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How old is Aboriginal Rock Art? Archaelogists continue to argue over their age, but some of the earliest paintings, in red ochre in northern sandstone shelters, have been dated at 50,000 years. In 1996 in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, an engraving site was dated at 110,000 years old, sending archaelogists back to the drawing board and rewriting the history of modern human movement.
"X-Ray" Paintings Arnhem Land and Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory provide the finest Aboriginal rock art experiences. At Ubirr shelter in Kakadu, many of the paintings were made well before the Ice Age, 8000 years ago. A layer of animal depictions (some species which are now extinct!), lie beneath red dynamic figures racing across the shelter. Over them are splashed with "X-ray" paintings of barramundi fish, their internal organs accurately detailed. Over them are sailing vessels, documenting the European arrivals in Australia ! Each art layer reads like a page in the history opf the continent...
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