George Koulakis pictured at the dig where the Mithika Man skeleton which was recently exposed by soil
erosion was retrieved
Plant Camp expedition cancelled
T
But, when one door shuts,
HE expedition to retrieve
inevitably, another opens, and
the Burke and Wills cache
so it was for the Cameleers who
of equipment and journals
will now deploy as planned, in
planned for this month has
the middle of this month, but
been cancelled... because, of
to achieve diff erent objectives.
all things, a clerical oversight.
The Cameleers have developed
Expedition leader George
a close relationship with the
Koulakis said the mistake
Mithika and many of the
meant there simply wasn’t time
Cameleers’ deployments have
to get the information to the
been for the sole purpose
Minister for Defence Marise
of assisting Mithika and
Payne, and, presuming she
Griffi th University scientists
signed off on it, to subsequently
to explore the anthropological
mount the exepedition.
history of the area.
“I was stunned when I
They have previously helped
got the call,” he said.
survey secret locations that
“I really didn’t know
could soon prove not all
what to think.”
In anticipation of the expedition Aboriginals were nomadic, and
helped retrieve ancient skeletons
going ahead, Cameleers - ex-
recently exposed by soil erosion.
military members who are
But, a couple of grainy, faded
wounded, injured or ill, but able
50-year-old photographs has
to deploy the desert to support
given the Cameleers, the
the work of archeologists
Mithika Elders and the scientists
and anthropologists - had
a new focus for this trip.
arranged leave and travel to
The photographs are the
join others heading west.
Traditional owners, the Mithika, only photographs ever taken
of two rock paintings spoken
had also arranged to travel to
about, but never seen by
their home country to be on
the Elders alive today.
site to ensure proper cultural
On this trip, the Cameleers will
clearance was carried out before
lead the search to fi nd them.
the work of fi nding the box of
navigational equipment buried
They have deduced the
by William John Wills began.
paintings are somewhere
in a 4km long complicated
George said his fi rst thought
rocky outcrop.
was how to break the news to
those Cameleers who did not
“The area is full of water
have a fulltime job, and for
trapped in rocky pools, and in
whom the deployments to the
days gone by, knowledgeable
desert provided focus in their life. Elders didn’t need to carry water
2 | SEPTEMBER 2017
when crossing this part of the
desert as they knew exactly
where it was,” George said.
So, they have organised four
search teams - a total of 18
people - who will use quad bikes,
drones and a lot of patience
to systematically search each
pre-determined area during the
course of the 12-day expedition.
George, about to embark on
his seventh mission into the
desert, said one of the areas
included two large waterholes
few Europeans had seen.
“There are skeletal remains
scattered around one of the
sites and the other has a
small forest of date palms
growing there,” he said.
Scientists have identifi ed
the plants as being of the
same species as a date palm
common in Afghanistan.
He said they believed a diff erent
brand of cameleer - the Afghan
cameleers in the 18th century
- camped in the area, and the
trees grew from the seeds of
the home-grown dates being
consumed by the Afghans.
As always, the Cameleers
will document the discoveries
as they are made.
“As for Plant Camp, and the
search for the Burke and
Wills cache,” George said.
“We will now plan for 2018,
so we’ve got time, and time
is something my members
have plenty of,” George said.