Drone mapping identifies three previously unregistered Aboriginal shelters

Archaeologists using drone-mounted LiDAR identified three previously unregistered Aboriginal rock shelters in the Blue Mountains, where field visits found red hand stencils and stone artefacts. The discovery documents cultural material at sites that had not previously been registered, while the survey also confirmed the locations of six registered shelters.

The research team worked with the Dharug Custodian Aboriginal Corporation to identify potential sites using LiDAR. The team included archaeologists from the University of Sydney's Vere Gordon Childe Centre and the Australian Museum. Field visits followed the aerial identification work and confirmed the shelters and the material they contained.

The project co-director, Brennan, described the Gulamada Project as an effort to bring scientific work and culture together, saying the work depends on listening, learning and collaboration. That account places cooperation with Indigenous custodians at the centre of the project, alongside the archaeological work.

Bongers said the approach offers an efficient and accurate way to locate sites in rugged terrain, where surveying can be arduous, expensive and time-consuming. The LiDAR method was used to identify potential locations; field surveys then provided confirmation on the ground. The findings appeared in the journal Remote Sensing.

More than 200 rock shelters with archaeological and cultural evidence have been documented across the Blue Mountains, according to both reports. The discovery adds three previously unregistered sites to the documented record and comes alongside confirmation of six registered shelter locations.

The work demonstrates how aerial mapping and on-site survey were combined in this project, rather than treating the remote scan alone as confirmation. The sources describe the discovery and the project’s collaborative approach, but do not identify the shelters’ exact locations or provide further detail about the objects beyond the red hand stencils and stone artefacts.

Their reporting establishes the immediate result: three new registrations identified through drone-based mapping and confirmed during field visits. The broader significance described by the project’s co-director and Bongers is that this approach can help locate sites in difficult terrain while bringing scientific research and cultural knowledge together.