here are some references
[mainly for Neil__ (when i wrote that i'd like to see more references, i was meaning that quotes should be referenced, rather than every statement anyone makes. if you use other peoples words you should attribute them i think) i hope this helps Neil__]
anyway here are some quotes on the topic i broached;
Quote:
Originally posted by www.curtin.edu.au/learn/unit/art/v36/v36_topic4.html+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (http://www.curtin.edu.au/learn/unit/...36_topic4.html)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Aboriginal art is the world's oldest continuous living art tradition and it is the rock art of Central Australia which is the oldest, and predates European presence by more than 40,000 years. Many of the formal aspects of Aboriginal culture were associated with ceremonies and rituals rather than monuments and building as in other cultures. Rock art is the one tangible aspect of Aboriginal culture which has endured. ‘In innumerable galleries across the continent, pictorial records survive, often in spectacular graphic form. Few Australians are aware that their homeland contains examples of rock art which span the time periods five times greater than that covered by Egypt's pyramids.’ (Walsh 1988: 13)
[/b]
Quote:
Originally posted by www.upfromaustralia.com/50yearofcavp.html+--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (www.upfromaustralia.com/50yearofcavp.html)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Aborigines would probably not get IS9002 accreditation in documentation, as we had never put anything down in writing. Simple reason was that we never invented writing for our language(s), but we loved to DRAW to preserve our thoughts and culture. Our 50,000 year old rock art painting, along with oration of legends by tribal leaders passed though generation(s), are responsible in keeping knowledge and traditions alive
Some really sacred Rock Art are not for viewing Some rock paintings are of the really special spiritual significance, bearing the strongest psychological and ritual values. Some rock paintings are really,really sacred, and unfortunately not open to tourist eyes…and even to most aborigines except for certain “initiated” elders who have proven their worth as custodians. Sorry mate, there are certain art galleries that are not for entrance and sale at any price…
Aboriginal rock art is recognised as the world's oldest and longest continuous living tradition. The ancient art is found all across Australia in the form of paintings or engravings on rock.
How old is Aboriginal Rock Art? Archaelogists continue to argue over their age, but some of the earliest paintings, in red ochre in northern sandstone shelters, have been dated at 50,000 years. In 1996 in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, an engraving site was dated at 110,000 years old, sending archaelogists back to the drawing board and rewriting the history of modern human movement.[/b]
<!--QuoteBegin-cedir.uow.edu.au/programs/jinmium/@Quote:
Originally posted by http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...825394030.html
NSW Premier Bob Carr said. . .
"This reminds us 4000 years ago, when you had civilisation flourishing in Mesopotamia, when you had the power of Egypt, before China was united, while Stonehenge was being built, we had Aboriginal people in these lands, on the outskirts of the Sydney basin," he said.
. . .
"If someone in Italy said they had just found a new Etruscan tomb, that would date back to 700BC. This find is 2000BC. If someone excavating in Athens discovered the ancient foundations of a classical building, this is 1500 years before that.
"It is eerie, exciting, this contact with a very old Australia, with the Aboriginal people who have been expressing their spiritual views in this remote rock shelter deep in the wilderness for so long,"
Archaeological research by a joint University of Wollongong and Australian Museum team suggests that Australia may have been first occupied by people before 100,000 years ago. The research, which has received extensive media coverage in the last few months, also provides a date of around 60,000 years ago for a form of rock art known as cupule engraving. This has long been recognised to be the oldest surviving form of rock art in Australia, but has not previously been found in a datable context. [/quote]
<!--QuoteBegin-www.aboriginalartonline.com/art/rockage.html
There is, however, indirect evidence going back a lot further, leading some archaeologists to argue that the rock art galleries in northern Australia are probably the oldest in the world. This is, of course, a contentious area, with recent claims for dates in southern France and northern Italy going back as far as 35 000 years.
Archaeologist Sue O'Connor at the Australian National University has found a buried fragment of rock painting preserved in the limestone rock-shelter of Carpenter's Gap in the Kimberley (near Windjana Gorge National Park) in a layer dated to 40 000 years old
[/quote]
that is about as much research as i can be bothered with at the moment [fascinating though it is]
this line of thought also supports what Rat Faced wrote about 'nature religions' too
@illuminati :: the library at alexandria was burned by christians as far as i know because it held so much pagan knowledge, what a bunch of xenophobic c#nts! i think the monotheists have been a terrible scourge on the earth