In a flat, arid stretch of South Australia, Koonalda Cave houses art dating back 22,000 years – a sacred site to the Mirning Aboriginal people and a discovery that has changed the way scientists understand history.
This protected cave and its artwork has now been vandalized with graffiti, devastating the indigenous Mirning community while authorities seek the culprits.
“Earlier this year it was discovered that the cave had been trespassed and some of the delicate finger knurling had been vandalized, with damage scratched across them into the side of the cave,” a government spokesman said in a statement to CNN.
The ridges are ridges carved across the soft limestone cave walls by the fingers of Ice Age people.
“The vandalism at Koonalda Cave is shocking and heartbreaking. Koonalda Cave is of great importance to the Mirning people and its tens of thousands of years of history show some of the earliest evidence of Aboriginal habitation in this part of the country,” the spokesman said.
“If these vandals can be apprehended, they should face the full force of the law.”
The vandals were not deterred by fences around the caves, so the South Australian state government is now considering installing security cameras and has been “in recent months” consulting with indigenous leaders on how to better protect the site, the spokesman added.
But Bunna Lawrie, a senior Mirning elder and administrator of Koonalda, said he didn’t hear about the vandalism until local media reported it this week.
“We are the traditional keepers of Koonalda and ask that you respect this and consult with our Mirning elders,” he said in a statement.
The incident has frustrated the Mirning people, who say their previous repeated calls for greater security have gone unheeded.
As a sacred site, it is closed to the public and only accessible to a few male elders in the community, the group said in a statement. Aside from the cave’s spiritual significance, the restrictions are also designed to protect the delicate artwork, some of which is etched into the cave floor.
Despite the legal protection, the group says it has still received requests to allow public access to Koonalda.
“We have spoken out against opening our sacred site as it would violate the protocols that have protected Koonalda for so long. Since 2018 we have been asking for assistance to prioritize securing the entrance and providing appropriate Mirning signage. That support has not been forthcoming,” the statement said.
“Instead, damage has been caused in recent years, including the collapse of the cave entrance after access works on which we were not consulted and (which) were not authorised.”
It added that as a place that represents the link to Mirning ancestors and homelands, Koonalda “is more than just a precious work of art, it runs deep in our blood and identity.”
importance of the cave
Australian scientists for decades believed that the country’s indigenous people had only existed on the land for around 8,000 years.
Koonalda Cave was the first site in Australia to have indigenous rock art dating back 22,000 years – turning the scientific community’s understanding of Australian history on its head.
“The discovery caused a stir and forever changed the then accepted notions of where, when and how Aboriginal people lived on the Australian continent,” said Greg Hunt, then Environment Secretary in 2014 when Koonalda was inscribed on the National Heritage List .
The dating of the cave art was assessed using archaeological remains and fingerprints, and then confirmed using radiocarbon technology, according to the country’s Ministry of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water.
Aside from the finger riffles, the cave also had a second type of rock art, which involved cutting lines into harder sections of limestone with a sharp tool. According to a government website, the walls feature patterns of horizontal and vertical lines cut into a V-shape.
The cave and its art have been overseen and protected by Mirning elders for generations, the Mirning statement said.
“All of our elders are devastated, shocked and hurt by the recent desecration of this site,” Lawrie said. “We mourn for our sacred place. Koonalda is like our ancestor. Our ancestor left his spirit in the wall, in the story, in the songline.”