Koonalda Cave

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Cave in South Australia

title: "Koonalda Cave" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["sinkholes-of-australia", "caves-of-south-australia", "archaeological-sites-in-south-australia", "australian-aboriginal-cultural-history", "prehistoric-art", "paleoanthropological-sites", "nullarbor-plain", "australian-national-heritage-list", "south-australian-heritage-register", "south-australian-places-listed-on-the-defunct-register-of-the-national-estate", "sacred-caves"] description: "Cave in South Australia" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koonalda_Cave" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Cave in South Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox cave"]

FieldValue
nameKoonalda Cave
mapSouth Australia#Australia
locationNullarbor, South Australia
coords
coords_ref
discovery1935
::

| name = Koonalda Cave | other_name = | photo = | photo_width = | photo_caption = | map = South Australia#Australia | map_width = | map_caption = | map_alt = | location = Nullarbor, South Australia | coords = | coords_ref = | land_registry_number = | grid_ref_UK = | grid_ref_Ireland = | grid_ref = | depth = | length = | height_variation = | elevation = | discovery = 1935 | geology = | entrance_count = | entrance_list = | difficulty = | hazards = | access = | show_cave = | show_cave_length = | lighting = | visitors = | features = | survey = | survey_format = | website = Koonalda Cave is a cave in the Australian state of South Australia, on the Nullarbor Plain. It is located within the Nullarbor Wilderness Protection Area, 99 km west of the Nullarbor roadhouse and 60 mi north east from Eucla, Western Australia. It is notable as an archeological site.

I.D. Lewis described the cave in 1976 as:Large doline 60m in diam. and 25m deep; talus slope to two main large passages connected by a high window; total length of cave 1200m; three lakes at -80m; narrow airspace beyond third lake leads to 45m diam. dome and lake; another 30m sump leads off this...

Thousands of square metres in the cave are covered in parallel finger-marked geometric lines and patterns, Aboriginal Australian artwork which has been dated as 20,000 years old.

The cave was abandoned 19,000 years ago, and rediscovered by archeologists in 1956. Analysis of finger markings and archaeological deposits showed that Aboriginal people used the cave 22,000 years ago.

The cave was explored by an expedition led by Captain J. M. Thompson in 1935. The team entered the cave by a ladder and found themselves in a chamber 800 ft in circumference and walked down tunnels over 1200 ft in length.

In the 1960s, the cave was excavated by Alexandor Gallus, who found that Aboriginal people had mined flint there.

Koonalda Cave was declared a prohibited area under the South Australian Aboriginal and Historic Relics Preservation Act 1965 on 30 May 1968. It was listed on the South Australian Heritage Register on 4 March 1993 and inscribed onto the Australian National Heritage List on 15 October 2014. It was also listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate.

In December 2022, it was reported that some of the artwork was destroyed by vandals who had illegally gained access to the cave at some time since June, prompting calls from the local Mirning people, who consider the site to be sacred, for the state and federal governments to improve security and legal protection for the cave. In March 2023 the Australian Government pledged $400,000 to improve the security of the cave, including the installation of cameras.

References

References

  1. "Search result for 'Koonalda Cave' with the following datasets selected - 'Suburbs and localities' and 'Gazetteer'". Government of South Australia.
  2. "Protected Areas of South Australia September (Map) 2014 Edition". Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.
  3. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/321989/Koonalda-Cave "Koonalda Cave"], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''
  4. [https://austhrutime.com/koonalda_cave.htm "Koonalda Cave"] ''Australia Thru Time''. Retrieved 2014-3-17.
  5. [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/pacific/koonalda.html "Koonalda"] {{webarchive. link. (9 June 2008 , [[Minnesota State University, Mankato). Minnesota State University]]
  6. (20 November 1935). "Caves and Lakes.". National Library of Australia.
  7. (2014). "Secrets of Koonalda Caves". [[South Australian Museum]].
  8. (30 May 1968). "ABORIGINAL AND HISTORIC RELICS PRESERVATION ACT, 1965: NORTH OUT OF HUNDREDS—PROHIBITED AREA DECLARED". Government of South Australia.
  9. "National Heritage Places – Koonalda Cave". Department of the Environment (Australia).
  10. "Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor National Park [also on the National Heritage List ID 106022]". Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.
  11. {{cite AHD. 106022. Koonalda Cave, Old Eyre Hwy, Cook,(sic) SA, Australia
  12. (20 December 2022). "Ancient Aboriginal rock art destroyed by vandals in 'tragic loss' at sacred SA site". [[The Guardian]].
  13. Jessie Yeung. "Vandals destroy 22,000-year-old sacred cave art in Australia, horrifying indigenous community". CNN.
  14. Cominos, Christian. (30 March 2023). "Koonalda Cave security to be improved after Indigenous art vandalised". [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]].

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

sinkholes-of-australiacaves-of-south-australiaarchaeological-sites-in-south-australiaaustralian-aboriginal-cultural-historyprehistoric-artpaleoanthropological-sitesnullarbor-plainaustralian-national-heritage-listsouth-australian-heritage-registersouth-australian-places-listed-on-the-defunct-register-of-the-national-estatesacred-caves