Archaeological evidence of an ethnographically documented Australian Aboriginal ritual dated to the last ice age

Archaeological excavations at Cloggs Cave (GunaiKurnai Country, southeastern Australia) revealed two buried miniature fireplaces dating to ~11,000–12,000 years ago, each with a protruding, trimmed wooden artefact of Casuarina wood bearing traces of animal or human fat. These installations match nineteenth‑century ethnographic descriptions of secluded GunaiKurnai ritual practices by mulla‑mullung medicine men and women. The finds indicate at least 500 generations of cultural transmission of a specific ritual practice from the end of the last ice age and include Australia’s oldest known wooden artefacts.