Evidence People Lived In Australian Desert 50,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

AncientPages.com - Latest archaeological evidence reveals our knowledge of Australian history is far from complete. When did humans first occupy the Australian deserts? This question has been raised once again and new starting evidence reveals people have lived inland in Western Australia for more than 50,000 years. That's 10,000 years earlier than previously known for Australian deserts.

Credit: Public Domain

Archaeologists from The University of Western Australia working with Traditional Custodians from the Birriliburru Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) have explored the remote Carnarvon Ranges are near the Canning Stock Route. Evidence from the Karnatukul site (previously known as Serpents Glen).

According to Professor Jo McDonald, Director of UWA's Centre for Rock Art Research and Management there is even reason to say people who lived in the Australian desert were technological innovators.

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"We found in deposits dating back around 43,000 years ago an early backed microlith, a hafted multifunctional tool which could be used as either a spear barb or for wood-working," Professor McDonald said in a press statement.

"This is more than 15,000 years earlier than other known Australian examples of this tool type. Residue found on the tool indicates that hafting technology was practised much earlier than had been previously demonstrated in Australia. Tools such as this are found across most of southern and eastern Australia, but most are dated to the last 4,000 years."

Backed artifact dated to 43,000 years ago showing evidence of use on its working edge. Credit: Jo McDonald

Professor McDonald said the findings supported the notion that the first Australians adapted with ingenuity and flexibility as they dispersed into every bioregion of Australia within ten millennia after arriving on this continent.

"The fact that we have also been able to demonstrate a range of symbolic behaviours in the last 1,000 years - with rock art production and extraordinarily high levels of site use at this same time - demonstrates the continuity and complexity of long-term connections by Australian desert peoples," she said.

Scientists say that the finding represented a revolution in understanding the adaptive and technological sophistication of early Aboriginal peoples living in the interior deserts of Australia.

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