University of Wollongong researchers have helped reset the archaeological clock, proving Kakadu was Australia’s earliest home.
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A team of archaeologists and dating specialists has new proof Aboriginal people have been in Australia for at least 65,000 years — much longer than the 47,000 years believed by some.
The team said discoveries included the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world and the oldest known seed grinding tools in Australia.
The findings have been published in Nature magazine this week, after digs at Madjedbebe, on the traditional lands of the Mirarr people.
University of Wollongong (UOW) dating specialist Professor Zenobia Jacobs worked with an international team led by University of Queensland’s Associate Professor Chris Clarkson on evidence found at the Madjedbebe rock shelter.
Professor Jacobs has revealed that Aboriginal people lived at Madjedbebe at the same time as now extinct species of giant animals were roaming around.
The site has been excavated four times since the 1970s, most recently in 2012 and 2015 by Professor Clarkson’s team.
“The site contains the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world, the oldest known seed grinding tools in Australia and evidence of finely made stone points which may have served as spear tips”, Professor Clarkson, lead author of the Nature article, said.
“Most striking of all in a region known for its spectacular rock art are the huge quantities of ground ochre and evidence of ochre processing found at the site, from the older layer continuing through to the present.”
The site is surrounded by the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park, but was excluded from the park as a result of the Jabiluka uranium mining lease granted in 1982. The lease is now held by Energy Resources of Australia, which partnered with the Gundjeihmi Corporation to provide access to the site.
Professor Clarkson, an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow, worked in partnership with the Mirarr Traditional Owners. A landmark agreement with the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (GAC) made it possible to dig the site in 2012 and 2015.
“This study confirms the sophistication of the Australian Aboriginal toolkit and underscores the universal importance of the Jabiluka area. These findings reinforce the need for the highest level of conservation and protection for this site,” said Justin O’Brien, CEO Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation.
The team also included archaeologists Ben Marwick, Richard Fullagar, Mike Smith and Lynley Wallis.
Researchers said the partnership between Gundjeihmi and the University was formalised in a landmark agreement giving access to country for the research team and providing the Mirarr with unprecedented control over the operations of the excavation and its findings.
“The site of this research has been at the centre of archaeological debate for decades over previous claims of great antiquity, with the archaeological community divided between those arguing for first occupation of Australia less than 50,000 years ago and those arguing for colonisation as early as 60,000 years ago,” the team said.
They said the key findings were:
- Extensive dating by radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence methods, along with detailed scientific analysis of artefacts and sediments, shows the site has a deeply buried, dense occupation layer dating to 65,000 years ago.
- First occupation happened at a time of much lower sea level (long before the formation of the nearby iconic Kakadu wetlands) when the crossing distance from Island Southeast Asia to Australia was shorter than today. Climatic conditions in the tropical north were also cooler and moister than today.
- The new dates for Madjedbebe fit well with genetic analyses indicating modern humans left Africa between 60,000 and 80,000 years ago.
- The excavations at Madjedbebe have not only extended the known duration of human occupation of Australia by several thousand years, but have also revealed startling new evidence of complex early behaviour.
- The site contains the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world, the oldest known seed grinding tools in Australia (and some of the earliest in the world), and evidence of finely made stone points, which may have served as spear tips.
- Most striking of all in a region known for its spectacular rock art is the huge quantity of ground ochre and evidence of ochre processing found at the site, from the lowest layer continuing through to the present. Slabs of sandstone found at the base of the deposit were once attached to the rear wall of the rock shelter and are coated in ochre, some of which may be ancient rock art. Also, the earliest paints used at the site likely incorporated reflective exotic mica additives to create visually brilliant paintings.
- The site was heavily occupied at various times in the past, during periods in which the landscape and climate changed and sea levels rose and fell in concert with the advance and retreat of the last Ice Age.
- There is evidence of strong cultural continuity in many iconic elements of Aboriginal material culture spanning the entire length of human occupation of the site – such as the use of ground ochre, grinding stones, rock art and edge-ground axes. There is also evidence of frequent change in stone tool forms and the kinds of plant and animal foods eaten as the extensive Kakadu freshwater wetlands formed over the last 2000 years.
- The new findings reinforce the spectacular World Heritage values of Kakadu National Park, its rich and ancient Aboriginal history, and the deep-rooted connection to country of the Mirarr people.
The Australian Research Council funded the study.