The oldest human remains found in Australia were on Friday returned to the Outback that he roamed about 42,000 years ago, in a ceremony celebrated by traditional land owners.
The Ice Age Aborigine was dubbed Mungo Man after the dry salt Lake Mungo where he was found in 1974 in New South Wales.
He was studied in Canberra at the Australian National University, which handed him back to traditional land owners two years ago and formally apologized for the pain caused by his removal.
Local Aborigines burnt eucalyptus leaves in a traditional ceremony to welcome the black hearse that carried his remains in a coffin.
A Ngiyampaa tribal elder, who identified herself as Aunty Joan, told reporters: “I’m so glad he is back to put him in his resting place.”
“His spirit will be relieved and then he will be released when we put him back in the ground to his place where he came from,” said Aunty Patsy, an elder of the Mutthi Mutthi tribe.
Australian Minister for Heritage Gabrielle Upton said indigenous people had been instrumental in bringing Mungo Man back to where he was laid to rest about 42,000 years ago with his hands crossed over his groin and his body sprinkled with ocher.
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