Lastly, a sacred drawing of the “Alangua Knaninja” or Native Pear (Marsdenia) “totem,” which belongs to the Altjerringa women, is composed of a central “circle-within-circle” group representing the “totem,” whilst surrounding it a number of U groups are supposed to be the mythic women seated on the ground ([Fig. 51]).
Fig. 54. Camps consisting of a man and his wife (left) and of eight men.
We shall now turn our attention to the consideration of the representation of the human figure and its derivative forms. Several more or less obvious designs have already been discussed. The first step towards conventionalism is seen in the two figures from the Humbert River district, the first an ochre cave drawing, the second a carving on a boabab tree ([Fig. 52]). We notice in the ochre drawing, which was one foot six inches high, a fairly shapely and solid figure of a man holding a shield in his left hand; in the carving, which measured one foot nine inches in height, the solid and shapely outline has been reduced to a matter of just a few straight lines; that is, if we neglect for the present the consideration of shield and boomerang which the figure is holding. The result is, therefore, a design resembling a Latin cross, at the lower end of which is attached an inverted V-shaped symbol representing the legs; a small circle may or may not be added to the top end to stand for the head.
Fig. 55. Anthropomorphous designs, carved on spear-throwers. Tracing.
This design is often repeated indefinitely in a lateral sense, so that a rather ornate pattern results in which the individual figures “join hands” and their “toes touch” below. A chained pattern, such as is shown in the accompanying sketch ([Fig. 53]), may be noticed in [Plate XLV], 1, near the centre of the picture, below the ledge on which the bold drawing of a snake appears, and on the same level as the semi-human design on the extreme left.
The ultimate stage of this conventionalism so far as the human figure is concerned is a simple, straight line, the upright arm of the cross; this is extensively employed in carved representations of people on message sticks. We might now hark back to the question at the beginning of our disquisition on aboriginal art “what lies in a mere line” and supply one answer at any rate.
Fig. 56. Anthropomorphous design, carved on pearl-shell, Sunday Island. Tracing (× 1/4).