Gabarnmung

Gabarnmung lies at a remote location on the traditional lands of the Jawoyn people, east of Kakadu National Park, and about west of Maningrida, Northern Territory. The rock shelter was constructed by tunneling into a naturally eroded cliff face that created a sub-horizontal ceiling ranging in height from above floor level, the roof is supported by 36 pillars created by the natural erosion of fissure lines in the bedrock. Investigation has shown that some pre-existing pillars were removed, some were reshaped and some moved to new positions. In some areas ceiling slabs were removed and repainted by the people who used the cave. Tool marks on the ceiling and pillars clearly illustrate that the modifications served dual purposes, to providing a living space and to facilitate the removal of rock which was discarded down a talus slope. ==Excavation and dating ==

The Gabarnmung rock shelter was re-discovered by Ray Whear and Chris Morgan of the Jawoyn Association while flying by helicopter on 15 June 2006. The Jawoyn Association found two Jawoyn elders, Wamud Namok and Jimmy Kalarriya, who reported the name of the site as Nawarla Gabarnmang (Jawoyn "place of", "hole in the rock"), and who reported to have visited the shelter when they were children. They also identified the Jawoyn clan Buyhmi as the traditional owners of the site. The site was first excavated in May 2010. Led by Bruno David of Monash University, the team included Jean-Michel Geneste from the Centre National de Prehistoire of the French Ministry of Culture, Hugues Plisson from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at the University of Bordeaux, Christopher Clarkson from the University of Queensland, Jean-Jacques Delannoy from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique at the University de Savoie, and Fiona Petchey from the University of Waikato. However, radiocarbon dating of charcoal excavated from the base of the lowest stratigraphic layer of the floor returned a mean age of suggesting the oldest date for the earliest human habitation. ==See also==