A฀ beeswax฀ representation฀ of฀ Namarrkon,฀ the฀ Lightning฀ Man,฀ was฀ found฀ in฀ western฀ Arnhem฀ Land฀on฀an฀upper฀tributary฀of฀the฀East฀Alligator฀ River฀ (Figure฀ 1).฀ The฀ igure฀ is฀ in฀ exceptionally฀ good฀condition฀and฀offered฀the฀chance฀to฀date฀it฀ directly.฀ An฀ adjacent฀ fragment฀ of฀ an฀ underlying฀ beeswax฀igure฀was฀also฀dated.฀The฀shelter฀where฀ the฀ igure฀ was฀ found฀ was฀ well฀ decorated,฀ with฀ numerous฀recent฀and฀older-period฀motifs,฀includ- ing฀a฀second฀representation฀(a฀white,฀dry-pigment฀ drawing)฀of฀Namarrkon. The฀site฀complex฀(Jawoyn฀Association฀#ARN- 0063)฀ was฀ found฀ during฀ a฀ helicopter฀ reconnais- sance฀of฀south-western฀Arnhem฀Land฀(Figure฀1),฀ as฀part฀of฀a฀broad-scale฀recording฀of฀rock-art฀and฀ other฀cultural฀heritage฀sites฀within฀Jawoyn฀lands฀ (Gunn฀and฀Whear฀2006).฀A฀preliminary฀assess- ment฀ of฀ the฀ site฀ was฀ undertaken฀ in฀ February฀ 2006,฀with฀a฀detailed฀recording฀and฀sampling฀of฀ the฀ beeswax฀ made฀ the฀ following฀ June.฀ Here฀ we฀ present฀ results฀ of฀ the฀ radiocarbon฀ analysis฀ and฀ examine฀both฀the฀distribution฀of฀beeswax฀images฀ and฀the฀representation฀of฀Namarrkon฀in฀rock-art฀ within฀Arnhem฀Land. The beeswax figures Two฀ beeswax฀ appliqué฀ igures฀ were฀ located฀ in฀ the฀largest฀shelter฀within฀the฀site฀complex฀(Figures฀ 2฀ to฀ 4).฀ The฀ shelter฀ is฀ within฀ a฀ large฀ sandstone฀ block฀at฀the฀top฀edge฀of฀a฀broad฀east–west฀trend- ing฀ gully.฀ It฀ is฀ one฀ of฀ four฀ rock-art฀ sites฀ within฀ this฀small฀site฀complex.฀The฀traditional฀name฀and฀ signi icance฀ of฀ the฀ complex฀ has฀ been฀ lost,฀ but฀ it฀ occurs฀immediately฀upstream฀from฀Jarrlaworpor,฀ a฀ major฀ Centipede฀ Dreaming฀ site฀ (Badayal฀ Nadjamerrek,฀ personal฀ communication,฀ 2006).฀ A singular beeswax representation of Namarrkon, the Lightning Man, from western Arnhem Land RG Gunn La Trobe University RL Whear Jawoyn Association Abstract:฀ Samples฀ from฀ a฀ beeswax฀ representation฀ of฀ Namarrkon,฀ the฀ Lightning฀ Man,฀from฀western฀Arnhem฀Land฀were฀analysed฀for฀radiocarbon฀and฀dated฀to฀be฀ about฀150฀years฀old.฀An฀underlying฀beeswax฀igure฀was฀found฀to฀be฀approximately฀ 1100฀years฀old.฀The฀Dreaming฀Being฀Namarrkon฀is฀well฀known฀throughout฀Arnhem฀ Land,฀although฀his฀sphere฀of฀activity฀is฀concentrated฀around฀the฀northern฀half฀of฀the฀ Arnhem฀Land฀plateau.฀Namarrkon฀is฀well฀represented฀in฀rock-paintings฀in฀this฀area฀ and฀continues฀to฀be฀well฀represented฀in฀contemporary฀canvas-paintings฀by฀artists฀ from฀the฀broader฀plateau฀region.฀We฀conclude฀that฀representations฀of฀Namarrkon฀ in฀both฀painted฀and฀beeswax฀forms฀appear฀to฀be฀parallel฀manifestations฀of฀the฀late฀ Holocene฀regionalisation฀of฀Arnhem฀Land. 54 Australian Aboriginal Studies 2008/2