Aboriginal art marks thousands of years old vandalised in national heritage Koonalda Cave in west South Australia
Vandals in 2022 scrawled "Don't look now but this is a death cave" over the finger markings and stick scratches by Aboriginal occupants thousands of years ago on the walls of the national-heritage-listed Koonalda Cave, in South Australia's far west.
Image at right courtesy Mirning cultural group
Vandals attacked sacred Aboriginal artwork in 2022 in South Australia’s national-heritage-listed Koonalda Cave thought to have been occupied for about 30,000 years old.
Koonalda Cave in South Australia’s far west on the Nullarbor Plain was placed in Australia’s national heritage list in 2014 for outstanding value in transforming understanding of the extraordinary age of Aboriginal art, archaeology and occupation in Australia. Of particular significance for the Mirning people, Koonalda Cave contained exceptionally well-preserved markings and evidence of silica mining by Aboriginal people.
About 70 metres below the flat, treeless and hot surface of Nullarbor National Park, about 100 kilometres northeast of Eucla, the Koonalda Cave crater-like doline contained several chambers including a main one as big as a sports stadium. Parts of softer limestone cave walls were densely covered with finger fluting in geometric herringbone patterns, lattices and grids covering several thousand square feet. The Koolanda primitive finger markings and stick scratches had no recognizable image or symbol, unlike Europe's famous caves, but expressed creativity.
In 2022, vandals dug under a steel gate before scrawling "Don't look now but this is a death cave" on the walls.
Senior Mirning elder Bunna Lawrie told the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) that he first heard about the "devastating" vandalism from the media and said it was another example of "the constant disrespect" his people had experienced."It's abuse to our country and it's abuse to our history. What's gone is gone and we're never going to get it back."
Individuals found to have damaged an Aboriginal site or item faced a fine of $10,000 or up to six months in prison under South Australia's Aboriginal heritage laws. South Australia government attorney general Kyam Maher said that those found responsible for the vandalism could face prosecution. He said authorities were examining other protections that could be put in place at the national-heritage-listed site, including cameras.
But Maher and the federal government had been criticised both by elders and cave experts who say they raised the issue of poor security around the site months previously.
