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Oldest-known rock art in Australia is 17,300-year-old kangaroo in the Kimberley, wasp nests show
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MonMonday 22
updated
MonMonday 22
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
Researchers in western Australia have been working to date all ancient cave art
They are using a technique that involves radiocarbon dating mud wasp nests
The nests overhang the ancient pieces of art painted to the sides of caves
The 2m drawing of a kangaroo was dated to between 17,500 and 17,100 years old
It sits on the Unghango clan estate in Balanggarra country, Western Australia