Aerial view of the Northern Flinders Ranges, where Warratyi Rock Shelter was discovered. (Image by Giles Hamm)
Southern Australia’s interior, with its dry hot summers and cool winters, doesn’t sound like the most inviting environment for early humans. Yet a new study found evidence that early settlers arrived in the Flinders Ranges around 49,000 years ago—nearly 10,000 years earlier than it was initially reported. The authors analyzed results of an excavation at Warratyi rock shelter. During their analysis of the site, researchers also recovered the earliest examples of tool use in the region.
Authors:
Giles Hamm, Peter Mitchell, Lee J. Arnold, Gavin J. Prideaux, Daniele Questiaux, Nigel A. Spooner, Vladimir A. Levchenko, Elizabeth C. Foley, Trevor H. Worthy, Birgitta Stephenson, Vincent Coulthard, Clifford Coulthard, Sophia Wilton & Duncan Johnston
Corresponding author:
Giles Hamm, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Original paper published in Nature on November 2, 2016.
