The Tortoise

There are four kinds of tortoise in the Oenpelli area: the long-necked freshwater tortoise and three other kinds of short-necked tortoises. The artist would have identified which species he was painting as each type is associated with a different Dreamtime Ancestor Being.  The image on the bark is  as you might imagine finding on the great cave galleries walls in the stone escarpment country of West Arnhem Land