Nawarla Gabarnmang was brought to scholarly attention when Ray Whear and Chris Morgan of the Jawoyn Association survey team noted the unusually large rockshelter in 2007, during a routine aerial survey of the Arnhem Land plateau. The team landed their helicopter and were stunned at the remarkable beauty of the painted gallery.
Anthropological discussions with regional senior elders Wamud Namok and Jimmy Kalarriya revealed the name of the site as Nawarla Gabarnmang, meaning "the place of the hole in the rock". The traditional owners of the site were identified as Jawoyn clan Buyhmi, and clan elder Margaret Katherine was brought to the site.
Excavation units were opened in Nawarla Gabarnmang beginning in 2010, and they will continue for some time, supported by a range of remote sensing techniques including Lidar and Ground Penetrating Radar. The archaeological team were invited to undertake the research by the Jawoyn Association Aboriginal Corporation; the work is supported by Monash University, the Ministère de la Culture (France), the University of Southern Queensland, the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC), the Indigenous Heritage Program, the Australian Research Council Discovery QEII Fellowship DPDP0877782 and Linkage Grant LP110200927, and the EDYTEM laboratories of the Université de Savoie (France). The excavation process is being filmed by Patricia Marquet and Bernard Sanderre.
Please see the bibliography for sources about Nawarla Gabarnmang.
