people of what we now call West Arn-
hem Land encountered the sailors
from the far-off land. The Erre and
many other Aboriginal people had
been in the area for at least a further
50,000 years. They must’ve seen a
great deal.
With eyes adjusting further to the
dark, the cave revealed much more.
Red ochre, the colour that has the
greatest resistance to age and wear-
ing, depicted images of stick figures
seemingly collecting lightning from
the sky. These are regarded as some
of the most ancient artworks in the
world, perhaps as old as 20,000 years.
The gallery before us includes art
from three periods; Pre-Estuarine,
Estuarine and Contact. We were
looking directly into the eyes of one
of the oldest surviving cultures any-
where on the Earth.
Crossing from Kakadu, the
world-famous National Park in
Australia’s Northern Territory and a
tourist must, via the infamous Cahill’s
TRAVERSE 34