Wallace Rockhole is a Western Aranda Aboriginal Community located 120 km west of Alice Springs along the James Range.
In 1877 the Lutheran Mission opened up Hermannsburg Mission and ran a large cattle station to support it and the Aboriginals until 1983, when the station was divided into 5 blocks and handed back to the Aranda People. Wallace Rockhole is on the Urunda Land Trust, reaching 25 km along the James Range and 40 km to the West MacDonnell Ranges. The Wallace Rockhole community was founded in 1973 by the Abott family as an out-post of the Hermannsburg Mission.
In a cave south of the settlement, hand prints dating 100 to 600 years back can be found. For these, ochre is ground, mixed in water and sprayed over the hands from the mouth. The hand prints are a signature of the people to whom this land belongs.
Further up the valley are rock engravings, which belong to a tradition that is widespread across Australia. Engravings like these in Central Australia have been dated 8000 years old. The youngest were made some 70 to 90 years ago. Circles symbolize water holes, concentric circles represent togetherness, telling stories, singing songs - Songlines.