Their Ancestors Burned Grass in This Cave for 25,000 Years — What Did the Ash Reveal About the Spirit World?
Deep inside Cloggs Cave, nestled within the limestone of southeastern Australia, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of an unbroken spiritual practice spanning twenty-five thousand years. The GunaiKurnai people carried whole grass plants into this remote cavern to burn them for magic, healing, and cursing rituals. But how did researchers link these ancient ashes to such specific ceremonies? The answer lies in microscopic silica skeletons called phytoliths.
How Phytoliths Unlocked a 25,000-Year-Old Story
Phytoliths are tiny, hard structures formed within plant tissues. Unlike pollen, which drifts on the wind, phytoliths remain exactly where the plant was deposited. Because Cloggs Cave lacks sunlight and moisture, no plants grow inside. Therefore, any phytoliths found there must have been carried in from outside.
Dr. Elle Grono, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the Australian National University, explained that the team focused on half-burnt phytoliths trapped in ashy layers. These layers came exclusively from human-lit fires, ruling out animal transport by possums or other creatures. The analysis revealed that ninety-seven percent of all phytoliths belonged to grass plants. Moreover, the team extracted phytoliths from stems, leaves, flowers, and roots. This means the GunaiKurnai ancestors brought entire grass plants into the cave specifically for burning.
What compelled them to carry whole grass bundles into the darkness? The answer emerges from both archaeological layers and living cultural memory.
The Mulla-Mullung: Healers, Cursers, and Keepers of the Cave
Nineteenth-century ethnographic records and the retained knowledge of GunaiKurnai elders describe powerful learned men and women called mulla-mullung. These spiritual practitioners used caves like Cloggs Cave for potent rituals. They burned the grasses and used the resulting ash in ceremonies, smearing it on individuals for healing or cursing. But the ash served a second purpose: spread on the cave floor, it allowed the mulla-mullung to track footprints of anyone—or anything—that entered, including dangerous spirit-beings lurking in the darkness.
Could a simple ash layer really function as a spiritual security system? For the GunaiKurnai, yes. The fine white powder preserved footprints clearly, acting as both a practical tool and a symbolic boundary.
A Standing Stone and Four Hundred Years of Repeated Burnings
In one cave area, researchers discovered a twenty-eight-centimeter-tall standing stone erected around two thousand years ago. Surrounding this stone lay seventy-three thin ash layers, representing four hundred years of deliberate, repeated grass burnings. Each layer tells a story of a ceremony, a healing, or a curse. The consistency of these layers proves that the rituals were not random but carefully maintained across generations.
How did the community preserve such specific knowledge for millennia? GunaiKurnai Elder Uncle Russell Mullett emphasized that the mulla-mullung were both respected and feared, acting as doctors who could cure but also harm. Their practices were passed down through oral tradition, initiation, and direct apprenticeship.
Connecting Ash Layers to Ice Age Climate
This study builds on previous excavations at Cloggs Cave, which unearthed twelve-thousand-year-old miniature fireplaces containing fat-smeared wooden sticks. Those finds already indicated a long-standing use for secluded ceremonies. However, the burnt phytoliths dating back twenty-five thousand years push the timeline to the coldest phase of the last Ice Age.
Consider what that means: while ice sheets covered much of northern Europe and North America, Aboriginal Australians were conducting complex spiritual ceremonies in this cave. The climate was harsh, resources were scarce, yet the rituals continued. What drove this cultural resilience?
Questions That Deepen the Mystery
Why did the GunaiKurnai choose whole grass plants rather than dry kindling? The answer may lie in the symbolic power of using a complete living organism.
Did the mulla-mullung select specific grass species for different purposes—healing versus cursing? Phytolith analysis can identify plant species, offering a path for future research.
How did the community transmit knowledge across twenty-five thousand years—roughly one thousand generations—without written language? This question challenges our understanding of cultural memory.
A Collaborative Scientific and Indigenous Effort
The research, published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, was conducted in close partnership with the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation. Elder Uncle Russell Mullett stressed that these discoveries confirm what his people have always known: their ancestors were here, practicing deep spiritual traditions, long before European arrival. The science does not replace oral history; it complements it.
By combining phytolith analysis, radiocarbon dating, ethnographic records, and Indigenous knowledge, the team has created a rich, multidimensional picture. Each ash layer is not merely a chemical deposit but a witness to a ceremony that connected people, plants, spirits, and place.
Why This Discovery Matters Today
In an era when many traditions have been disrupted by colonization, finding such continuous evidence is rare and precious. It demonstrates that Indigenous knowledge systems are not static relics but living, evolving bodies of understanding. The Cloggs Cave findings also remind us that archaeology can be a tool for reconciliation when conducted with respect and collaboration.
As researchers and the GunaiKurnai community continue their work, the ancient ash layers slowly give up their secrets. Each new question leads to another layer of understanding. And the story of the Old Ancestors, carried on the silica skeletons of grass plants, continues to be told once more.
Source: Their Ancestors Burned Grass in This Cave for 25,000 Years — What Did the Ash Reveal About the Spirit World?
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Their Ancestors Burned Grass in This Cave for 25,000 Years — What Did the Ash Reveal About the Spirit World?
Sources:
- Grono, E., et al. (2024). Phytolith evidence for twenty-five thousand years of ritual grass burning at Cloggs Cave, southeastern Australia. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.
- Australian National University, press release on Cloggs Cave excavations.
- GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, cultural knowledge contributions.
- Previous study: Twelve-thousand-year-old miniature fireplaces and fat-smeared sticks from Cloggs Cave (2020), published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.