A partnership between the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation and Monash University allowed researchers to excavate two small fire places in Cloggs Cave in the state's Gippsland region. In those fire places, one the size of a human hand, a single Casuarina stick was buried deep inside. Chemical analyses revealed both sticks had been smeared with animal or human fat and date back to 11,000 and 12,000 years ago respectively, marking the end of the last Ice Age.
The throwing stick was then stuck slanting in the ground before a fire was lit underneath it. The mulla-mullung would chant the name of the sick person, and once the stick fell, the charm was complete. GunaiKurnai Elder Uncle Russell Mullett said the findings, representing cultural knowledge passed down through 500 generations, were remarkable. "For these artefacts to survive is just amazing," Uncle Russell said. "It's a time capsule.