This Australian cave hid 25,000 years of ritual secrets
Archaeological research at Cloggs Cave in Australia has uncovered evidence of ritualistic plant burning spanning 25,000 years. The study, conducted in collaboration with the GunaiKurnai people, identifies the site as a long-term center for spiritual practices.
Why it matters
This research provides rare, long-term evidence of indigenous cultural continuity and spiritual traditions in Australia.
The GunaiKurnai, an Australian Aboriginal nation, are recognized as the traditional custodians of Gippsland and the southern Victorian Alps. Caves within their lands have long been linked to spiritual practices. Accounts recorded in the 19th century, together with oral traditions, describe them as places where powerful learned women and men known as 'mulla-mullung', along with other spiritual practitioners, carried out rituals involving magic, healing, and cursing.
Archaeological evidence now shows that one of these sites, Cloggs Cave, was used for such activities over an extraordinary span of roughly 25,000 years.
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