65,000BCAt least 65,000 years ago; paintings over 20,000 years to the 1960s · Kakadu National Park

Aboriginal occupation and rock art of Kakadu

Aboriginal rock paintings on the rock shelter wall at Ubirr, Kakadu National Park — Photo: Dietmar Rabich. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Bininj/Mungguy people have lived in the Kakadu region for at least 65,000 years, according to excavations at the nearby Madjedbebe rock shelter. Shelters at Ubirr and Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) carry paintings made over some 20,000 years, from ancient figures to X-ray style fish and the first European ships. The national park is run jointly with its traditional owners.

Archaeology
Religious & Pilgrimage
Social History
Darwin & Kakadu, Australia

Sites

Site 1: UbirrRock art galleries and a lookout over the Nadab floodplain.Map ↗
Site 2: Burrungkuy (Nourlangie)Anbangbang shelter and a gallery repainted in 1964.Map ↗