The identification of extinct megafauna in rock art using geometric morphometrics: A Genyornis newtoni painting in Arnhem Land, northern Australia?

Rommy Cobden Chris Clarkson 1 Gilbert Price Bruno David 2 Jean-Michel Geneste 3 Jean-Jacques Delannoy 4 Bryce Barker 5 Lara Lamb 6 Robert Gunn 7
1 University of Queensland [Brisbane]
2 BGS - Biogéosciences [Dijon]
3 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie
4 EDYTEM - Environnements, Dynamiques et Territoires de la Montagne
5 Public Memory Research Centre, School of humanities and Communication, University of Southern Queensland
6 Public Memory Research Centre, School of humanities and Communication, University of Southern Queensland
7 Monash Indigenous Centre
Abstract : Identifying extinct fauna in rock art is a common but difficult exercise. Here we use geometric morphometric analysis of shape to examine the oft-cited painting from Arnhem Land attributed by Gunn et al. to the long-extinct species Genyornis newtoni. We compare the shape of key anatomical features in this painting to anatomical depictions of Genyornis as well as to two other possible candidates – the emu and the magpie goose. Comparisons are also made to rock art depictions of these birds from northern Australia. We find that while the so-called ‘Genyornis’ painting does more closely resemble anatomical depictions of Genyornis than any other bird examined, all rock art images overlap in shape to such a degree that confident assignment of this image to any avian species is problematic.
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Journal articles
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https://hal-sde.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01895879
Contributor : Christine Maury Referent Hal Edytem <>
Submitted on : Monday, October 15, 2018 - 3:36:28 PM
Last modification on : Monday, January 13, 2020 - 10:26:04 PM

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CNRS | UNIV-BOURGOGNE | UNIV-SAVOIE | EDYTEM | UGA | EDYTEM-GROUPE-HERITAGES-CULTURELS

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Rommy Cobden, Chris Clarkson, Gilbert Price, Bruno David, Jean-Michel Geneste, et al.. The identification of extinct megafauna in rock art using geometric morphometrics: A Genyornis newtoni painting in Arnhem Land, northern Australia?. Journal of Archaeological Science, Elsevier, 2017, 87, pp. 95 - 107. ⟨10.1016/j.jas.2017.09.013⟩. ⟨hal-01895879⟩

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