Finger flutings at New Guinea II Cave, lower Snowy River valley (Victoria), GunaiKurnai country

Abstract

‘Finger flutings’, the marks made when people run their fingers along soft cave walls and ceilings, are typically found in limestone caves. Such marks capture a momentary impression of engagement with a place: old (archaeological) finger flutings mark the gestures of people past (in Australia, often referred to as the ‘Old Ancestors’) as they ventured into the depths of caves. In Australia, finger flutings are rare and spread across the southern half of the continent. As shallow three-dimensional impressions, they are sometimes difficult to discern, difficult to photograph, and difficult to record, especially where they have undergone weathering or erosion. In this paper, we present the results of new, high-definition photogrammetric recordings of the finger flutings from New Guinea II Cave, located on the west bank of the Snowy River in GunaiKurnai Country, East Gippsland, Victoria. While finger flutings have largely been overlooked in archaeological discussions of Australian Aboriginal rock art, recent methodological developments, especially in three-dimensional photogrammetric techniques, have enhanced our ability to record and analyse finger flutings in unprecedented levels of detail. Here we demonstrate how a detail-oriented and systematic digital recording, analysis and visualisation of finger flutings can provide meaningful insights into ancestral GunaiKurnai gestures, engagements and intentions deep in New Guinea II Cave’s underground spaces, beyond the reach of sunlight. We found that the finger flutings only occur on and immediately adjacent to parts of the soft wall covered with tiny calcite crystals that glitter in dim artificial light, and conclude that the finger grooves were probably made to touch (the power of) the glittering crystals, as per the wont of mulla-mullung medicine men and women documented in local nineteenth century GunaiKurnai ethnography.