“Don’t look now, but this is a death cave“, was graffitied on the artwork. That was a few months ago, but it was released this week.
It does not appear that the work can be restored. “The rocky subsoil is very soft,” says archaeologist Keryn Walshe The Guardian. “You can’t remove graffiti without destroying the underlying art.”
Koonalda Cave is a sacred place for the original inhabitants of Australia. However, according to experts, it is poorly protected. There is a fence, but the vandals managed to dig under it.
“The fact that no proper fence was built or cameras were used, for example, made this vandalism possible,” sighs Clare Buswell of a committee of cavers. These are people who conduct research in caves.
Aboriginal heritage protection has been going awry for years. For example, Ancient Rock Shelters became Ancient Rock Shelters two years ago blown up for the expansion of an iron mine. That Aboriginal heritage was around 46,000 years old.
