Vandals have damaged part of an ancient rock carving at Koonalda Cave on the Nullarbor Plain of South Australia, in what is believed to have been a targeted attack. The perpetrators are understood to have forced their way through a barbed wire fence, and dug their way under a metal gate, before targeting the ancient carvings, which are within a sinkhole cave system, not visible from the surface. The vandals carved the words 'Don't look now, but this is a death cave' across a panel of geometric carvings thought to date to about 22 000 years old, and which are considered to be sacred by the local Mirning People. Because the carvings are etched into soft limestone there is little hope of repairing the damage, as removing the graffiti would also involve removing the original art.
Elders of the Mirning community have expressed sadness and distress at the vandalism, which occurred early in 2022, but which they did not learn about until reports in the media in December. The group have been asking for better security at the site for some years, after earlier events in which vandals had carved their names within the caves. The cave site is currently protected by a metal gate, with members of the community needing to request a key from the authorities to enter, but which has proven insufficient to deter vandals. Clare Buswell, chair of the Australian Speleological Federation's Conservation Commission, has suggested that the site should be protected by a more modern security system, including surveillance cameras, which might provide a better deterent.
The earliest traces of Human activity in the Koonalda Cave system date to about 34 000 years before the present, although regular use of the caves did not begin till about 27 000 years ago. The rock carvings are thought to date to about 22 000 years ago, with a variety of later artwork also present. Regular occupation of the cave probably ended around 16 000 years ago. As well as a dwelling and art-site, the caves appear to have been mined extensively for flint, which was used to make stone tools.
The site was first discovered by archaeologists in the 1930s, and dating of the rock art there in the 1960s helped to establish the ancient provenance of the first Human settlers in Australia, dispelling rival theories that the continent was not reached until the Holocene.
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