New Research May Establish Australian Rock Art as the Oldest in the World

Australian Indigenous art is the longest unbroken tradition of art in the world. It is so old in fact, that examples have been found that depict long extinct megafauna. Now a push is underway to establish just how old it really is. It is expected that the research will reveal a date of at least 50,000 years, placing it among the oldest rock art in the world.

Indigenous Aboriginal history is believed to span a period of between 50,000 and 55,000 years with some estimates indicating an Aboriginal presence in Australia some 80,000 years before the arrival of the first Europeans. Prior to colonization, there were hundreds of indigenous Aboriginal groups with some 250 distinct languages spoken across the continent. Each group also had its own cultural and artistic traditions.

Rock Art of the Kimberley

One of the richest regions for rock art is the Kimberley region of north-western Australia, one of the earliest parts of Australia to be settled and an area where traditional Aboriginal law and culture is still active and alive. The Kimberley has tens of thousands of rock art sites spread across more than 400,000 square kilometres (an area about three times the size of England).

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a group of scientists, researchers, and traditional owners is now studying the rock art of the Kimberley in order to establish as accurate a date as possible for the paintings.