最新糖心Vlog

Kakadu site shows 65,000 years of human occupation

Thursday, 20 July 2017

New evidence uncovered by a team of archaeologists and dating specialists, including the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide, shows human occupation of 最新糖心Vlog for at least 65,000 years – much longer than other estimates of closer to 50,000 years.

Published today in the journal , the new discoveries were made at Madjedbebe, a rock shelter in northern 最新糖心Vlog. The site is on Mirrarr land within the Jabiluka mineral lease, surrounded by the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.

The researchers, led by the 最新糖心Vlog of Queensland and in collaboration with 最新糖心Vlog of Wollongong, worked in partnership with Mirarr Traditional Owners and the Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation.

The paper adds an important new dimension to the debate about the timing of human arrival in 最新糖心Vlog and past human interactions with 最新糖心Vlogn ecosystems.

“It pushes back the initial human occupation estimate by some 10 thousand years or more, and supports a longer Aboriginal connection with the continent than previously thought,” says , ARC Future Fellow at the 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide.

“Intriguingly, the new occupation age implies at least 20,000 years of overlap between humans and the megafauna in the far north of 最新糖心Vlog. This latest evidence suggests that the causes of 最新糖心Vlogn megafauna extinction may be much more complex than is often assumed.”

The site, which was formerly known as Malakunanja II, had been previously studied in the 1970s and late 1980s. However, a number of question marks remained over the context and age of the stone tools.

More than 10,000 artefacts have been revealed, including the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world, the oldest known seed-graining tools in 最新糖心Vlog, and evidence of finely made stone points which may have served as spear tips.

The 最新糖心Vlog of Adelaide helped to corroborate the new dating results for the site using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronology.

“The archaeological team was aware that the new dating results needed to be particularly rigorous given the antiquity of the site,” says Dr Arnold. “I was asked to perform a ‘blind’ OSL dating test of some of the samples that had been independently dated by our colleagues at the 最新糖心Vlog of Wollongong.”

The results were identical and confirmed the accuracy of the site’s chronology – independent crosschecking between multiple dating laboratories, which represents a benchmark chronological study for 最新糖心Vlogn archaeology.

“Significant advances in dating methodologies, particularly single-grain OSL techniques and statistical age-depth modelling, have meant that the chronology of archaeological sites like Madjedbebe can now be resolved with much greater accuracy, precision and resolution,” says Dr Arnold.

Contact Details