Taxacom: Australia occupation timeline

[John Grehan]

Just an interesting item on the web regarding how something seemingly set
in stone (pardon the pun) is not necessarily so. Now a report that human
occupatino of Australia 55,000 years 'earlier than thought" Published in
the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria journal, a claim that
stones at Moyjil (or Point Ritchie) by the Hopkins River in Warrnambool
(southeastern Australia) were blackened by man-made fires instead of brush
fires. The research also suggested that the scattered remains of edible
shellfish discovered in the area were strong evidence of early human
activity. Even though not absolutely definitive, the nature of the evidence
is intriguing and it will be interesting to see what further develops in
the future.

'A big jump': People might have lived in Australia twice as long as we
thought | Paul Daley | The Guardian
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"?Thermal luminescence analyses of blackened stones provide ages in
the?range?100-130 ka (thousands of years), consistent with independent
stratigraphic evidence and contemporaneous with the age of the surface in
which they lie.

The distribution of fire-darkened stones is inconsistent with wildfire
effects. Two hearth-like features closely associated with the disconformity
provide further indication of potential human agency. The data are
consistent with the suggestion of human presence at Warrnambool during the
last Interglacial.?

"But Bowler?s new theory could push even that latest industry-wide date
back by 55,000 years, provided his study is fundamentally sound and
sufficiently supported by the evidence. And while the site at Moyjil lacked
any signs of tools or human bones, it did contain findings inexplicable
without a human factor."

"Ultimately, Bowler didn?t claim to have all the answers ? merely a few,
warranted questions.

?Who were they? Why here and not elsewhere? Why no legacy of any toolkit,
no traces of food let alone human remains? In the absence of bones, stone
flakes or any independent trace of people, the notion of occupation at 120
ka currently remains difficult to credit,? he said.

?However, marine shells, stones in unexplained depositional context and
fire resemblance to hearth, successively diminish the possibility of a
natural explanation,? Bowler argued. ?That absence leaves the currently
unlikely option of human agency as the most likely alternative.?

-- 
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