Vandals Broke Into A Sacred Aboriginal Cave In SA And Scratched Words Over 22,000YO Rock Art

A 22,000-year-old artwork in a sacred Aboriginal cave in South Australia has been vandalised and destroyed in a “massive, tragic loss”. Unknown vandals broke into the fenced-off Koonalda Cave in the Nullarbor Plain and carved graffiti over the heritage-listed rock art. The graffiti reads: “don’t look now, but this is a death cave”. SA authorities said the culprits dug under a steel gate to enter the site and completely destroyed one area of it. Archeologist Dr Keryn Walshe

“The vandals caused a huge amount of damage. The art is not recoverable,” Walshe told Guardian Australia.

“The surface of the cave is very soft. It is not possible to remove the graffiti without destroying the art underneath. It’s a massive, tragic loss to have it defaced to this degree.”

Evidence suggests

#Archaeology #Anthropology

Finger marks inside Koonalda Cave Australia circa 20,000 BC. Ancient indigenous Australians looking for flint within the cave pressed their fingers into the soft limestone wall. pic.twitter.com/FxjEYeDwbT — Randy The Atheist (@RTheatheist) October 28, 2022

UncleBunna Lawrie

“Me and my Mirning Elders are very sad, disturbed and hurt by what has happened,” he said.

“I am a custodian of Koonalda and my ancestors have protected this place for tens of thousands of years. [We’ve] kept it beautiful and sacred.”

“It is not coming back.

“It is one of the oldest cave arts in the world and it is now damaged. It is so wrong. We will now seek help to investigate, as we see this as a criminal offence and abuse to our Mirning culture.”

Vandals destroyed sacred artwork in South Australia thought to be 30,000 yrs old. The Nullarbor Plain art, designs carved into chalk limestone walls of the Koonalda Cave, has special significance for the region’s Aboriginal Mirning people. pic.twitter.com/B52LqTIh1w

— Rita Rosenfeld (@rheytah) December 21, 2022

far from the first time

“Over recent months the South Australian government has been consulting Traditional Owners and other stakeholders on developing a comprehensive plan to better protect this important site,” the spokesperson said.

“The existing fencing and general difficulty in accessing the caves deters the vast majority of visitors from trespassing. Live monitoring of the site via closed-circuit cameras is being considered to better protect the cave.”

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