Bone tools found in Riwi Cave in the Kimberley, WA. Credit: Michelle Langley
New research has reappraised the age of bone artefacts found in a famous Kimberley cave site as being more than 35,000 years old, making them among the oldest bone tools found in Australia.
Published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, the team of scientists from across Australia analysed eight bone artefacts from Riwi Cave in Mimbi country in south-central Kimberley, Western Australia.
Dr Michelle Langley from ARCHE.
Four of the bone artefacts were found in layers that dating to between 35,000 and 46,000 years ago, making them some of the oldest bone tools in Australia. Previously, the oldest bone artefact from Carpenter’s Gap 1 in the Kimberley was found to have be
Ancient Bone Tools in WA Dated to Be Over 35,000 Years Old
Four bone tools discovered in Western Australia have changed how archaeologists think of ancient northern Australian indigenous societies after the tools were reevaluated to be between 35,000 and 47,000 years old making them among the oldest of their kind in Australia.
The findings published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology in February come after a similar discovery in 2016 of a roughly 46,000-year-old nose piercing made from kangaroo bone. Prior to this, bone tools were believed by some to only have existed as early as 20,000 years ago.
Dr Michelle Langley, from Griffith’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution and Forensics & Archaeology, said it was once believed that bone tools did not play an important role in the ancient indigenous society’s in northern Australia.
Kangaroo-bone tools found in Riwi cave in the Kimberley are thought to be 35,000 years old
updated 2
AprApril 2021 at 12:05am
Riwi Cave in the southern Kimberley is an important archaeological site and a place were people once lived.
(
Print text only
Cancel
Bone tools found in a remote north Australian cave have been dated as being more than 35,000 years old, making them some of the oldest in the nation.
Key points:
The bone tools were discovered in Riwi Cave in the southern Kimberley region in WA
Scientists say it s exceptionally rare the tools managed to survive the region s harsh climate
Eight tools made from kangaroo bone have been excavated from Riwi Cave in the southern Kimberley, by archaeologists in the early 1990s with support from the nearby Mimbi community.
Bone tools found in Riwi Cave in the Kimberley, WA. Credit: Michelle Langley
New research has reappraised the age of bone artefacts found in a famous Kimberley cave site as being more than 35,000 years old, making them among the oldest bone tools found in Australia.
Published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, the team of scientists from across Australia analysed eight bone artefacts from Riwi Cave in Mimbi country in south-central Kimberley, Western Australia.
Dr Michelle Langley from ARCHE.
Four of the bone artefacts were found in layers that dating to between 35,000 and 46,000 years ago, making them some of the oldest bone tools in Australia. Previously, the oldest bone artefact from Carpenter’s Gap 1 in the Kimberley was found to have be
January 17, 2021 at 11:40 pm by Sean Crommelin
Youâre scrounging around an archaeological dig when you come across the skull of an animal. Itâs undoubtedly a canine, but which one, and how can you tell? This distinction is of paramount importance. The presence of a dog versus a wolf marks a significant paradigm shift and it will change how you think about the site youâre working in.Â
An assortment of skulls, including domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, a jackal, a dingo, several species of fox and a hyena. Courtesy of Martin Welker and Susan Hamilton
So you think on it. You see that there are a number of methods used to identify canines in the archaeological record. Which one should you choose though, and why?Â