Scarred trees are trees which have had bark

Bark

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

 removed by indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

 for the creation of canoes, shelters, shields and containers, such as coolamons

Coolamon (vessel)

A coolamon is an Indigenous Australian carrying vessel.It is a multi-purpose shallow vessel, or dish with curved sides, ranging in length from 30–70 cm, and similar in shape to a canoe....

. They are among the easiest to find archaeological sites in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Bark was removed by making deep cuts in a tree with a stone axe. The area of bark removed is typically regular in shape, often with parallel sides and slightly pointed or rounded ends, and the scar usually stops above ground level. Australian native Eucalypt

Eucalypt

Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...

 species such as box

Eucalyptus melliodora

Eucalyptus melliodora, commonly known as Yellow Box, is a medium sized to occasionally tall eucalypt. The bark is variable ranging from smooth with an irregular, short stocking, to covering most of the trunk, fibrous, dense or loosely held, grey, yellow or red-brown, occasionally very coarse,...

 and red gum

Red Gum

Red Gum may refer to any of a number of species of Eucalyptus or the closely related Corymbia, including*Corymbia calophylla, Red Gum or Marri, native to Western Australia*Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Red Gum, Murray Red Gum or River Red Gum...

were commonly used, and the scars remain in trees that are often over 200 years old.

Scarred trees are significant evidence of Aboriginal occupation and scarred trees can provide information on Aboriginal activities in the area that they are located.

The designs that adorn specific ceremonial trees are designated as 'dendroglyphs.'