We write from an ontological premise that there are other ways to know and understand the “archaeological record” and “rock art” that are devoid of Western ontology, and there have been for many millennia. In this article, we consider one specific Indigenous place and its associated visual elements, what might be commonly referred to as “rock art.” This place, Nalangkalurru, is replete with meaning, grounded in a well‐founded and understood logic and reason. Nalangkalurru belongs to the Yanyuwa people of the southwest Gulf of Carpentaria region, northern Australia. By adopting methodological openness, we take a journey of steadied nondistraction oriented towards the Yanyuwa ontology that is in place. When viewing the visual elements of Nalangkalurru, which include Ancestral Beings that are visually present on the cave's large rock surface, Yanyuwa have resolutely declared that this “is not a painting.” We explore what this comment means and expand the discussion to consider the nature of rock art research, when “rock art” is not “rock art.” These insights inspire a reflective discussion on the ways Yanyuwa, and Indigenous ontologies more broadly, unsettle and aid the ontological turn. [ontology, rock art, colonialism, Indigenous, Australia]

中文翻译：

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Nalangkulurru，精神存在者和黑鼻巨蟒：北澳大利亚州海湾国家的本体论自决和Yanyuwa法则

我们从一个本体论的前提下写道，还有许多了解和理解“考古记录”和“岩石艺术”的方法，这些方法缺乏西方本体论，而且已经有数千年的历史了。在本文中，我们考虑了一个特定的土著场所及其相关的视觉元素，通常被称为“摇滚艺术”。Nalangkalurru这个地方充满了意义，建立在有充分根据和理解的逻辑和理由的基础上。Nalangkalurru属于澳大利亚北部卡彭塔里亚海湾西南地区的Yanyuwa人民。通过采用方法上的开放性，我们将朝着已建立的Yanyuwa本体进行稳定的分散注意力的旅程。在查看纳朗卡鲁鲁（Nalangkalurru）的视觉元素时，其中包括视觉上出现在洞穴大岩石表面上的祖先生物，Yanyuwa坚决宣布这“不是一幅画”。当“岩石艺术”不是“岩石艺术”时，我们将探讨此评论的含义并扩大讨论范围，以考虑岩石艺术研究的性质。这些见解激发了有关Yanyuwa和土著本体论更广泛地动摇和帮助本体论转向的方式的反思性讨论。[本体论，岩石艺术，殖民主义，土著，澳大利亚]