Australian Aboriginal Rock Art Paintings


Australian Indigenous art is the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world. The oldest firmly dated rock art painting in Australia is a charcoal drawing on a rock fragment found during the excavation of the Narwala Gabarnmang rock shelter in south-western Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. Dated at 28,000 years,it is one of the oldest known pieces of rock art on Earth with a confirmed date. Rock art,including painting and engraving or carving,can be found at sites throughout Australia. Aboriginal rock art has been around for a long period of time,with the oldest examples,in Western Australia's Pilbara region and the Olary district of South Australia,estimated to be up to around 40,000 years old. Examples have been found that are believed to depict extinct megafauna such as Genyornis and Thylacoleo as well as more recent historical events such as the arrival of European ships. Image appeared in "The Story of the Alphabet" by Edward Clodd,1938.


Size: 5400px × 2382px
Photo credit: © Science History Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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