People at what will become known as Murujuga on WA’s Pilbara coast document the changing climate.
The rock art here documents the Ngarluma-Yaburara ancestors’ change from desert people to coastal people, as sea levels rise.
Thousands of years earlier, this area was 100km from the coast. The rock art depicts desert animals, including the fat-tailed kangaroo as well as the thylacine (Tasmanian Tiger), which will both be extinct in another few thousand years. Rock art of sugar glider possums paints a picture of a time where Murujuga country was also home to forests. People are now carving images of marine life such as crabs, turtles and dugongs, that form part of their diet and spiritual connection with the landscape around them. Shellfish are also a part of their diet, but they only take what they need to make sure the supply will still be there for thousands of years to come.