Wanjina art, pictured here and found throughout the Kimberley, portrays spirit ancestors with human characteristics. Aboriginal people in the northern and central Kimberley region of WA continue to identify with Wanjina to this day.

Gwion figures are typically painted wearing elaborate dress, featuring boomerangs, spears and ornaments.

Gwion figures, formerly known as Bradshaws after the pastoralist who first sketched them in the 1890s, are finely painted images of humans in elaborate dress, and occasionally animals. The Gwion figures shown here are on the Mitchell Plateau in the north-western Kimberley region. 

Images of Wanjina, shown here at Donkey Ridge in the north-western Kimberley region of WA, are characterized by halo-like headdresses, mouthless faces, and large, round eyes.

The Balanggarra Indigenous Protected Area, where this piece of rock can be found, lies in the northern Kimberley region of WA near the Western Australian border. It covers about 2.6 million hectares, including Cape Londonderry and some offshore islands. 

This Wanjina depiction of a possum and sugar glider was among the rock art studied for the Dating Project in the northern Kimberley. 

Rock art can help researchers understand what animals were alive during particular periods of Australian history. This depiction of a goanna was created in the north-western Kimberley region.

Wanjina twins, painted on a rock face in the north-western Kimberley region.

Peter Veth, Kimberley Foundation Ian Potter chair in rock art, at the Wyndham-King River Road public rock art site in Western Australia. 

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and traditional owner Ernie Boona examine rock art in Drysdale River National Park, WA, during a recent field trip to the area for the rock art Dating Project. 

A Wanjina-era bandicoot gallery on a rock face in the north-western Kimberley region. 

Images of Wanjina, shown here at Donkey Ridge in the north-western Kimberley region of WA, are characterized by halo-like headdresses, mouthless faces, and large, round eyes.