Lake Mungo

Dry lake bed in southwestern New South Wales, Australia, site of the oldest evidence of ritual cremation in the world. In 1969 archaeologists found human bones there which have been dated as 25,000–26,000 years old, and some of them seem to have been cremated. Evidence of shellfish, emu eggs, and reptiles was also discovered. A further find in 1973 was the remains of a man originally thought to have been buried 28,000–30,000 years ago. The skeleton, known as ‘Mungo Man’, was in a 1999 study dated as being between 56,000 and 68,000 years old. If the findings are verified by the world archaeological community, this might be the new official earliest date for the occupation of Australia by human beings.

The skeleton was covered in red ochre, which may indicate one of the world's earliest known use of pigments for artistic, philosophic or religious purposes.