Author: Jonathan Carey / Source: Atlas Obscura
The Dampier Archipelago is a collection of 42 islands off the northwestern coast of Australia. Across these land masses, there are around 500,000 to one million petroglyphs, carved into various boulders and caves by Indigenous Australians.
The ancient carvings depict birds, disembodied heads, and extinct animals. Recently, a team of archaeologists from the University of Western Australia also discovered another set of inscriptions on top of those made by the Indigenous artists. These were made by American sailors who had made their way to Australia aboard the 19th-century whaling ships, Connecticut and Delta.The archaeologists found evidence of two separate sets of engravings by these whalers. Inscriptions from the Connecticut were found on Rosemary Island, while the markings from the Delta were found on West Lewis Island. Both were written on top of Aboriginal petroglyphs. These findings were described and analyzed in the journal Antiquity.
The inscriptions left by the crew of the Connecticut described their voyage. One of these carvings read, “Sailed August 12th 1841.” The writings also reveal the captain’s name, “CAPT…
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