BHP Billiton : New rock art discovered near Jimblebar

Members of the BHP heritage team and archaeological specialists recently spent a day on Country with Nyiyaparli elders, the Traditional Owners of the area, in south Jimblebar.

The trip took place following a biodiversity survey in south Jimblebar in May where cultural engravings and cupules were discovered in a cave. These engravings and cupules appeared to be a very unique and rare example of rock art in the wider Jimblebar area.

The rock shelter which has also has a number of bird track engravings in it, was named Kurlkurlba Cave by the Nyiyaparli elders which means Owl Cave.

Several pieces of the art in Kurlkurlba Cave have detached from the cave walls which hints at the possibility there could be some buried pieces of rock art. We could potentially date this by using various scientific dating techniques like OSL and radio carbon dating.

During the recording of the rock shelter, we used 3D scanning and drone technology. The drone was also used to capture the area around the cave location within the wider cultural landscape. This is a great way of sharing the footage with the wider Nyiyaparli community to see the cave for themselves.

Projects like this are a vital part of BHP's commitment to our Reconciliation Action Plan in promoting and respecting Aboriginal culture, customs and heritage by working in partnership with Traditional Owners. Read more about our RAP and our approach to working with Indigenous Peoples http://www.bhp.com/our-approach/operating-with-integrity/indigenous-peoples.