Madjedbebe (formerly called Malakunanja II) is a sandstone rock shelter in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. It may be the oldest known place where people lived in Australia. The site is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the coast. It is located on land that the Mirarr, an Aboriginal Australian clan of the Gaagudju people from the Gunwinyguan language group, have traditionally inhabited. Madjedbebe is within the former Jabiluka Mineral Leasehold, which is surrounded by Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage-listed area. The mineral lease ended in August 2024 after the Australian federal government denied a renewal request from the mine’s operators. The government plans to officially include the site in Kakadu National Park.

Archaeological findings

Madjedbebe is the oldest known place in Australia where humans lived. In 2017, archaeologists led by Clarkson found evidence showing that humans may have lived there about 65,000 years ago, with a possible range of 6,000 years. This date has been debated by some experts since 2017, although the earlier estimate of 50,000 years ago has been widely accepted since the 1990s.

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, shell remains, red ochre, charcoal, seeds, and human remains. Some items were buried more than 2.5 meters underground. Studies of plant remains show that people used seeds, tubers, and pandanus nuts for food. They also used wood from nearby eucalyptus trees and forests with monsoon vine thickets as fuel.

History of archaeological research

The Madjedbebe site was first studied 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 hole nearly 2.5 meters deep. This work showed the site had evidence of human activity from the Pleistocene era. The top 60 centimeters of the site had a thick layer of shells, animal bones, stone tools, and human remains. Below this layer, the ground was mostly sandy and contained many stone tools.

In 1988, archaeologists Rhys Jones and Christopher Chippindale, along with geochronologist Richard "Bert" Roberts, returned to the site. They tested a new dating method called thermoluminescence by drilling a single hole. The next year, Jones, Roberts, and archaeologist Mike Smith dug another hole near Kamminga’s site. Their thermoluminescence results suggested the site was about 50,000 years old. Some researchers questioned these dates, but Roberts and others defended their findings.

In 2012 and 2015, a team led by Christopher Clarkson, working with the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation, re-excavated the site to address doubts about its age. Recent studies by Clarkson’s team have sparked new debates about the site’s layers and the dates of human occupation. However, Clarkson’s team continues to support the earlier findings.

In 2020, a study suggested that the 65,000-year-old date might be incorrect due to disturbances 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 the rock art at the site as part of the Mirarr Gunwarddebim Project. The team found more than 1,000 images. Many of the images are faded or overlap, so this number is the smallest possible count of images visible today. It is likely that more images existed in the past but are no longer visible.

The images at Madjedbebe are mostly painted using wet paint. Some are stencils, made by spraying wet paint around an object held against the wall. Others are drawn by dragging dry ochre or charcoal across the wall, or made by pressing small rolled beeswax pieces onto the wall.

The art uses many colors. Most are ochres, such as red, yellow, and orange. Other colors include white clay (kaolinite) and black charcoal.

Rock art is very important to the Mirarr people. The same image can mean different things to different people based on their cultural background.

The images at Madjedbebe include human-like figures, geometric shapes, hand stencils, fish (like catfish, barramundi, and mullet), fiber objects, and items from the time Europeans arrived in Australia. These items include firearms, European people wearing clothing and hats, pipes, knives, and ships.

There are no exact ages for the rock art at Madjedbebe. Scientists use methods that compare the age of different layers to estimate the art’s age. These methods suggest most of the art visible today was created in the last 1,500 years. 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 by newer ones.

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