A large cave painting depicting a jumping kangaroo has been shown to be more than 17,000 years old, making it Australia’s oldest intact rock painting. The age of the ancient work of art was determined through a new technique in which 27 mud wasp nests, collected from over and under 16 similar paintings, were radiocarbon dated. The research by a team from the University of Melbourne confirmed the painting is between 17,500 and 17,100 years old..
Scientists have identified a life-size portrait of a kangaroo as Australia s oldest rock painting. The ancient art, described Monday in the journal Nature Human Behavior, is between 17,500 and 17,100 years old.
Oldest-known rock art in Australia is 17,300-year-old kangaroo in the Kimberley, wasp nests show
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FebFebruary 2021 at 8:56pm
Traditional owner Ian Waina inspecting a painting of a kangaroo that is at least 12,300 years old, based on the age of wasp nests over the paint.
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As far as Australian icons go, it s hard to look past the kangaroo. Now it turns out the quintessential macropod is also the subject of Australia s oldest-known rock painting.
Key points:
For the first time, traditional owners and researchers dated rock paintings in the naturalistic style to between 17,000 and 13,000 years ago