Ancient artists all around the world created imagesfeaturing negative silhouettes by spraying paint against an object or stencil held against a rock face.But miniature stenciled figures, those measuring less than five inches, are exceptionally rare in historical artwork. Recently, though,a group of researchers led by Flinders University archaeologist Liam Brady found a miniature stenciled human figure surrounded by four boomerangs in Yilbilinji stone shelter in northern Australia, which will be owned by the Aboriginal Marra individuals. “When we visited other nearby sites, we started finding similar miniature and small-scale stencils,”says Brady.
“That made us think we were onto something very different here regarding the Australian rock art record. “This previously anonymous heritage incorporates miniature depictions of kangaroo tracks as well as geometric and linear designs. The pictures’ shapes indicate that they were created with stencils molded from a malleable substance, most probably beeswax, which Marra children are known to have used in the past to sculpt modest figurines. The team created their own beeswax stencils, which they utilized to produce figures identical to those found at Yilbilinji and nearby sites. They expect that consulting additional Marra individuals will yield additional insight into the meaning of these miniature masterpieces.