A new archaeological study has uncovered evidence that Aboriginal communities in Australia used a cave for ritual activities over the past 25,000 years.
Researchers found that people repeatedly carried whole grasses into the cave and burned them as part of ceremonial practices. The findings provide physical evidence supporting Indigenous oral traditions about the cave’s spiritual importance.
The research focused on Cloggs Cave, located in Gippsland within the traditional lands of the GunaiKurnai people in southeastern Australia. Historical records and oral traditions describe the cave as a place where respected spiritual practitioners performed rituals linked to healing, magic, and cursing. The new evidence shows these practices have a much deeper history than previously confirmed.
The study appears in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology and involved researchers from Australia, France, and New Zealand. Scientists worked closely with the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Corporation throughout the project. Community representatives helped shape the research, joined the excavations, and contributed to interpreting the findings.
Ancient Cave Evidence
Excavations carried out in 2019 and 2020 examined buried layers inside Cloggs Cave. Researchers wanted to understand which plants people brought into the cave and how they were used. The work followed a request from the GunaiKurnai community to investigate the site’s long cultural history.
The team studied tiny plant remains called phytoliths that survive long after plants decay. These microscopic silica particles form naturally inside plant tissues and usually stay where the plant breaks down. Unlike pollen, they do not spread widely through wind or insects, making them useful for identifying past human activity.
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Scientists concentrated on phytoliths that showed signs of burning within ancient ash layers. Burned plant remains found inside the cave strongly suggest that people intentionally carried vegetation into the site and burned it there. Unburned plant remains alone could also have arrived through animals such as possums.
Carefully Selected Grasses
Researchers examined thousands of phytoliths collected from two excavation pits reaching depths of 1.5 meters and 2.3 meters. They identified 29 different phytolith types from grasses, herbs, and woody plants. Most of the samples remained remarkably well preserved despite their great age.
Grasses accounted for as much as 97 percent of all identified phytoliths. The samples included grasses suited to cool climates as well as species that grow best in warm and humid conditions. Drought-tolerant grasses appeared less frequently, while woody plants and herbs were comparatively rare.
The researchers concluded that people deliberately selected grasses rather than gathering a random mix of nearby vegetation. They avoided many plants growing in the surrounding forests and instead collected grasses available close to the cave entrance. Evidence from stems, leaves, flowers, and roots showed they carried entire grass plants into the cave instead of only useful parts.
Nearly one-fifth of all recovered phytoliths showed signs of burning or melting from fire. Burned plant remains appeared throughout deposits covering approximately 25,000 years of occupation. This continuous pattern indicates that ritual burning occurred repeatedly across thousands of generations.
Rituals Across Millennia
The upper archaeological layers contained 73 thin ash deposits created between about 4,400 and 1,600 years ago. Researchers determined these ages using optically stimulated luminescence dating and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating. These scientific methods help establish when sediments were last exposed to light and when organic materials stopped exchanging carbon.
During the excavation, researchers also uncovered a standing stone measuring about 28 centimeters high. Further analysis indicated that Old Ancestors placed the stone inside the cave roughly 2,000 years ago for ceremonial purposes. Its location within ritual deposits strengthens evidence that the cave served as a long-term spiritual site.
Professor Bruno David from Monash University said the repeated burning matches GunaiKurnai traditions describing the ceremonial use of ash.
According to those traditions, ash played a role in rituals and helped track the footsteps of visitors, including spirit beings. Researchers also recovered trimmed wooden sticks from Casuarina trees coated with animal fat, suggesting additional ritual practices involving woody plants.
Why Discovery Matters
The findings provide one of the strongest archaeological links between physical evidence and Indigenous cultural knowledge in Australia. Oral traditions had long described Cloggs Cave as a place of spiritual practice, and the newly discovered plant remains support those accounts. The study also demonstrates how scientific research and Indigenous knowledge can complement one another.
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The research expands understanding of how ancient communities interacted with their environment for cultural purposes rather than daily survival alone. Instead of gathering plants simply for food or shelter, people deliberately selected grasses that held ceremonial significance. This careful choice highlights the complexity of Aboriginal traditions stretching back tens of thousands of years.
The discovery also shows how microscopic plant remains can reveal activities that leave few visible traces. Even after thousands of years, phytoliths preserved evidence of repeated human actions inside the cave. Similar methods may help researchers uncover hidden cultural histories at other archaeological sites around the world.
As researchers continue studying Cloggs Cave, the site is expected to offer further insights into Australia’s deep Indigenous past. Future investigations may reveal additional details about ceremonial practices and the cultural meaning of objects preserved beneath the cave floor. The findings also reinforce the importance of working with Indigenous communities to understand better and protect ancient heritage.
