Discovery 1935 | ||
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Location Nullarbor Plain, South Australia Similar Pettakere cave, Gudiyam Cave, Nyero rock paintings, Las Caldas cave, Jebel Irhoud | ||
Koonalda Cave is a cave located in Nullarbor Plain within South Australia which is notable as an archeological site.
Map of Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor SA 5690, Australia
Thousands of square metres in the cave are covered in parallel finger-marked geometric lines and patterns, Indigenous Australian artwork which has been dated as 20,000 years old, making it older than any known prehistoric art in Europe. It is located about 97 kilometres (60 mi) north east from Eucla within the Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area.
The cave was abandoned 19,000 years ago, and rediscovered by archeologists in 1956.
The cave was explored by an expedition led by Captain J. M. Thompson in 1935. The team entered the cave by a ladder and found themselves in a chamber some 244 metres (800 ft) in circumference and walked down tunnels over 366 metres (1,200 ft) in length.
Later excavated by Alexander Gallus in the 1960s, he found that Aboriginal peoples had used the area as a flint mine.
Koonalda Cave was listed on the South Australian Heritage Register on 4 March 1993 and inscribed onto the Australian National Heritage List on 15 October 2014.