Scientists date Australia s oldest rock shelter painting
23 Feb 2021 | 3 mins
A multidisciplinary team of scientists from The University of Western Australia and The University of Melbourne, working with Aboriginal Traditional Owners, has successfully dated a 17,000 year old kangaroo rock painting in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The rock painting, found on the Unghango clan estate in Balanggarra Country in the north-eastern Kimberley, is the oldest known painting still on the wall of a rock shelter in Australia.The dating results were published in
Dating the Aboriginal rock art sequence of the Kimberley in NW Australia.
Researchers are aiming to develop a time scale for Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley.UWA archaeologists Sven Ouzman, Peter Veth and Sam Harper are working in partnership with Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation and the Kimberley Land Council, and dating specialists from the Universities of Melbourne, Wollongong, Manchester and the Australian Nati
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The team dated 27 mud wasp nests around 16 different paintings from eight rock shelters
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A montage of photographs of the 17,300-year-old kangaroo rock painting (left) and an illustration of the artwork (right). Credit: Damien Finch et al
The team dated 27 mud wasp nests around 16 different paintings from eight rock shelters A kangaroo painting created over 17,000 years ago by Aboriginal artists has been identified with a little help from some ancient wasps as Australia s oldest intact rock art.
The two-metre-long (six-feet) artwork on the sloped ceiling of a rock shelter in Western Australia s Kimberley region was painted in an early naturalistic style, which often features life-sized renderings of animals, according to research published Monday.
Researchers in Australia have discovered a kangaroo painting created over 17,000 years ago by Aboriginal artists has been identified with a little help from some ancient wasps as Australia's oldest intact rock art.
The two-metre-long (six-feet) artwork on the sloped ceiling of a rock shelter in Western Australia's Kimberley region was painted in an early naturalistic style, which often features life-sized renderings of animals, according to research published Monday.
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Dubbed the world s oldest-known cave art, the painting represented a 45,000-year-old life-size warty pig.
Dr Sven Ouzman, from University Western Australia s School of Social Sciences, believes the latest discovery will help researchers better understand Australia s Indigenous history.
He said: This iconic kangaroo image is visually similar to rock paintings from islands in South East Asia dated to more than 40,000 years ago, suggesting a cultural link - and hinting at still older rock art in Australia.
Cissy Gore-Birch, Chair of the Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation, added: It s important that Indigenous knowledge and stories are not lost and continue to be shared for generations to come.