So,these paintings have already taught us a lot.Butone image that has always intrigued us is known asthe 'Rainbow Serpent'.The Rainbow Serpent,which isthe focus of my most recent project,gets its namefrom its snake or serpent-like body and it firstappeared in the Yam period 4 to 6,000 yearsago.Many believe it is a curious mixture ofkangaroo,snake and reocodile.But we decided tostudy the Rainbow Serpent paintings to see if wecould locate the animal that the very frist paintersbased their image on.
The Yam period coincided with the end of the last ice age.This brought about tremendouschange in the environment,with the sea levels rising and creeping steadily inland.This floodedmany familiar land features and also caused a great deal of disruption to traditional patterns oflife,hunting in particular.New shores were formed and totally different creatures would havewashed up onto the shores.We studied 107 paintings of the Rainbow Serpent and found thatthe one creature that matches it most closely was the Ribboned Pipefish,which is a type of seahorse.This sea creature would have been a totally unfamiliar sight in the inland regions wherethe image is found and may have been the ispiration behind the early paintings.
So,at the end of the ice age there would have been enormous changes in animal and plantlife.It's not surprising then,that the Aborigines linked this abundance to the new creaturesthey witnessed.Even today,Aborigines see the Rainbow Serpent as a symbol of creation,whichis understandable given the increase in vegetation and the new life forms that featured whenthe image first appeared.