Archaeologists working on islands on Australia's remote north-west coast have discovered engravings left by American whaling crews in the 1840s, giving a glimpse of the tedium and isolation the sailors experienced while at sea for years on end.

Key points: The names and dates were carved by men from two different US whaling boats

The names and dates were carved by men from two different US whaling boats They are the earliest inscriptions in Australia left by whalers themselves

They are the earliest inscriptions in Australia left by whalers themselves It's believed they reflect the crews passing the time as they watched the sea

The etchings of names and dates have been found on Rosemary and West Lewis islands in the Dampier Archipelago, north-west of Karratha.

Findings from the team at the University of Western Australia are being published in the journal Antiquity this week.

"This is the earliest inscription that we have in Australia left behind by the whalers themselves, so it is historically very, very significant," archaeologist Alistair Paterson said.

"We know that North American whalers, for a 30- or 40-year period, covered the entirety of the world's oceans looking for whales, but we have very little evidence of them actually making landfall, so they're an important find."

The names and dates were carved into the rock by men sailing on two different whale boats, several years apart.

Colour filters bring out the inscriptions left by the crew of the American whaling ship Connecticut on a rock on Rosemary Island. ( Supplied: Alistair Paterson )

Historical records reveal identities

The first, the Connecticut, set off from the coastal city of New London in August, 1842 with a crew of 26 men and sailed from the north-west coast of the United States to what was then known as the New Holland whaling ground.

Professor Alistair Paterson said American whalers frequented WA's north-west coast throughout much of the 19th century. ( Supplied: Glen Jones )

Members of the crew carved the words "Jacob Anderson", "Crocker", "New London", and "in the Ship Connecticut of New London", on a high, rocky ridge overlooking the water, along with the dates of their travel.

Professor Paterson scoured the historical records to identify the men, including the captain, and wrote his findings in the international journal Antiquity.

"The historical records show that on Connecticut's departure, Captain Crocker was 33 years old, while Jacob Anderson was described as an 18-year-old seaman from New London of 'black complexion' — almost certainly an African-American sailor," he wrote.

The second lot of carvings were found on the nearby West Lewis Island and include the words "J.Leek, Ship Delta, 1849".

Archaeologists believe the etchings were made in the rocks while crew members looked for whales. ( Supplied: Alistair Paterson )

The archaeologist said the shifting fonts and false starts on the words reflect the bored crew passing time as they watched the sea for whales.

"Rather than a formal message to be transmitted more publicly to future visitors to the island, these whalers were celebrating and commemorating having survived the voyage to the other side of the world."

'An incredible progression through time'

Professor Jo McDonald was one of those who found the engravings in 2017, while recording the thousands of Aboriginal rock images in the archipelago.

She said the engravings were particularly unusual because they were made over the top of older markings by local Aboriginal people.

The carvings were discovered on Rosemary and West Lewis islands, off WA's Pilbara coast. ( Supplied: Alistair Paterson )

"Our first impression was that the inscriptions had been crossed out afterwards by an Aboriginal person … but what we discovered was that the writing was made with a metal implement over the top of the older grid pattern, which had been made with a stone implement," she said.

"So it shows this incredible progression through time of different people coming along and marking the rock and telling things about themselves, and wanting to leave a record they were at a place."

The CEO of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, Peter Jeffries, said the area was very special to the Ngarluma and Yaburara traditional owners.

"People did know about these engravings from the 1800s," he said.

"There wasn't anything passed down through local storytelling that I know of, but we knew about them in more modern times, in the last 20 or 30 years.

"For the local traditional owners this area's very important, because it tells a story from our past and it also captures the arrival of the Europeans in the country, so you can see this coexistence."

Peter Jeffries said the area was very special to the Ngarluma and Yaburara traditional owners. ( ABC North West: Susan Standen )

Carvings pre-date white settlement by decades

At the peak of the whaling industry, in the mid-19th century, about 22,000 men were employed on almost 1,000 whaling boats that cross-crossed the globe and stopped off at remote coastlines.

The carvings on the Pilbara coast were made prior to white settlement of the area — about two decades before pastoralists and pearlers arrived.

Professor Jo McDonald was one of those who found the inscriptions in 2017. ( ABC News: Erin Parke )

Professor McDonald said the engravings gave a rare glimpse of the lives of the America whalers, who were away from home for years at a time.

"They spent enormous amount of time at sea, so it must have been such a relief to get on land," she said.

"I can't imagine anything worse than being in a tiny boat with 30 or 40 other smelly people, so I think it would have been a sense of relief to come ashore.

"And they're waiting for whales so they have to entertain themselves somehow."