Ancient humans understood the future and the past pretty much as we do

Ritual Sticks - Uncle Russell Mullett on the balcony of Cloggs Cave

GunaiKurnai Elder Uncle Russell Mullett on the balcony of Cloggs Cave

Jessica Shapiro

A recent discovery in Cloggs cave, Australia, revealed something extraordinary about humanity’s relationship with time. Several metres into the limestone grotto, archaeologists working with the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation found telltale signs of an ancient ritual: two ceremonial sticks covered in animal fat and highly specific burn marks. Here is the amazing part. The sticks were 12,000 years old, and they were almost identical to ones used for rituals in the late 19th century by local mulla-mullung, or sorcerers.

That means the GunaiKurnai people…

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