Warratyi
30°35′32″S 138°57′33″E / 30.5921°S 138.9592°E[1]
Warratyi is the site of a prehistoric rock shelter in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Artefacts found at the site indicate that Indigenous Australians had settled the interior regions of the country approximately 49,000 years ago, and include the earliest evidence in Australia of the development of bone and stone-axe technology, the use of ochre, and interaction with megafauna such as Diprotodon.[2]
The site is on the ancestral lands of the Adnyamathanha. It was last occupied approximately 10,000 years ago.[3]
The rock shelter, about 20 m (66 ft) above a creek bed,[2] is approximately 10 m (33 ft) wide and extends in as far as 4 m (13 ft).[4] It was excavated between 2011 and 2014 by a team lead by Giles Hamm, a researcher from La Trobe University.[1]
References
- ^ a b Clare Peddie (2016-11-03). "Video: Flinders Ranges rock shelter was site of Australia's earliest known tool makers and painters, dating 49,000 years ago". The Advertiser. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
- ^ a b "Oldest known evidence of Aboriginal settlement in arid Australia found in Flinders Ranges rock shelter". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2016-11-03. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
- ^ Annalee Newitz (2016-03-11). "First discovery of 50,000-year-old human settlements in Australian interior". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
- ^ "Extended Data Figure 1: Warratyi rock shelter, site location, site plan and excavation strategy". Nature. Retrieved 2016-11-06.
Further reading
- Cultural innovation and megafauna interaction in the early settlement of arid Australia, doi:10.1038/nature20125