Australian Scientists Find Oldest Rock Art Of A 17,300-Year-Old Kangaroo Image

Illustration of kangaroo rock painting. (Wikimedia Commons / AwOiSoAk KaOsIoWa)

JAKARTA - Australian scientists have discovered the oldest rock art in the country, a 17,300-year-old kangaroo painting.

Measuring about 2 meters in size, this painting is made in red ocher on the ceiling of a shelter in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, which is famous for its discovery of Aboriginal rock paintings.

Its lifespan is determined by the radiocarbon dating of ancient mud wasp nests. Research leader Damien Finch, who pioneered the mud wasp dating technique, said it's very rare to find mud wasp nests either above or below a work of art.

But the team was able to sample both types to determine the minimum and maximum age of the artwork. The findings are published this week in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

"We used radiocarbon to date the three wasp nests that underlie the painting and the three nests built on top of it to determine, with confidence, that the painting is between 17,500 and 17,100 years old, most likely 17,300 years old," said Dr. Finch, a geochronologist from the University of Melbourne, Australia, as reported from the BBC.

Scientists say this estimation makes the artwork as the oldest known complete painting in Australia. Finch's colleague, Dr. Sven Ouzman from the University of Western Australia added that there may be a connection between kangaroo painting and ancient art from other regions.

"This iconic kangaroo image is visually similar to rock paintings from islands in Southeast Asia dating back more than 40,000 years, demonstrating cultural connections and demonstrating older rock art in Australia," he said.

To note, earlier this year, researchers discovered the oldest animal cave painting in the world, a painting of a 45,000-year-old pig in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Meanwhile, doodling, such as a hashtag in South Africa, created 73,000 years ago, is believed to be the oldest known image.

Separately, the Chairman of the Balanggarra Aboriginal Corporation Cissy Gore-Birch said the importance of the discovery of kangaroo rock art for Aboriginal and Australian tribes.

"It is important that indigenous knowledge and stories are not lost and continue to be shared for future generations," she said.