Rock Art

It is between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago that the first humans colonised Australia. It is assumed that the ancestors of the Aborigines worked their way out of the Indonesian archipelago, island by island, when the sea level was still much lower. It is impossible to say whether this was by chance or by design. What is certain, however, is that the new arrivals encountered an extremely inhospitable world. Almost half of the continent consisted of desert and steppe. Even when the entire continent was colonised 25,000 years later, there were at most 900,000 Aborigines. They remained in the Stone Age for thousands of years, developed no writing, practised no agriculture, and bows and arrows were just as foreign to them as metal tools.
Aboriginal culture is considered to be the oldest culture still practised by mankind today. They have a unified world view and history of origin: the land, the languages and the people were created by creatures who entrusted the land to mankind. The religion of the Aborigines knows no gods, instead the habitat takes centre stage. The individual and their group are forever bound to the land that has been bequeathed to them.
The north-west of Australia, specifically the province of Kimberley in the state of Western Australia, is home to magnificent, impressive art: rock paintings in a very unusual style. They are among the oldest evidence of human culture. The exhibition shows some of the most impressive works. They were photographed by Ralf Metzdorf from the Coburg Natural History Museum in the north and north-west of Australia.

Last edited on 12.01.2026