Koonalda Cave

Koonalda Cave is a cave in the Australian state of South Australia, on the Nullarbor Plain [1]. It is located within the Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area, 99 kilometres west of the Nullarbor roadhouse and 97 kilometres north east from Eucla, Western Australia [1]. Thousands of square metres in the cave are covered in parallel finger-marked geometric lines and patterns, Aboriginal Australian artwork which has been dated as 20,000 years old [1]. The cave was abandoned 19,000 years ago [1]. Analysis of finger markings and archaeological deposits showed that Aboriginal people used the cave 22,000 years ago [1]. The cave was explored by an expedition led by Captain J. M. Thompson in 1935 [1]. In the 1960s, the cave was excavated by Alexandor Gallus, who found that Aboriginal people had mined flint there [1].