In 1974, in the bone-dry Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Site in Australia, scientists stumbled on a human skeleton in the dunes of long-vanished Lake Mungo. Dating revealed that “Mungo Man” was up to 42,000 years old, pushing back the first aboriginal habitation of Australia by tens of thousands of years. Now, the celebrated skeleton is going home. Capping a decadeslong custody battle, an aboriginal funeral service hearse set off on 14 November from the Australian National University in Canberra—where the remains were kept since their discovery—on a 700-kilometer drive across the outback to Willandra Lakes. There, they will be turned over to three tribes, which will decide whether to inter the remains or store them and allow research on the bones to continue.

中文翻译：

---

古老的澳大利亚人回家了

1974 年，在澳大利亚极度干燥的威兰德拉湖区世界遗产地，科学家们在消失已久的芒戈湖沙丘中偶然发现了一具人类骨骼。约会透露，“芒戈人”的历史长达42000年，将澳大利亚第一个原住民居住地推后数万年。现在，著名的骷髅要回家了。在长达数十年的监护权争夺战结束后，一辆原住民葬礼灵车于 11 月 14 日从堪培拉的澳大利亚国立大学出发，经过 700 公里的车程穿过内陆到达威兰德拉湖。在那里，他们将被移交给三个部落，由他们决定是将遗骸填埋还是储存，并允许对骨骼的研究继续进行。