The lost Australian stories etched in iconic ancient trees

One of the iconic boab trees with a carving in the Kimberley, WA. Credit: Jane Balme - Archaeologists have launched a project to find Australia's lost stories carved into iconic centuries-old trees in the Kimberley in Western Australia. These Australian boab trees record the stories of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the region, including from the time of the first European contact, that have not been captured in any other form. Research leaders Professor Sue O'Connor (ANU), Professor Jane Balme (UWA), Dr Ursula Frederick (UC) and Dr Melissa Marshall (UNDA) will work with Aboriginal communities in the Kimberley to document and contextualise the tree carvings. Professor O'Connor said the project will provide the first systematic archive of carved boab trees ever undertaken, using state-of-the-art technology to capture accurate 3D records of the markings. "We know a lot about rock art in caves and shelters, but almost nothing about the carvings done on trees," Professor O'Connor, from the ANU School of Culture, History and Language, said.   "Many of the carved trees are already many hundreds of years old and there is now some urgency to produce high-quality recordings before these remarkable heritage trees die." The local Aboriginal people have used boab trees in many ways, including as food, medicine, fibre shelter, and even for creating intricate artwork on the boab nuts and the trunk of the tree.