Human Life Began in Australia

Cave Art

KAKADU, AUSTRALIA: As our small group climbed the rocky escarpment to the hidden cave above, I struggled to pull myself up over the steep boulders, thinking, “I hope this is worth the effort.” Above I could see the contours of our destination, as our guide huffed encouragements, “Come on, we’re almost there.” The others in the group were a third my age and sympathetically lent me their hands and shoulders as I contorted and stretched my body to keep up with them. As we were about to reach our goal, one big boulder remaining, our guide motioned us to be quiet. “Please respect what you see here. Do not touch anything. This has been the home of someone for 28,000 years.” Respectfully, we raised ourselves over the final boulder to see in front of us a large open-faced cave with its ancient paintings. “This site was just one of over 5,000 sites in Kakadu,” our guide told us. Throughout Australia there are similar sites, some dating back as far as 40,000 years. To put this in perspective, the oldest pyramid, Djoser, was constructed around 2630 BCE. Together, the Australian sites show the rich diversity of humankind’s cultural development. There are pictures of extinct animals being killed, people dancing and playing, battles being fought, and religious ceremonies observed. Some sites are sacred and can only be approached by Aboriginal elders while others show layers of paintings over the ages where the act of painting was more important than the painting itself. In awe our little group stood there under the cave’s overhang looking out toward the distant sea. What must this have looked like to someone standing here 28,000 years ago? What dreams and aspirations possessed these people? Maybe those two Aboriginal guides I had met earlier were right, "Human life began in Australia."