World's Oldest Rock Art in Australia's Kimberley
Coast?
By Rod
Eime
Following state-of-the-art dating methods, it is possible
that the world’s oldest rock art paintings are located
on the remote Kimberley coast of Western Australia.
Current belief is that the oldest paintings are those discovered
in 1994 at the Grotte Chauvet in France. Radio carbon dating
of the pigments used put these works at about 30,000 years
old.
But the pigments of the Bradshaw paintings of the Kimberley
(pictured right) are so old they have become part of the rock
itself, making carbon dating impossible.
A partly fossilised wasp nest attached to one of the paintings
was dated at 17,000 years old, so far the only indication
of their true age.
“The Bradshaw Paintings are incredibly sophisticated,
yet they are not recent creations but originate from an unknown
past period which some suggest could have been 50,000 years
ago,” says Peter Robinson, Project Controller of the
Bradshaw Foundation.
The paintings are named after Joseph Bradshaw who, in 1891,
discovered the art when he was lost on an expedition in the
north-west of Australia and are known to predate the present
Aborigines.
More information on the Bradshaw art: BradshawFoundation.com.
Furthermore, you can see the Bradshaw paintings with a Kimberley
Coast cruise from Adventure
Associates.
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