Australia oldest known rock art discovered in Kimberley, dates back to 600 generations

Australian scientists recently discovered the country’s oldest known rock art - a 17,300-year-old painting of a kangaroo. According to the findings published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, the artwork measuring 6.5 feet was painted in red ochre on the ceiling of a rock shelter. It was found in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, which is known for its Aboriginal rock paintings. 

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The researchers said that the age of the painting was determined by a radiocarbon-dating ancient mud wasp nest. Damien Finch, who pioneered the mud wasp dating technique, said that it was rare to find mud wasp nests both on top and underneath a single artwork. However, he added that the team of researchers was able to sample both types to establish the artwork’s minimum and maximum ages. 

Finch explained, “We radiocarbon-dated three wasp nests underlying the painting and three nests built over it to determine, confidently, that the painting is between 17,500 and 17,100 years old; most likely 17,300 years old”. 

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(Image: University of Melbourne) 

The researchers said that the estimation makes the artwork the oldest known intact painting in Australia. The study’s co-author Dr Sven Ouzman added that there could be a link between the kangaroo painting and the ancient art from other regions. He said that this “iconic” image is visually similar to rock paintings from islands in South East Asia dated more than 40,000 years ago, suggesting a culture link and hinting at still older rock art in Australia.

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Oldest known cave painting 

It is worth noting that earlier this year, researchers had also found the world’s oldest animal cave painting, a 45,000-year-old life-sized depiction of a pig, on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The painting shows a giant warty pig and it was found in the Leang Tedongnge cave. According to reports, the discovery was made by a doctoral student in 2017 who was conducting a survey on the island of Sulawesi in the south-eastern part of the country. The study mentioned that the Leang Tedongnge cave is located in a remote valley enclosed by sheer lemon stone cliffs. The ancient cave is only accessible during the dry season as it is submerged by rains otherwise.

The painting measures 136 in width and 54 centimetres in height and has been created using dark red ochre pigment. There are two handprints above the pig's hindquarters, and it appears to be facing two other pigs that are only partially preserved, as part of a narrative scene. An additional feature of the pig is that it has a short crest of upright hair as well as a pair of horn-like facial warts, which has prompted researchers to believe that it is a male figure.

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