Going home

Oldest Australian human returned to 42,000-year-old grave

Mungo Man, found in 1974 under a dune alongside Lake Mungo in the Outback, lived to ripe old age of 50 and was mourned when he died

By AP 17 November 2017, 10:48 am

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In this image made from video, the remains of the 42,000-year-old "Mungo Man" are unloaded and placed on the ground during a traditional ceremony in Lake Mungo, Australia, Friday, Nov. 17, 2017. (Australian Broadcasting Corporation via AP)

LAKE MUNGO, Australia — The oldest human remains found in Australia were on Friday returned to the Outback desert that he roamed some 42,000 years ago in a ceremony celebrated by traditional owners.

The ice age Aborigine was dubbed Mungo Man after the dry salt Lake Mungo where he was found in 1974 in remote New South Wales state 750 kilometers (470 miles) west of Sydney.

He was studied in the national capital Canberra at the Australian National University, which handed him back to traditional owners two years ago and formally apologized for the pain caused by his removal.

Local Aborigines burned eucalyptus leaves in a traditional smoking ceremony to welcome the black hearse that carried his remains in a coffin.

An Ngiyampaa tribal elder, who identified herself as Aunty Joan, told reporters: “I’m so glad he is back, to put him in his resting place.”

“His spirit will be relieved and then he will be released when we put him back in the ground to his place where he came from,” said Aunty Patsy, an elder of the Mutthi Mutthi tribe.

State Heritage Minister Gabrielle Upton said indigenous people had been instrumental in bringing Mungo Man back to where he was laid to rest around 42,000 years ago with his hands crossed over his lap and his body sprinkled with ochre. He had reached the relatively old age of 50 before he died and, based on the care taken in his burial, appears to have been mourned by those he left behind.