The ritual was meant to either cure or harm people. It involved attaching an object belonging to a person to a stick covered with fat and placing it before a fire until the stick fell. This ritual may have been practiced for hundreds of generations.

Cloggs Cave is one of the most intriguing sites for archaeologists in Australia. It’s also an important site for the GunaiKurnai Aboriginal population. Located in the Buchan region of eastern Victoria, the cave has provided invaluable insight into the prehistoric occupation of the area. Archaeological excavations have revealed artifacts dating back over 20,000 years, including stone tools, animal remains, and evidence of early human activity.

For the GunaiKurnai people, Cloggs Cave holds cultural and spiritual significance, as it is part of their ancestral lands and plays a role in their oral traditions and cultural heritage. The cave’s rich archaeological and cultural layers make it a key location for understanding both the ancient human history and the ongoing cultural practices of the GunaiKurnai community.

Recently, GunaiKurnai Aboriginal Elders invited archaeologists to conduct a more thorough excavation. This led to several discoveries, including the setup for a ritual, dating from 11,000 to 12,000 years ago.

Ancient fireplaces

The first clue that something interesting was happening in the cave came in the form of miniature fireplaces. The fireplaces were found deep within the cave, in locations that were not used for daily activities, indicating their purpose was purely ritualistic. There was also no sign of day-to-day debris, showing that the area was used purely for ritualistic purposes.

These fireplaces had wooden artifacts made from Casuarina wood, also known as the Australian pine. The wooden sticks had been smeared with fat, which could have been either animal or human fat. After the sticks were smeared with fat, they were lightly charred and then quickly buried. The cave’s cool, dry conditions have preserved these installations remarkably well, offering a rare opportunity to study wooden artifacts from such an ancient period.

The ritual was almost definitely meant to invoke some higher power, although it’s not clear whether this was meant to aid someone or cause them harm. It was most likely aimed at a specific person or a group of people.

But this is where it gets really interesting.

Modern GunaiKurnai elders recognize and identify these practices. Furthermore, this type of ritual was also described by 19th-century ethnographic research. In other words, this very ritual has been carried out since the Ice Age and all the way to modern times.

Carrying culture across the ages

The exact purpose of the ritual was lost to the shroud of time, but this discovery provides tangible evidence of cultural continuity and transmission of traditions across generations. In societies without written records, oral traditions and rituals have been the primary means of transmitting knowledge and cultural identity.

The findings at Cloggs Cave demonstrate that these traditions have remained remarkably intact, despite the passage of 500 generations. This continuity is also a testament to the GunaiKurnai people’s resilience and ability to adapt while maintaining their cultural heritage.

However, interpreting the ritual is extremely difficult. Over time, cultural practices can evolve, and the meanings attached to them can change. Additionally, the archaeological record is often incomplete, and many artifacts have been lost to time. Understanding the original context and meaning of the ritual is not currently possible for archaeologists, and this particular knowledge has not been transmitted through the generations.

However, the combination of archaeological evidence and ethnographic records gives us a glimpse into an ancient society. It also enables researchers to piece together a more complete picture of these ancient practices. Future studies could explore other sites in the region to see if similar ritual installations exist, providing a broader context for the GunaiKurnai practices. Additionally, more detailed chemical analyses of the residues found on the wooden sticks could offer insights into the specific animals or plants used in the rituals.

Further collaboration with Indigenous communities will be crucial in guiding these research efforts. By involving the GunaiKurnai people in the research process, scientists can ensure that their work is culturally sensitive and informed by local knowledge and perspectives.

Journal Reference: Bruno David et al, Archaeological evidence of an ethnographically documented Australian Aboriginal ritual dated to the last ice age, Nature Human Behaviour (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-024-01912-w