Visions of dynamic power: Archaic rock-paintings, altered states of consciousness and 'clever men' in Western Arnhem Land (NT), Australia

The Dynamic figures ar ea distinctive component in the earlier rock-art of western Arnhem Land, north Australia. They include therianthropic (hybrid h uman-animal) images. Recent vision experience ethnographically known in the region, and the wider pattern of Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) in hunter-gatherer societies, are consistent with elements of the Dynamics. On e key feature is the use of dots and dashes int he Dynamic images, explicab le as a depiction of some intangible power, of a character comparable with that in the 'clevermen's knowledge' of modern Arnhem Land. Tropical Austral ia thereby is added to the number of regions where a visionary element is i dentified in rock-art; the specific circumstances in Arnhem Land, permittin g the use together of formal and of informed methods, provide unusually str ong evidence.