Evidence suggests that humans first arrived in Australia approximately 60,000 years ago. These people are purported to have traveled from south-east Asia across the land bridges to northern Australia. Archaeologists have now discovered early occupation sites at the three most probable entry areas - the Kimberley, Arnhem Land and Cape York Peninsula.
The first Australian Used caves for shelter and as it turns out entertainment. The Caves provided some great tools for budding Aboriginal artist with ash, stones, ochre and wood. All items early man used to express them selves. While the floors of these shelters were covered with daily life the walls told stories of this life. But it was these items that provided the implements needed to make art.
A lot of different methods are used to date Aboriginal art including carbon dating, optically stimulated luminescence and accelerator mass spectrometry. These test were done on a lot of the undisturbed cave discovered as well as many of the implements which in themselves sometimes had paintings on them. These confirmed one of the earliest proof of man making art.
Because Radiocarbon dating was in the past only good for 40000 years many of the newer techniques were used to date past the 40000 mark. Another great thing with the new method is not only accuracy but also the amount of article needed to date, the tested item.
Pieces of Ocre have been associated with nearly all discovered sites and most have been dated at over 10000 years. The reason we dwell on the heritage of Aboriginal art is simply to prove that it can be traced back to the stone age. While aboriginal art now uses a lot of the latest artistic materials, many of the old favorites are still in use, so ochre, bark and wood is still popular.
Because of the difficulty in presenting art in caves to a wider audience it was only a matter of time before art moved onto canvas and tiles. With the early artist creating a dedicated following many of their paintings and carvings have appreciated phenomenally , some showing unprecedented growth.
If you are looking for a way to get into the art market there are some great new artist that have not been discovered yet these artist are like finding diamonds in the rough. By getting in early you can make a strategic investment and hold on for your potential artist to become more famous.
You will then have a valuable and authentic piece of aboriginal art, there is nothing quiet like watching a piece of art bout cheap go for $50000 dollars. While many artist will never achieve this type of fame it seems that more aboriginal paintings and carvings are appreciating faster.