Rainbow Serpent by Barney Daniels Tgungurrayi, Luritja people,
Haasts Bluff, Alice Springs , Northern Territory . Acquired in
1988. This acrylic painting on linen shows Dreamtime hunters
(U-shapes) searching for eggs of the rainbow serpent, 'Wanampi',
which are hidden in underground caverns. Wanampi formed
different features in the landscape around Papunya in the
Northern Territory . These features are represented by the
different colours in the background of the painting. 65 000
years ago There is still uncertainty surrounding the exact
timing of the initial human colonisation of Australia , and both
the timing and nature of megaf au nal extinctions. For more
conservative archaeologists, the most commonly accepted age of
initial human occupation is 40 000 years or 43 000 - 45 000
calendircal years after calibration (Allen 200:65; Mulvaney &
Kaminga 1999). In contrast, Roberts et al. (1990;1993; 1998;
2001) and others argue for initial colonisation at 56 000 +/- 4
000 years, based on optical dates for two nor