, the Echidna Track, the Cowan Track and the Red Hand Track)
  Muogamarra Nature Reserve, Hawkesbury River area (contains numerous sites including carvings and grinding grooves)
  Blue Mountains
  Faulconbridge (three emus, some mundoes and axe-grinding grooves)
  Lawson (a single kangaroo on a rock)
  Kings Tableland Aboriginal Site, Wentworth Falls (a rocky knoll is topped by a group of large grinding grooves, plus carved images of wallaby, emu tracks and an occupation cave)
  Red Hands Cave, Blue Mountains National Park, outside Glenbrook (contains large collection of hand stencils)
  Wollemi National Park, north of the Blue Mountains (contains many Aboriginal sites, notably at Eagles Reach Cave, discovered by bushwalkers in 1995)
caption: A petroglyph featuring a phallic figure (Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park).
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