Chapter 2 · Field Methods 03 / 12

How we read the rock

1

Darkness is the first instrument

Sunlight flattens depth and bleaches the ochre. We record only in shelter light, the way the painters saw it.

2

Distance is a form of care

Our cameras work from half a metre away. The painted surface is never touched by tool or hand.

3

Every mark has a season

We log humidity, temperature, and the month of recording. Pigment chemistry shifts with the wet.

4

Permission is part of the protocol

No recording begins without the elder who holds the story for that wall.

This is the Kakadu Rock Shelter Charcoal design system, applied by Curio Design — a design-style library for AI agents. Full Kakadu Rock Shelter Charcoal guide → designbycurio.com/learn/aboriginal-charcoal-rock-art