Land animals were always very important to the Amarak. During the last Ice Age, the ocean would have been more than 100km away, hence they would have relied on these animals more for food.

Wallabies were common in these parts as they lived among the rocks, and made a good feed.

And goannas were often found up the trees and also made a good feed.

However, the walls also showed animals from long past. The thylacine (a.k.a. Tasmanian tiger) for example had lived in the area at one stage. You can quite clearly see its stripes.

And what about this bird? Is it an emu, or some other extinct giant bird species?

Unlike in Central Australia, where life and art revolved around water, the people of Arnhemland were more interested in capturing their fauna, which was integral to daily life. We viewed many paintings of animals, some recent and some potentially very old.

Fish was of course very important, since it was abundant when the water levels were high. The white ochre paint used and the intricate cross-hatching meant that the painting was probably done in the last four thousand years.

This dugong (a sea cow) has been overpainted with a pair of wallabies.

And this fish was so bright that it could have been painted yesterday.