New evidence from Karnatukul (Serpents Glen), a rock shelter site in the Australian Western Desert, indicates that Aboriginal people lived in this interior desert from very early in the settlement of the continent and that they remained in these ranges during the last Ice Age.
Pleistocene backed artifact dated to 43,000 years ago showing evidence of use on its working edge: ventral and dorsal surfaces. Image credit: McDonald et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202511.
Occupation of Australia is now accepted as having occurred prior to 60,000 years ago with increased evidence for arid-zone occupation prior to around 40,000 years ago.
The Karnatukul site retains its significant position as the earliest rock shelter to be occupied in the Australian Western Desert, with new excavations demonstrating that this site was first visited by at least 43,000 years ago.
University of Western Australia’s Professor Jo McDonald and colleagues 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.
“This is more than 15,000 years earlier than other known Australian examples of this tool type,” Professor McDonald said.
“Residue found on the tool indicates that hafting technology was practiced 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.”
The finding supports the notion that the first Australians adapted with ingenuity and flexibility as they dispersed into every bioregion of Australia within 10,000 years after arriving on this continent.
“The fact that we have also been able to demonstrate a range of symbolic behaviors 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,” Professor McDonald said.
“The finding represented a revolution in understanding the adaptive and technological sophistication of early Aboriginal peoples living in the interior deserts of Australia,” said University of Western Australia’s Professor Peter Veth.
“It’s enthralling to see scientific and Aboriginal narratives working together to create an extraordinary new canvas for the vast desert landscapes of the Australian imagination.”
The research is published in the journal PLoS ONE.
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J. McDonald et al. 2018. Karnatukul (Serpent’s Glen): A new chronology for the oldest site in Australia’s Western Desert. PLoS ONE 13 (9): e0202511; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202511
