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When the bones of Australia's oldest and most complete human were unearthed in the 1970s it rewrote history.

Dubbed Mungo Man after the dried-up lake basin where he was found, the skeleton dates back about 42,000 years.

Traditional owners say the return of the remains of the historic Mungo Man, who was removed by scientists from his resting place more than 40 years ago, will provide closure and is a step toward reconciliation.

The discovery of Mungo Man in 1974 rewrote history by revealing that Aboriginal people had been in Australia twice as long as previously thought. Named after the location at which it was found, the skeleton is around 42,000 years old.

Visit the site of a discovery of human remains that are so old they make Egyptian mummies seem recent. In this ABC documentary a reporter visits Lake Mungo in the Willandra Lakes region of western NSW to view the site of the discovery of ancient human remains and the ongoing work of archaeologists.

In 1968 geologist Jim Bowler discovered human bones around the now dry Lake Mungo in south-western New South Wales. Bowler and his colleagues named her Mungo Lady and discovered that she had been ritually buried.

ON JULY 15, 1968, the discovery of burnt bones on a remote shoreline of an unnamed lake basin began a story, the consequences of which remain sadly unfinished today.

It’s the story of a legend, the discovery of Mungo Lady, the first in the series of steps that led to the creation of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage area.

Mungo Lady and Mungo Man are perhaps the most important human remains ever found in Australia. Their discovery re-wrote the ancient story of this land and its people and sent shock-waves around the world.

These 42,000 year old ritual burials are some of the oldest remains of modern humans (Homo sapiens) yet found outside of Africa. Mungo Lady is the oldest known cremation in the world, representing the early emergence of humanity's spiritual beliefs.