Researchers may have found the oldest ritual passed down generations after investigating a cave in Australia. The cave, known as Cloggs Cave, near the town of Buchan had undergone previous excavation but carbon dating on plant material at the site had not been carried out.

Buchan, Krauatungalung Country, lies in an area originally known as “Bukan-Mungie” meaning the place of rocks with holes in them. The area has a lot of caves and cliffs and many fossil bones dating back 10,000 years have been found in the area.

Monash University was approached in 2017 by GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, which represents the GunaiKurnai people to investigate evidence of this ritual. It had been documented by 19th Century geoligist Alfred Howitt.

Picture from https://gunaikurnai.org

Bruno David, Professor at the Monash Indigenous Studies Center, investigated two sticks found standing upright near small fire enclosures. One stick dated 12,000 years, another 11,000 years. Both sticks had been quickly burnt and coated with animal (or human) fat. To put it in perspective, 12,000 years ago is close to the end of the Ice Age.

Howitt had previously documented a ritual of the Mulla-mullung people who were medicine men/women akin to Shamans. The ritual involved tying something belonging to the sick person to a stick, smearing it in fat (possibly Kangaroo fat) and then placing it upright near a fire. The stick was slanted to ensure that it eventually fell over. As the stick fell, the sickness was supposed to heal.

There are many such rituals the world over. Often, feathers are tied outside and as the feathers perish and wither away, the purpose of the spell is brought about.

In a press release by GLaWAC, Professor Bruno David Bukan-Mungie said “The connection of these archaeological finds with recent GunaiKurnai practices demonstrates 12,000 years of knowledge-transfer.”

“Nowhere else on Earth has archaeological evidence of a very specific cultural practice whose performance is known from Elders and ethnography previously been tracked so far back in time.”

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