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Australian

Large boab tree with coiled snake carving, northern Tanami Desert. Source: Darrell Lewis / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Tracking Down Ancient Artwork Carved into Australian Boab Trees

Archaeologists and historians from Australian National University, the University of Western Australia and the University of Canberra recently teamed up with a group of First Nations Australian...
An artist’s impression of the Thapunngaka shawi, the largest Australian pterosaur ever!

Largest-ever Australian Pterosaur Reconstructed In Amazing New Study

A gigantic prehistoric jawbone recovered near the small Australian outback town of Richmond in Northwest Queensland belonged to a previously undiscovered type of Australian pterosaur, a University of...
“Superhighways” of the Original Australians Uncovered by Virtual Migrant

“Superhighways” of the Original Australians Uncovered by Virtual Migrant

When the first human migrants arrived in Australia tens of thousands of years ago, they spread out across the land following a series of heavily traveled pathways that scientists have identified as...
Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories and Creation Myths

Aboriginal Dreamtime Stories and the Creation Myths of Australia

The Aborigines of Australia are considered one of the oldest continuously surviving cultures in the world, encompassing hundreds of diverse cultural groups, each with their own creation stories...
Researchers in Australia have discovered ancient moth remains in an eastern Victoria cave, shedding light on a traditional food that was prepared 2,000 years ago.

2,000-Year-Old Moth Meal Discovered in Australia

Cloggs Cave near Buchan, in eastern Victoria's alpine region, is located on ancestral territory of the Gunaikurnai people. This is the location of the first conclusive archaeological evidence of...
Reading the Rich Symbolism in Aboriginal Art

How to Read the Symbolism in Aboriginal Art

For thousands of years, an art form has existed that includes works in a wide range of media, including bark painting, ceremonial clothing, painting on leaves, rock carving, watercolor painting, and...
Assortment of the Aboriginal rock art found at the Yilbilinji site in Limmen National Park, Australia.    Source: L.M. Brady / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Study Reveals Rare Aboriginal Rock Art’s Link With Sorcery and Magic

In Australia , a team of researchers have made some dramatic new findings regarding one of the world’s most important rock art assemblages. This Aboriginal rock art is among the very few examples of...
The Aboriginal rock art of Uluru that has been damaged, with stains of a dark fluid that can clearly be seen.    Source: Emma Haskin / ABC

Greasy Scumbags Vandalize Sacred Uluru’s Ancient Aboriginal Rock Art

Uluru, or Ayers Rock , is the massive natural sandstone monolith standing at the sacred heart of Australia’s Northern Territory’s ‘Red Centre’ and after years of abuse, now, ancient Aboriginal rock...
Baloon Cave, before (left) and after (right) the 2018 explosion that destroyed ancient Aboriginal rock art.       Source: Paul Tacon (after) / Selina Goodreid (Before)

8000-Year-Old Aboriginal Rock Art Destroyed During Bushfire

Archaeologists confirm the ancient Aboriginal rock art in Australia’s Baloon Cave cannot be restored after fire damage, caused by a recycled plastic walkway, ignited into a fireball in 2018. Ancient...
History Saved! Jenolan Caves Defended as Australian Fires Rage On

History Saved! Jenolan Caves Defended as Australian Fires Rage On

Australia’s World Heritage Listed heritage site, the Jenolan Caves Reserve, which has the world’s oldest known and open cave systems, has been protected from the raging fires which are tearing across...
Christian group burns ‘satanic objects’ in bonfire. Credit: Andris / Adobe Stock

Christian Missionary Demands Australian Aboriginals Burn ‘Satanic’ Cultural Relics

A group of extreme Christian missionaries is causing irreversible trouble in outback Wangkatjungka, in Australia, by burning sacred Aboriginal objects because they are “all from the devil”, while...
Amazonian native

Ten of the Most Critically Endangered Languages in the World

There are 195 countries in the world, but a staggering 7000 living languages. UNESCO’s list of endangered languages , which functions in a similar way to the lists for endangered animals and plants,...
The remains of Mungo Man

Mungo Man Returns Home: There is Still Much He Can Teach Us About Ancient Australia

The remains of the first known Australian, Mungo Man, today begin their return to the Willandra area of New South Wales, where they were discovered in 1974. They’ll be accompanied by the remains of...
New Language Spawned in Remote Australian Town and Only 350 People Can Speak It

New Language Spawned in Remote Australian Town and Only 350 People Can Speak It

It is not every day that a new and unique language is discovered, but this finding really has anthropologists stumped. In a tiny, remote Aboriginal community in outback Australia, an American...
Evidence of Unknown Extinct Human Relative Found in DNA Study of Melanesians

Evidence of Unknown Extinct Human Relative Found in DNA Study of Melanesians

Traces of long-lost human cousins may be hiding in modern people’s DNA, a new computer analysis suggests. People from Melanesia, a region in the South Pacific encompassing Papua New Guinea and...
A model of the face of an adult female Homo erectus. Reconstruction by John Gurche, Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

Scientists Say A Mystery Species Bred with Ancient Humans in Distant Past

A new study of the genomes of Australasians has revealed sections of DNA that do not match any known hominin species. The dramatic findings mean that a mystery species bred with ancient humans in the...
Ancient Deep Skull Still Holds Big Surprises 60 Years After it was Unearthed

Ancient Deep Skull Still Holds Big Surprises 60 Years After it was Unearthed

Thousands of years ago, the ancestors of modern humans left Africa to embark on a journey that would eventually take them across the globe. Yet we still know precious little about the momentous...
Convict Shirt, National Museum of Australia Ian Evans, Author provided

These walls can talk: Australian history preserved by folk magic

The 160,023 convicts transported to the Australian colonies between 1788 and 1868 left leg-irons and chains a’plenty, but surprisingly little in the way of clothing. Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum has a...
The enigmatic archaic faces, found in large numbers over the Burrup are among the earliest rock art works in the region.

Oldest and largest concentration of ancient rock art under threat from Australian Government

Australian Indigenous art is the oldest unbroken tradition of art in the world. It is so old in fact, that examples have been found that depict long extinct megafauna. One particular region, the...
Star Betelgeuse

Australian Aboriginals knew of variable star Betelgeuse before European astronomers

Recent research published in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage suggests that an ancient Aboriginal love story written in the sky reveals their knowledge of variability in the star...
Ancient tools in Australia

Ancient tools evolved in Australia thousands of years before they appeared in Europe

Australia receives relatively little attention in academic literature when it comes to examining the origins and development of ancient weapons and tools. But neglecting to examine the capabilities...