Madjedbebe (formerly called Malakunanja II) is a sandstone rock shelter in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia. It may be the oldest place in Australia where people lived. The site is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the coast. It is on land that the Mirarr, an Aboriginal Australian clan of the Gaagudju people, have traditionally inhabited. The Mirarr speak the Gunwinyguan language. Madjedbebe is located within the former Jabiluka Mineral Leasehold, which is near Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage site. The mineral lease ended in August 2024 after the Australian government did not renew it. The government plans to officially include Madjedbebe in Kakadu National Park.

Archaeological findings

Madjedbebe is the oldest known place in Australia where humans lived. In 2017, a study by Clarkson et al. found evidence that humans may have first lived at Madjedbebe about 65,000 ± 6,000 years ago, and definitely by 50,000 years ago. While the 50,000-year estimate has been accepted since the 1990s, some experts have questioned the earlier date of about 65,000 years ago as of 2017.

Over 100,000 items have been found at Madjedbebe, including more than 10,000 from the deepest layer called "Phase 2." These items include stone tools, axe heads, grinding stones, animal bones, shellfish remains, ochre (a type of colored rock), charcoal, seeds, and human remains. Some items were buried more than 2.5 meters underground. Studies of plants showed that people used seeds, roots, and pandanus nuts as food. They also used wood from nearby eucalyptus trees and monsoon vine thicket forests for fuel.

History of archaeological research

The Madjedbebe site was first recorded by researchers in the 1970s as part of the Alligator Rivers Environmental Fact Finding Study. The Mirarr people had always known about the site’s existence. In 1973, archaeologist Johan Kamminga dug a small test pit to a depth of nearly 2.5 meters below the surface. This work showed that the site had evidence of human activity from the Pleistocene era. The top 60 centimeters of the site had a layer of shell midden, which included many shells, animal bones, stone tools, and human remains. Below this layer, the site was mostly sandy and contained mostly stone tools.

In 1988, archaeologists Rhys Jones and Christopher Chippindale, along with geochronologist Richard "Bert" Roberts, returned to the site. They took a single core sample to test a new method called thermoluminescence dating. The next year, Jones and Roberts visited again with archaeologist Mike Smith and dug another test pit near Kamminga’s pit. The thermoluminescence results suggested the site was about 50,000 years old. Some researchers questioned these results at the time and later, but Roberts and others defended the accuracy of the dates.

In 2012 and 2015, a team led by Christopher Clarkson, working with the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, re-excavated the site to address concerns about its age. Recent findings by Clarkson’s team have sparked further debate, with some researchers questioning the site’s layers and the dates of human occupation. However, Clarkson’s team continues to support the original dates.

In 2020, a study suggested that the 65,000-year-old date might be incorrect due to disturbance caused by termites.

Rock art

Madjedbebe is best known as Australia's oldest archaeological site. It also has many rock art images painted on the walls. In 2012, a research team from the Australian National University carefully recorded these images as part of the Mirarr Gunwarddebim Project. The team found more than 1,000 images at the site. Many of these images are faded or overlap, so this number is the smallest possible count of images visible today. It is likely that there were many more images in the past that no longer exist.

Most of the images at Madjedbebe are paintings made with wet paint. Some are stencils, created by spraying wet paint around an object held against the wall. Others are drawings made by dragging dry ochre or charcoal across the wall, or small beeswax figures made by pressing rolled-up beeswax onto the wall.

The art uses many colors, mostly red, yellow, and orange ochres. White clay (kaolinite) and black charcoal are also used.

Rock art is very important to the Mirarr people. The same image can have different meanings for different people, depending on their cultural knowledge.

The images at Madjedbebe include human-like figures, geometric shapes, hand stencils, fish (such as catfish, barramundi, and mullet), fiber objects, and items from the European-contact period. These items include firearms, European people wearing clothing and standing with hands on their hips, pipes, knives, and ships.

There are no exact dates for the rock art at Madjedbebe. Instead, scientists used methods that compare the age of different layers. These methods suggest most of the art visible today was created in the last 1,500 years, though some images may be thousands of years old. It is likely that the tradition of painting at the site is much older, with older paintings fading or being covered over time.

During excavations in 2012 and 2015, small pieces of ochre were found in the lowest layers of the site. Some of these pieces have smooth, worn areas. These findings suggest that people may have been creating art even earlier, such as painting images on the walls or using ground ochre to decorate objects or themselves.