According to historical accounts, the GunaiKurnai, an aboriginal people of Australia, used the caves as a stage for magic, healing and curse rituals. According to a new study, for about 25,000 years, these rituals left an interesting souvenir – ancient layers of plant crystals.
a Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology In a paper published today, researchers found rare organic remains from a ceremonial ritual at Cloggs Cave in GunaiKurnai Country. Investigations of old pits in the cave have provided strong evidence that humans, probably the GunaiKurnai, deliberately picked herbs and brought them into the cave for ceremonial use. The GunaiKurnai are known to have practiced these traditions for thousands of years, but this physical evidence provides a unique insight into how ancient societies used plants in their daily lives.
To reach this conclusion, the team analyzed phytoliths, pollen and geological deposits in the cave. Burnt phytoliths hint at repeated human activity and offer rare insights into how early humans used plants.
“This is a truly wonderful study, weaving together GunaiKurnai cultural knowledge with careful scientific analysis of phytoliths to show that herbs were collected and burned specifically at Clogg Cave to support ritual practices for millennia” Anna FlorinAn archaeologist at the Australian National University, who was not involved in the new work, told Gizmodo.
Live record
Cloggs Cave was “rediscovered” and excavated by modern archaeologists in the 1970s until 2021. column For The Conversation, written by a team of researchers including Bruno David and Jean-Jacques Delannoy, co-authors of the latest study. However, the GunaiKurnai nation had occupied the area much earlier, probably since the last Ice Age, they explained.
Only in 2019 by GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, Australian Government knows As a representative organization of the nation, it visited Cloggs Cave. Later, the organization invited archaeologists from Australian and French institutes to become research partners. The most recent study was part of these investigations and focused more on the archaeobotanical records identified at the site.
Stored in silicon
For the study, the team collected thousands of phytoliths from the pits, which archaeological analysis suggests were lined with 73 ash layers about 4,000 to 1,600 years ago. Excavations also found a towering stone about 11 inches (28 centimeters) high that the GunaiKurnai used for rituals about 2,000 years ago. The cave samples consisted of 29 different types of phytoliths from herbs, grasses, and woody plants, approximately 18% of which were burned or dissolved.
“Unlike pollen that is dispersed by wind or insects, phytoliths are mainly collected where the plant has decayed,” said Elle Grono, first author of the study and an archaeologist at the Australian National University. statement. “Because of the lack of light, no plants grow inside the cave, so phytoliths must be carried by humans or animals such as mice on their fur or fur.”
As Florin explains, the team’s consideration of different possible scenarios for phytolith accumulation “strengthens the team’s conclusions.”
Traces of tradition
Importantly, the distribution of cremated plant remains is also “consistent with the traditional practices of the GunaiKurnai, who use the ashes to perform spells and rituals, as well as to track the steps of anyone who comes, including spiritual beings,” David, a researcher at Australia’s Monash University, said in a statement. The team also found wooden sticks with oil-smeared edges that may have been part of rituals.
However, in typical archeological fashion, the team noted in the paper that the findings reflect a possible, albeit compelling, interpretation of the purpose of these organic remains.
However, he added that the phytolith and pollen records make it “clear” that they were collected outside and then brought into the cave. In any case, the findings provide a fascinating window into the history of human activity at Cloggs Cave, which past archaeological research suggests has hosted the GunaiKurnai for 25,000 years. According to Florin, archaeobotany is underrepresented in Australian archaeology, which makes the latest work all the more important.
“(P)lants form the basis for many foods, medicines, technologies, crafts and built structures, and are also intertwined with religious, ceremonial and cultural practices,” Florin said. “It is exciting to see archaeobotanical research combined with GunaiKurnai cultural knowledge, enriching the story of the long ritual use of Clogg Cave by the GunaiKurnai.”
