sydney 40,000-year-old remain aboriginal man prompt drastic rewrite australian history return ancestral homeland friday four decades examination country capital discovery mungo man 1974 name dry outback lakebed fully intact skeleton find double know length humans presence continent 20,000 40,000 years bone removal canberra study roughly 600 km 370 miles east lake mungo anger indigenous community wait years get back glad back put rest place say joan slade elder aboriginal ngiyampaa people ceremony welcome remain back ancestral country skeleton along 104 remain arrive black hearse black yellow red aboriginal flag paint side traditional smoke ceremony green gum-leaves burn small fire welcome remain back red soil saltbush scrub lake mungo today one catalytic moments ... make us traditional owners custodians culture say elder michael young keep secret safe place pass next generations legacy people give us though subsequent discoveries push back even date humans first arrival australia find mungo man time huge advance understand human history burial limbs stretch hand cross across groin cover ochre draw 200 km away help prove ancient age aboriginal civilization world old continue culture date back around time neanderthals occupy europe australian national university whose researchers remove remain issue formal apology turn remain region aboriginal custodians 2015. recognise removal ancestral remain cause ongoing grief communities apologise unreservedly say research undertake ... contribute significantly understand history indigenous australians research past always undertake full knowledge support bone contention australia return ancient aboriginal remain outback burial