Mick De Ruiter of Flinders University and colleagues recently In the study A very special petroglyph has been described in Australia, A.A Heritage Daily, which also posts a photo of the discovery. The photo shows ships from Maluku, this archipelago is part of today’s Indonesia.

Owonparna artifacts date back a few thousand years and are the first archaeological evidence that the Makassar peoples visited mainland Australia in the distant past. According to experts, the two figures clearly bear the distinctive features of Maluku ships: their shape and structure are distinctive, and triangular flags and bow ornaments can be seen on them. By analyzing contemporary sources, the team also found that the chariots may have come from the southeastern part of the Maluku Islands.

The Dutch, who already discovered the islands in the middle of the 17th century, reported that the inhabitants of the region regularly sailed to the northern coast of Australia. The petroglyphs provide new evidence of contact between the indigenous people of Arnhem Land, Australia and the Maluku people. “These figures support current ideas that regular sea cucumber fishing visits were preceded or accompanied by sporadic or random voyages from Indonesia to the Australian coast,” de Ruyter said.

“The drawings we identified do not appear to represent any known European or colonial type of watercraft. Similar boats have been depicted in petroglyphs elsewhere on the northern coast of Australia, but none show the same level of detail as the Unbarnay canoes,” added the team member. Dr. Daryl Wesley.