February 23rd The British Guardian reported on the 22nd that scientists have verified that the kangaroo rock painting found in Kimberley, Western Australia is 17,300 years old, which is the oldest rock painting in Australia.
Research published in the American journal Natural Human Behavior shows that the two-meter-long ochre kangaroo rock painting was completed in the early Ice Age, when the sea level was more than 100 meters lower than now.
The place where the painting was found is now 70 kilometers away from the coastline, but when it was created, it was 200 kilometers away from the coast.
Dr. Sven Auman, a researcher involved in the study, said that several Australian rock paintings previously discovered were only 10,000 to 15,000 years old.
In addition, other older works of art in Australia are only rock fragments, and this more complete kangaroo rock painting is of great value.
Auman believes that the author of this kangaroo rock painting was related to the trading network at that time.
At the beginning of this year, the world’s oldest cave painting, a pig of the same proportion, was found on Sulawesi, Indonesia, 45,000 years ago.
This painting on Sulawesi is similar to the style of kangaroo rock painting, which Auman believes has cultural connections.
Damien Finch, another researcher of the study, a geological chronologist at the University of Melbourne, observed 16 paintings of eight rocks in the Kimberley area and analyzed 27 wasp nests.
By determining the charcoal age of the honeycomb, researchers calculated the time of the painting.
Finch said that his purpose was not to find the oldest paintings, but to collect the creation of rock art for a period of time.
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