Mungo Man’s discoverer says it’s not too late to find a new way forward through ancient remains row
The reburial of thousands of ancient Aboriginal remains is due to commence on Monday despite concern that the world will lose a priceless scientific asset.
The man who discovered the fossilised skeletons of the oldest known Australians, Mungo Man and Mungo Lady, believes that the row over the reburial of thousands of associated remains offers an opportunity to reset race relations in this country.
Retired geologist Jim Bowler said the relics went to the “bigger story” of reconciling science with the ancient dreaming of Indigenous people.
The reburials were due to start in secret locations on Monday in the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area of far southwest NSW, despite concern by scientists and some traditional owners that this could breach Australia’s international obligations.
Dr Bowler, 95, said a constructive dialogue over the Mungo bones would help move the nation on from the acrimony of the failed Indigenous voice referendum in 2023.
“We non-Indigenous people now have to sit down with Indigenous people from across the country and come to a consensus – a consensus by which we learn from each other, and we learn to live in and share this common ground together,” he said.
“That has never happened in Australian history.
“We’ve had sorry stories, but then nothing happened. We had the Uluru statement but it didn’t take off,” he said, referring to the 2017 declaration by Aboriginal leaders that underpinned the voice.
“What we have to have now, over these ancient remains, is a new dialogue … in which we share the meaning of the dreaming and the scientific story, because the science is very similar to the dreaming in a lot of respects.
“Indigenous people say their dreaming is concerned with the creation of the world in which they live, and that’s exactly what the scientific story is also saying. That’s what it’s all about.
“The handing back of these bones is an important step, another milestone, but that’s not the final end by any means.”
The unearthing of Mungo Lady in 1968 and Mungo Man in 1974 by Dr Bowler were watershed finds that led to the unearthing of the fossilised remains of another 106 ancient Aborigines who lived during an ice age more than 40,000 years ago. This represents one of the largest concentrations of such relics outside Africa.
As reported at the weekend by The Australian, legal action is under way in the Federal Court to have Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to halt the reburials by the Indigenous traditional owners who have custody of the remains.
Prominent archaeologist Michael Westaway warned that only a fraction of the cache had been analysed, and its “destruction” could undermine the 1981 listing of the Willandra precinct on the World Heritage register.
In addition to taking up his concerns with Ms Plibersek, Professor Westaway said he would advise World Heritage keeper UNESCO and the International Council on Monuments and Sites that the relics’ “potential to rewrite the story of modern human origins” would be lost.
British human evolution expert Chris Stringer, credited with helping develop the “out of Africa” theory of where people originated, said the remains “have great potential to further illuminate early human presence in Australia and its links with human migration across Asia”.
“They also have potential to broaden understanding of the complex patterns of occupation and movement in Australia itself and the history of the present Indigenous populations,” he said.
“We know from experience in the UK and many other countries that new methods of investigation give us new insights into the many different threats of our human past, and that those remains found in the past have continued importance and potential.
“But I also know that debate on what is appropriate is ongoing in a number of countries.
“The option of care under Indigenous custodianship, if possible, is an option that could enable insight for future generations, even if there are people today who feel unable to agree to such research.”
Dr Bowler, an honorary fellow in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Science at the University of Melbourne, said the Willandra traditional owners had been placed in an “impossible” position after plans for a keeping place repository for the bones, accessible to both local Indigenous people and scientists, were dashed by government inaction.
“My great regret is that I was unable, with many others, to persuade governments both at the state and federal levels to establish a memorial site and keeping place for the remains,” he said.
“That was promised, but never done. Governments completely failed to respond to the opportunities and challenges of caring for this jewel in Australian history.”
Willandra Aboriginal Advisory Group chair Warren Clark said the relics would, from Monday, be transferred to “five or six” burial sites known only to a select number of elders. This would take about two weeks.
No photos or filming would be allowed to preserve security, he said.
The NSW government insisted the interments would be conducted in accordance with federal approvals.
The Federal Court case launched by traditional owner and former advisory group member Jason Kelly is due to resume on March 10.
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