ONE COLOUR, (AT LEAST) TWO MINERALS: A STUDY OF MULBERRY ROCK ART PIGMENT AND A MULBERRY PIGMENT ‘QUARRY’ FROM THE KIMBERLEY, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA* J. HUNTLEY, 1 † M. AUBERT, 2 J. ROSS, 1 H. E. A. BRAND 3 and M. J. MORWOOD 2‡ 1 University of New England, Archaeology and Palaeoanthropology, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia 2 University of Wollongong, Centre forArchaeological Science, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia 3 Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia Distinctive mulberry paintings found in northern Australia, particularly those of the Kimberley region, have been argued to represent some of the oldest surviving rock art on the continent. Significant research efforts continue to focus on resolving the age of these motifs, but comparatively little attention has been given to understanding their physical com- position and potential source(s). In a pilot investigation, we conclude that (at least) two mineralogically distinct mulberry pigments occur in Gwion motifs and demonstrate that their major components can be indicatively chemically differentiated, non-invasively. Character- ization of a ‘quarried’ mulberry ochre source demonstrates that these pigments occur locally as natural minerals. KEYWORDS: MINERAL PIGMENTS, MULBERRY, OCHRE, GWION, ROCK ART, NORTH-WEST KIMBERLEY, AUSTRALIA, pXRF, SEM–EDXA, POWDER DIFFRACTION INTRODUCTION The presence of a distinctive mulberry hue of rock art paint has been noted in the older sections of the relative sequences described throughout the rock art provinces of the top end of Australia (from east to west): • bichrome zoomorphic motifs in CapeYork Peninsula (Trezise 1977; Cole and Watchman 1995) including Chasm Island (McCarthy 1967); • human–snake composites in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area (Taçon 2008); • large naturalistic animal motifs and Dynamic Figures of Arnhem Land (Chaloupka 1993; Lewis 1997; David et al. 2011, 75; Welch 2012b); • anthropomorphic figures with headdresses and tassels in the Wadeye–Fitzmaurice region (Taçon et al. 2003; Watchman et al. 2010); • object prints, hand stencils, animal and anthropomorphic (Karlinga) figures of Keep River (Taçon et al. 2003); • stencils (hand and material culture), Irregular Animal Infill and Gwion 1 figures of the Kimberley (Walsh 1988, 1994, 2000; Welch 1993b,c); and • there are also indications that mulberry pigments are present in the oldest sections of rock art sequences in the broader South-East Asian region (Plagnes et al. 2003; Fage 2012). *Received 31 January 2013; accepted 21 October 2013 †Corresponding author: email jford5@myune.edu.au ‡ M.J.M. recently passed away. 1 This is the name convention of the Wunambal, Traditional Owners of the north-west Kimberley. Gwion motifs have historically been referred to as ‘Bradshaw’ figures (cf., McNiven 2011). Archaeometry 57, 1 (2015) 77–99 doi: 10.1111/arcm.12073 © 2013 University of Oxford