Exploring Australia’s Forgotten Aboriginal Rock Art

by Diane Selkirk

Exploring Australia’s Forgotten Aboriginal Rock Art

by Diane Selkirk

Track 7

童鞋們是否聽說過澳大利亞土著居民的巖畫呢？澳大利亞是大洋洲眾多巖畫點的集中地，在上世紀七十年代，人們已經承認，這里是世界上最豐富、最龐大的巖畫藝術畫廊之一。在本期的“世界風情館”，我們將和筆者一起探索洞穴里那神秘的巖畫藝術！你，準備好了嗎？

Away from the sunshine, my eyes needed a moment to adjust. I heard my daughter and husband making their way up the1：凱恩斯（Cairns）是澳大利亞北昆士蘭的首府，擁有世界最大的活體珊瑚礁群景觀、迷人的海岸線、寶石般的島嶼、銀色的沙灘及藍色的海洋。)rocky2)trail behind me through the3)oppressive heat.“This better be worth it!” my daughter Maia called out. I looked through the dark light of a cave and discovered a lot of very old paintings. There was a red fish with white dots4)overlapping a crocodile.

Why wasn’t anyone here to keep an eye on the artwork? I thought part of the answer had to do with the5)remote location. We were in a small island group 340km north of Cairns1：凱恩斯（Cairns）是澳大利亞北昆士蘭的首府，擁有世界最大的活體珊瑚礁群景觀、迷人的海岸線、寶石般的島嶼、銀色的沙灘及藍色的海洋。. Getting to Stanley Island wasn’t easy. While some visitors arrived here on small6)cruise ships, we traveled up the coast on our own boat and stopped near the place where we thought the rock art might be.

When we finally reached a beach on the other side of the island, I searched for the trail leading to the rock art. “There might be7)salties!” my husband Evan called to Maia each time she walked close to the water’s edge. He was8)referring to9)saltwater crocodiles, of course—the kind which eat humans. Fortunately, we didn’t see any.

After I found the trail, we10)trudged into the bush to find the artwork. The wind wasn’t as strong as before and the11)humidity increased gradually. I began to wonder if the park had been forgotten or not. Then I moved under the12)overhangs and entered the cave.

1) rocky ['r?k?] adj. 多巖石的，由巖石形成的

2) trail [tre?l] n. 小徑，小路

3) oppressive [?'pres?v] adj. 壓抑的，悶熱的

4) overlap [??v?'l?p] v. 與……重疊

5) remote location 邊遠位置

6) cruise ship 游輪，游艇

7) saltie ['s??lti?] n. 灣鱷

8) refer to 指的是

9) saltwater ['s??lt'w??t?] adj. 鹽水的，海產的

10) trudge [tr?d?] v. 跋涉

11) humidity [hju?'m?d?t?] n. 濕氣，濕度

12) overhang [??v?'h??] n. 垂懸物

I couldn’t believe what I saw. There must be hundreds of paintings on the rock face: images of ships, canoes, birds and turtles. Each time I turned my head, looking up to the13)ceiling or deeper into the14)shelter, I discovered something new. The cave, which was almost big enough to hold any of the ships painted on its walls, was like a window into the past. Looking at the white and15)ochre paintings, I was filled with wonder.

We know that some ships landed on the island and carried people away. Even before the first European ship sailed past in 1606, a number of fit young men were forced to board Indonesian boats to fish for16)sea cucumbers in the rough local17)waters. In the 1880s, still more young men were18)recruited to work on fishing boats, in the highly19)lethal fishing industries. Records show that some local women were even2：即儒艮，一種海生哺乳動物，也被稱為海牛。0)traded for goods with those passing boats.

As Evan and I studied the ships, Maia searched the walls and overhangs for the last image that was reportedly painted here—a dugong2：即儒艮，一種海生哺乳動物，也被稱為海牛。. It was an endangered sea cow that was once central to this21)aboriginal culture. It was painted about 60 years ago by the last aboriginal man born on the island. “They’re almost all gone now, aren’t they?” she asked.

After an hour or so of studying the rock art, we went deeper into the island. We saw the cooking sites, sleeping places and other places filled with more art.

Noelene Cole, an22)archaeologist and rock-art23)specialist, points out that many sites in northern Australia are endangered because rock art24)concentrations tend to be found in regions with25)mineral deposits, making people target for mine developments. Until now, officials have focused more on26)promoting economic development than protecting cultural treasures, she said. But she hopes that will change.

13) ceiling ['si?l??] n. 天花板，頂篷

14) shelter ['?elt?] n. 隱藏所

15) ochre ['??k?] adj. 赭色的

16) sea cucumber 海參

17) waters 水域，海域

18) recruit [r?'kru?t] v. 招募

19) lethal ['li?θ?l] adj. 致命的

20) trade for 以……換得

21) aboriginal [?b?'r?d??n?l] adj. 原始的，土著的

22) archaeologist [?ɑ?k?'?l?d??st] n. 考古學家

23) specialist ['spe??l?st] n. 專家，行家

24) concentration [?k?ns?n'tre???n] n. 集合

25) mineral deposit 礦床，礦產資源

26) promote [pr?'m??t] v. 促進

離開陽光后，我的雙眼需要一點時間來適應。我聽見我的丈夫和女兒正在酷熱下沿著我身后的巖石小徑往上爬的聲音。“這一切努力一定不能白費！”我的女兒瑪雅喊道。我透過山洞幽暗的光線望去，發現了許多十分古老的壁畫。墻壁上有一條帶著白色斑點的紅色魚兒疊畫在了一條鱷魚上面。

為什么沒有人在這里照看這些藝術品呢？我想部分原因是這里太過偏僻了。我們在位于凱恩斯北部340公里遠的小群島上，要登上斯坦利島并非易事。有些游客是乘坐小型游艇來到這里，而我們則是坐著自己的小船沿著海岸線向上行進，并停靠在一個我們認為會有巖畫的地方附近。

當我們最終來到小島另外一頭的沙灘時，我四處找尋著通往巖畫遺址的小徑。“這里可能有灣鱷！”每次瑪雅走近水邊時，我的丈夫埃文總是這樣沖她喊著。當然，他指的是咸水鱷—那種會食人的鱷魚。幸好，我們并沒有遇到。

當我找到了那條小徑后，為了尋找這些藝術品，我們艱難地進入到叢林里。風沒有之前那么猛烈了，濕度也在逐漸升高。我開始懷疑這個公園是否已經被世人遺忘了。接著我在懸巖下移動著身子，進入了山洞。

我真不敢相信眼前所見。巖壁上定有數百幅壁畫：滿眼盡是船只、獨木舟、鳥兒和烏龜的圖畫。每一次轉頭、抬頭望向山洞頂部又或是洞穴深處，我總能發現一些新的巖畫。這個洞穴大得足以容下墻上所畫的任意一艘船，它就像是一扇通往過去的窗戶。凝視著這些白色與紅赭色的巖畫，我滿心驚嘆。

我們知道有些船只曾在這座島上靠岸，載走了這里的人。甚至在1606年第一艘歐洲船只駛過這里以前，許多健壯的年輕人就被迫登上了印度尼西亞的船只，在當地條件極差的水域中捕撈海參。到了19世紀80年代，甚至有更多的年輕人被招募到漁船上工作，從事著有高度致命危險的水產捕撈業。有記載表明，一些當地婦女甚至被用來與那些途經的船只做商品交換。

當我和埃文在仔細研究著這些船只圖畫時，瑪雅則在墻壁和懸巖上尋找著那個據說是最后一個被畫在這里的圖畫—儒艮。它是一種瀕臨滅絕的海牛，曾經是這個土著文明的核心。60年前，最后一個出生在這座島上的土著居民親手畫下了它。“他們幾乎全都離世了，是吧？”瑪雅問道。

在研究了大約一個小時的巖畫后，我們便往島的深處走去。我們看到了土著烹煮食物的地方、睡覺的場所以及其他畫有更多巖畫的地方。

考古學家及巖畫專家諾琳·科爾指出，許多位于澳洲北部的巖畫遺址正面臨被毀的危險，因為巖畫群主要分布在礦床地區，這使得人們把目標聚焦在了礦物開采上。直至今日，官方仍把更多的焦點放在了促進經濟發展而非保護文化瑰寶上，科爾如是說。但是她希望這種情況能有所改善。

探尋被遺忘的藝術——澳大利亞土著巖畫

翻譯：寒星