At Murujuga in WA, rock art records the lives and spiritual beliefs of the first Australians.
This area will become home to the highest concentration of artwork in the world, with more than one million engravings over 300km, including the world’s oldest image of the human face.
It is Ngarda-Ngarli knowledge that sacred places everywhere are connected to Murujuga sites.
While in thousands of years, scientists will believe people created the rock art, the Murujuga Ngarda-Ngarli view is that they were created by the Ngardarna, perfect beings that were the first to walk the earth.
Before humans existed, the Ngardarna depicted themselves in rock art, carving unique faces believed to be of individuals, which will remain here for tens of thousands of years.
Other rock art has been created as the Ngardarna educate the Murujuga groups about how to record things.
Nearby there is rock art depicting what archaeologists will describe as ‘climbing men’.
The ‘climbing men’ are in fact two people sitting down facing each other, a depiction of initiation ceremony.
Parents of the soon to be initiated sit on a bed of leaves, lined up by their skin group.
The initiates walk through the centre, as their parents cry and mourn the death of their children.
When they return, there is a celebration for the arrival of the men.
Almost identical rock art exists almost 800km away in the Western Desert, emphasising the vast social networks.
Murujuga people share many rock art designs with other nations.
Murujuga groups share closeness with Western and Central Desert Nations through various songline sharing, with some songlines referring to Murujuga as the beginning.