The charcoal piece, discovered at a remote site in Australia, is some of the earliest evidence of human painting.
The Aboriginal artwork was found last June in Arnhem Land in the country's Northern Territory but was dated only recently by experts from New Zealand’s University of Waikato radiocarbon laboratory.
The piece was discovered by Bryce Barker from the University of Southern Queensland.
Mr Barker said: “The discovery shows Australian Aboriginal people were responsible for some of the earliest examples of rock art on the planet.”
The world’s oldest confirmed rock art was found in Spains El Castillo caves, which were dated to 40,800 years ago last week.
Before that, the oldest was thought to be the Chavet caves in France, carbon-dated to 35,000 years old.
Barker said he was confident the Arnhem Land rock art would come to be seen as significant as the French and Spanish sites.
He said: “Now we’ve got this, and we are sure we’ll push the age back (of Australian rock art) in the future.
“It puts Aboriginal people up there as among the most advanced people in human evolution.
"Some of the earliest achievements by modern humans were happening in this country.”
Some scientists have said that Australian rock art went back 45,000 years, but Barker said that date is unproven. He said this new discovery has been “unequivocally dated”.
Source: www.thesun.co.uk
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