ABSTRACT
Zoomorphs are rare in Australian Aboriginal art, but form a principal subject of the rock paintings of the Koolburra region of Cape York Peninsula, north Queensland. The art body is considered to belong to the last 8500 years, the period spanned by human occupation in the two excavated Koolburra sites, Green Ant and Echidna Shelters. Ethnographic evidence concerning the echidna comes from the mythology of the Laura and Aurukun area on the west coast of Cape York Peninsula. Species in Koolburra paintings identified by Aboriginal informants, such as Goobalathaldin, are virtually confined to 'crocodiles', 'turtles', 'lizards', 'catfish', and 'snakes'. Zoomorphic motifs are the most common subjects of the Koolburra paintings. In the Koolburra art there are a few anthropomorphic figures, which are human figures with certain supernatural features. The predominance of mythic beings in the Koolburra rock art indicates the all-pervasive nature of Aboriginal religion.
