Free Republic

Vandals have destroyed sacred artwork in South Australia thought to be about 30,000 years old. The Nullarbor Plain art, which are designs carved into the chalk limestone walls of the Koonalda Cave, has special significance for the region's Aboriginal Mirning people. The vandals are thought to have dug under a steel gate before scrawling "don't look now, but this is a death cave" on the walls. The authorities are investigating. Individuals found to have damaged an Aboriginal site or item currently face a fine of A$10,000 ($6,700; £5,500) or up to six months in prison under South Australia's Aboriginal heritage...

Curtin University researchers and international collaborators using advanced satellite imagery have discovered an ancient reef-like landform "hidden" in plain view on the Nullarbor Plain, which has been preserved for millions of years since it first formed when the Plain was underwater. Research author Dr. Milo Barham, from the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group within Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the finding further challenged the understanding that the Nullarbor Plain, which emerged from the ocean about 14 million years ago, was essentially flat and featureless. "Unlike many parts of the world, large areas of the Nullarbor Plain have...