Nawarla Gabarnmung | |
Location | south-western Arnhem Land, Top End, Northern Territory |
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Region | Australia |
Coordinates | 12°10′6.6″S 133°50′0.6″E / 12.168500°S 133.833500°E |
History | |
Associated with | Indigenous Australians |
Site notes | |
Excavation dates | 2010 |
Archaeologists | Bruno David, Jean-Michel Geneste, Jean-Jacques Delanoy |
Gabarnmung (or Nawarla Gabarnmung, Jawoyn for "(place of) hole in the rock"[1]) is an archaeological and rock art site in south-western Arnhem Land, in the Top End of Australia’s Northern Territory. Habitation of the site has been dated to at least 44,000 years ago, placing it among the oldest radiocarbon dated sites in Australia (known older sites, such as the nearby Madjedbebe, are dated stratigraphically). The oldest rock art was produced more than 28,000 years ago, making it the oldest securely dated prehistoric art in Australia.[2] The cave was still visited by members of the Jawoyn within living memory, possibly until as late as the 1950s,[3] but its existence had been forgotten until its 2006 rediscovery.