KANGAROO TRACKS CHURINGA

MS 2968
MS Short Title KANGAROO TRACKS CHURINGA
Text CHURINGA: KANGAROO TRACKS IN THE SAND MOVING AROUND CONCENTRIC CIRCLES; AN ICONOGRAPHIC EMBLEM OF THE KANGAROO TOTEM, AND THE MOVEMENT OF HIS ANCESTRAL BEING AROUND A WATERHOLE, TOTEM CENTRE OR A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE TRIBE ARANDA'S MYTHOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE
Description MS in Aranda on schist-like stone, Central Desert area, Australia, before 1800, 1 circular churinga, diam.30x3 cm, aboriginal patterns incised with a incisor tooth of an opossum, and rubbed with grease and red ochre during the ceremonies, the ochre still sticks in the grooves.
Provenance 1. Sam Fogg Rare Books Ltd., London.
Commentary There is no certain way to date the old churingas that are from the pre-contact period (before 1780). They can be as old as the Aboriginal culture, 40-50,000 years. With the earliest rockpaintings and carvings, the cylcons and the churingas represent the oldest form of communication and art, still present. The aborigine owner's belief is that his kuruna or spirit is intimately associated with his churinga. Even today the whole of Australia is dotted over with Knanikillas, or local totem centres. Each of these has a sacred storehouse for the tribe's and individuals' churingas, guarded by the inkata. Women, and men that had not passed through the ceremonies of circumcision and subincision, were not allowed to approach the storehouse, Pertalchera.
See also

MS 4467, Churinga, Australia, before 1800

MS 4629, Churinga, Australia, before 1800

Place of origin Australia
Dates 20,000 - 3,000 BC