Australia's oldest painting? A red ochre depiction of two emu-like birds with their necks outstretched
Posted on 05/31/2010 1:31:34 AM PDT by Palter
Scientists say an Aboriginal rock art depiction of an extinct giant bird could be Australia's oldest painting.
The red ochre painting, which depicts two emu-like birds with their necks outstretched, could date back to the earliest days of settlement on the continent.
It was rediscovered at the centre of the Arnhem Land plateau about two years ago, but archaeologists first visited the site a fortnight ago.
A palaeontologist has confirmed the animals depicted are the megafauna species Genyornis.
Archaeologist Ben Gunn said the giant birds became extinct more than 40,000 years ago.
"The details on this painting indicate that it was done by someone who knew that animal very well," he said.
He says the detail could not have been passed down through oral storytelling.
"If it is a Genyornis, and it certainly does have all the features of one, it would be the oldest dated visual painting that we've got in Australia," he said.
"Either the painting is 40,000 years old, which is when science thinks Genyornis disappeared, or alternatively the Genyornis lived a lot longer than science has been able to establish."
Mr Gunn says there are paintings of other extinct animals right across the area including the thylacine, or tasmanian tiger, the giant echidna and giant kangaroo.
"It does give you a window back to a time that you can pinpoint, and in the case of the Genyornis it's a very long picture," he said.
The traditional owners of the land in the Northern Territory say they are excited the painting could be Australia's oldest dated rock art.
The Jawoyn Association's Wes Miller says the painting is one of thousands rediscovered across Arnhem Land in recent years.
"It verifies that the Jawoyn people were living in this country for a very, very long time," he said.
"People say it, but once again this is clearly a demonstration of how long Jawoyn people have been in this country and other Indigenous groups. It's great from that point of view. It's pretty exciting stuff."
Australia's oldest painting? A red ochre depiction of two emu-like birds with their necks outstretched
Ping.
The more we look the more we find, older and older stuff.
Makes me think one of my college professors was right. That many undiscovered civilizations lay buried and hidden waiting to be found, to rewrite history as we know it.
He also believed that if we could explore Antarctica, the ground under the ice that we just might be astonished and completely shocked as to what we could very well find underneath.
The results would hopefully not be like Lovecraft’s “At the Mountains of Madness.”
bookmark
looks like a moa of some kind.
“He also believed that if we could explore Antarctica, the ground under the ice that we just might be astonished and completely shocked as to what we could very well find underneath”
I for one share that belief. Todays Austrailia and Antartica were once joined before the great tectonic separations. While we in north America go back 10,000 years, Austrailia has an indiginous population that thus far traces back 40,000 years. Everything about these people and particularly their oral history should be taken into
consideration because they have a record of human existance through serious climatic changes, 2 ice ages for one thing occuring here.
For those who have not sipped from the Lovecraftian chalice:
http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/mountainsofmaddness.htm
Since the weight of the ice grinds even the rock into flour, I don't think we would find much of anything.
Ahh. I forgot about the underground dinosaurs and all that. The caverns found by the Nazis and used for their secret bases.
Thanks for reminding me.
|
|
|||
Gods |
Thanks Palter. |
||
|
· Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · Google · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists · |
|||
The aboriginal people of Australia also painted a number of Plesiosaurs...
Yes, it does look like a camel.
Cool site. Also check out http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/
Nice site!
Thanks!
And yet, coleslaw didn’t appear until 39,000 years later.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.