25,000-Year-Old Ritual Cave Use by GunaiKurnai Spiritual Leaders Revealed

A new study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology reveals that GunaiKurnai Aboriginal spiritual leaders, known as mulla-mullung, performed rituals including magic, healing, and cursing in Cloggs Cave for up to 25,000 years. Archaeologists and GunaiKurnai elders analyzed phytoliths—microscopic plant remains—finding that 97% came from grasses, many burned. The oldest phytoliths date between 24,000 and 25,800 years ago, the youngest between 1,500 and 3,400 years. Around 2,000 years ago, grass was repeatedly burned around a standing stone placed in the cave. The practice matches 19th-century anthropological records and GunaiKurnai cultural knowledge. Cloggs Cave, located in Gunaikurnai Country about 185 miles east of Melbourne, was first excavated in the 1970s without permission. Recent collaborative research with the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation has uncovered other artifacts, including a grinding stone and fat-smeared wooden sticks. The ash layers also helped track dangerous beings like nargun. Researchers believe grasses were selected from areas near the cave entrance, avoiding riparian and open woodland species.