A red ochre depiction of an extinct emu-like bird found at the Arnhem Land plateau, known to have disappeared about 40,000 years ago. Ben Gunn.
6. Australia is home to some of the world’s oldest surviving paintings, with some suspected as being over 40,000 years in age
Although not developing a known system of writing, the Aboriginal people of ancient Australia nonetheless produced extensive artwork across the continent. Using rocks and bark to construct intricate designs, in addition to scratching and carving into rocks, the Aborigines also used crushed and diluted rocks to produce paints; employing a range of colors, spanning browns and reds to oranges and yellows, these paints were used to illustrate the world as seen by the ancient inhabitants of the continent.
Among the most notable discovered Aboriginal artwork is the depiction of now-extinct megafauna animals, providing an otherwise impossible glimpse into the ancient world. One such picture, located in the Arnhem Land Region of modern-day Northern Territory, shows an extinct emu-like creature called “Genyornis” and is known to have died out approximately 40,000 years ago. Unfortunately, as the paints used were made from crushed rock and clay, not organic materials, they cannot be carbon-dated; however, as asserted by archeologist Ben Gunn “the details on this painting indicate that it was done by someone who knew that animal very well”, with the level of detail unable to be replicated by mere storytelling, and consequently “either the painting is 40,000 years old, which is when science thinks Genyornis disappeared, or alternatively the Genyornis lived a lot longer than science has been able to establish.” The oldest dated drawings, made from charcoal, have been verified at 28,000 years old, making these comparatively young pictures still among the oldest ever discovered.