Latest news with #AustralianMuseum
BBC News
2 days ago
- Science
- BBC News
Artefacts suggest Australia's first people lived in mountains
A team of archaeologists have made a discovery in Australia that suggest that the continent's first people may have lived in high up in mountain found rare artefacts that dated back to the last Ice Age at a cave in Australia's Blue Mountains - which is west of have found that site known as the Dargan Shelter was lived in by early humans around 20,000 years Amy Mosig Way, who lead the study said: "Until now, we thought the Australian high country was too difficult to occupy during the last Ice Age." The study was published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour and makes the case that humans once lived above 700m in Australia - with this particular cave being 1073m above sea say the area would be been much cooler during the last Ice Age and there wouldn't have been as much vegetation as also say there wouldn't have been much firewood available at that time and sources of water would likely have been frozen during the study has raised questions about how some of the continents first people managed to adapt to the difficult conditions. Archaeologists from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University worked together with First Nations community members to unearth the artefacts during a digs at the site - they found almost of these items were prehistoric tools which researchers believe people used for cutting or is thought that most of those tools were made locally to the cave site, but not say that some seem to have come from an area around 31 miles away.
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Shocking discovery inside one of Australia's oldest Ice Age caves dating back over 20,000 years
Archaeologists have unearthed extraordinary evidence proving one of Australia's oldest caves was occupied by humans during the Ice Age. Scientists uncovered Ice Age artefacts deep inside Dargan Shelter - a cave 1,100metres above sea level in NSW 's Blue Mountains region - challenging long-held assumptions about ancient human life in Australia. Dargan Shelter is now believed to be the oldest site at high elevation with evidence of repeated human activity and adaption to environments on the Australian continent. The cave is around 25metres high, 22metres wide and about 20metres deep. Up to 693 stone artefacts were found including stone tools and a sandstone grinding slab that may have been used for shaping wooden items or bone points for spears. The discoveries dated as far back as 20,000 years and were unearthed after the team dug more than two metres down into the frozen layers of the site. Archaeologists from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney and the Australian National University, along with First Nations community members, led three digs between April 2022 and March 2023. Gomeroi knowledge holder and First Nations mentor in archaeology at the University of Sydney, Wayne Brennan, initiated the research project. The discovery proved First Nations ancestors navigated and occupied high-altitude environments during the Ice Age, Mr Brennan and Australian Museum Archeologist and lead author of the research paper Dr Amy Mosig Way, said. 'Until now, we thought the Australian high country was too difficult to occupy during the last Ice Age,' Dr Way wrote in a newsletter for the University of Sydney. 'Yet, despite the harsh conditions, our research demonstrates people were moving in and through this high elevation landscape, which is approximately 400metres above the tree line.' The artefacts had been kept in an 'excellent state of preservation', with the team measuring the pieces against the date of charcoal from old firepits buried at the same level to estimate the age of each item. With this method, the scientists were able to determine the sandstone grinding slab, which had linear grooves, had been used more than 13,000 years ago. Researchers also found a stone believed to have been used as an axe. Analysis proved the piece of basalt was used to crack open hard seeds or nuts dating back to about 9,000 years ago. First Nations custodians and proud Dharug women, Leanne Watson Redpath and Erin Wilkins said the discovery symbolised a tangible connection to their ancestors. Ms Wilkins said while there was no way of identifying which groups accessed the site during the Ice Age, it was likely multiple groups frequented the cave. She added local custodians consider the Dargan Shelter as representing a family space with 'high cultural significance'. Mr Brennan said he hoped the discovery would help protect First Nations people's cultural heritage. 'The Blue Mountains is a UNESCO World Heritage listed site for the protection of flora and fauna but there are no safeguards for our cultural heritage, he said. 'We hope that by combining our traditional knowledge with scientific research, we can protect these invaluable storehouses of our history for generations to come.'
ABC News
4 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Inside Dargan Shelter, the Blue Mountains cave home to artefacts linked to the Ice Age
The terrain in the upper Blue Mountains is impassable in sections. It's where eucalypts climb high and scribbly gums, banksia and wattles thrive. Survival in this environment today would be tough — which makes a recent archaeological discovery all the more extraordinary. Scientists have uncovered Ice Age artefacts deep inside a cave 1,100 metres above sea level, challenging long-held assumptions about ancient human life in Australia. The discoveries, dated to as far back as 20,000 years, were found in a cave known as Dargan Shelter — now believed to be the oldest known site of human activity at high elevation on the Australian continent. The Dargan Shelter is located in the upper-Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. ( ABC News: Michael Nudl ) The terrain near the cave is difficult to traverse. ( ABC News: Michael Nudl ) The upper-Blue Mountains near the location of the cave. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Dr Amy Way and colleagues during one of the digs in the Dargan Shelter. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwick/Australian Museum ) The team involved in the discovery of the artefacts in Dargan Shelter. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwick/Australian Museum ) The shelter is around 25 metres high, 22 metres wide and 20 metres deep. "We have the full sequence of occupation, right from when people started using it, from the last Ice Age or possibly even before that," Dr Amy Way, an Australian Museum archaeologist, told 7.30. Members of the archaeology team inside Dargan Shelter. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "It's a phenomenal cave in that you can absolutely see why people have been drawn to this space for thousands of years," she said. "What makes it really significant archaeologically is actually what's beneath our feet." The archaeologists discovered hundreds of artefacts during the digs. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwick/Australian Museum ) Over three digs between April 2022 and March 2023, where they dug down more than two metres, Dr Way and her team uncovered hundreds of ancient artefacts and items of cultural significance. The evidence, they say, provides definitive proof of repeated occupation in this once frozen high-altitude landscape. "The oldest object we found was around 20,000 years old," she said. What was it like in the Ice Age? An artwork by Leanne Redpath Wilkins imagining what Dargan Shelter looked like in the Ice Age. ( Supplied: Australian Museum ) Gomeroi man Wayne Brennan thinks the climate and terrain conditions would have been "extremely tough" this high up during the Ice Age, during a period called the Pleistocene. Scientists believe the average temperature would have been 8 degrees Celsius cooler than it is today, and even more frigid during the winter months. "It would have been a lot harsher around here," Mr Brennan told 7.30. "The treeline would've been a lot lower, and while there would've been some shrubs, you'd be fighting for firewood." The view from the cave. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) The evidence from the Dargan Shelter site also challenges the previous assumption that people just quickly crossed the Great Dividing Range, which includes the Blue Mountains, rather than spending time and settling in the mountains. "What the artefacts tell us here is that there's a really big pulse of activity in that 18,000-year period," Dr Way said. "This isn't just people running from one side to the other." Dr Way told 7.30 that some stone artefacts originated from more than 100 kilometres away. Dr Amy Way and a colleague during one of the digs in Dargan Shelter. ( Supplied: Meagan Warwrick/Australian Museum ) "Some had come in from the Hunter Valley and some from Jenolan ... to the north and south," she said. "They're here, they're spending time, they're connected along the mountains." Significant finds The team used carbon dating to estimate the age of each object by measuring the date of charcoal from old fire-pits buried at the same depth. Amy Way and Wayne Brennan inspect one of the artefacts in Dargan Shelter. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Two of the more significant artefacts to have been found are what is believed to be a sandstone grinding slab bearing linear grooves. It is estimated to have been used more than 13,000 years ago. "Those grooves were made when a person was sharpening either a bone or a piece of wood, and sharpening it into a point," Dr Way hypothesised. "They could have been making a needle for sewing, which is quite likely considering how cold it was up here." Another stone that piqued their interest was a piece of basalt that had been split and shaped, initially leading researchers to think it was an axe. Further analysis showed it had been used for cracking open hard seeds or nuts around 9,000 years ago. A stone tool thought to have been used to crack open seeds and nuts. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "This is people sitting around having a feed, cracking open some nuts for a snack," Dr Way said. "And the nuts, of course, haven't survived but because they made an impact mark on this stone, we can reconstruct what they were doing." Protecting a sacred site Looking out the mouth of a cave. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Mr Brennan suggested the excavation was akin to "shaking hands with the past". "We think Dargan Shelter was a stopover point for family groups on their way to ceremony or on their way back," he said "The mountains weren't a barrier and I think that's the exciting part. "Just to think our ancestors were coming up here and doing things around that period of time — it would've been tough, but that shows the obligation we have to country." Wayne Brennan believes the cave was a place where families stopped over while travelling. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) Mr Brennan is a First Nations knowledge holder who was one of the authors of the research as an archaeology student at the University of Sydney. "The Blue Mountains is a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site for the protection of flora and fauna, but there are no safeguards for our cultural heritage," he said. "We hope that by combining our traditional knowledge with scientific research, we can protect these invaluable storehouses of our history for generations to come." 'Significant place' Mr Brennan said the discoveries proved Dargan Shelter is on a "dreaming track". "It's a songline track that brought in a lot of different mobs from up north, west, east and south," he said. Erin Wilkins says walking into the cave "takes your breath away". ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) While there's no certain way of identifying which groups accessed the mountains in the deep past, it is likely that multiple groups were connected to this country. Today Wiradjuri, Gomeroi, Darkinjung, Dharawal, Wonnarua, Gundungara and other groups hold traditional connections to the region. Direct custodians say it's a "magical" place. "Coming into this shelter is like nothing you've ever done before — it takes your breath away and it's very settling for your soul, for your spirit as well," said Dharug woman Erin Wilkins, a First Nations knowledge holder who was also an author of the research. The ceiling of the cave is about 25m high.. ( ABC News: Tom Hartley ) "To know my ancestors and many, many ancestors and many people have come through, sat in the same sand, in the same soil, in the same surrounds for thousands and thousands years, it gives us a lot more clarity, a lot more information. "It connects our stories, but it's healing for her, it's healing for mother, that we're back here." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV
ABC News
5 days ago
- Science
- ABC News
Mammal mania and marsupial mayhem — the weird, wild world of zoology
Kris Helgen has helped name and discover around 100 species of mammal, travelling to many fascinating places to find them. He's traversed volcanic caters in Papua New Guinea, savanna grasslands of Kenya, and ventured deep into the forests of the Andes. Kris also spends much of his time in the dark depths of natural history museums, stumbling upon the forgotten pelts and unnamed specimens languishing in filing cabinets. For the past five years he has been the chief scientist at the Australian Museum Research Institute, and is flipping the narrative entirely on where we think mammals came from. Further Information First broadcast in February 2023. Kris recently left our shores for Hawaii, where he has been appointed the President and CEO at Hawaii's Bishop Museum. You can find more information about the research Professor Helgen conducted while in Australia at the Australian Museum website. Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.
Miami Herald
02-06-2025
- Science
- Miami Herald
Famed furry creature explores icy river after snow blankets Tasmania. Watch
Winter has hit the southern hemisphere, and with it, the highlands of Tasmania have turned into a wintery wonderland. Tasmania, the island state of Australia, sits about 150 miles south of the mainland and was hit with a 'cold snap' that 'brought some decent snowfall' to its higher regions at the end of May, photographer Michael Eastwell said in May 20 and May 22 Instagram posts. One critter was enjoying the fresh-fallen snow as Eastwell passed by on a walk, he said. Eastwell noticed the creature bopping along the snowy banks of a river, and snuffling through the icy water, he said. 'Ever seen a platypus in the snow?' Eastwell asked the post. The video shows the platypus starting in a shallow creek, moving its head from side to side in the water. The critter then comes up on shore and uses its webbed feet to scoot along the surface of the snow. The photographer also posted photos on Instagram, which were then shared by The Wilderness Society on Facebook. 'Anyone else feeling the cold? You might be, but this little one probably isn't!' the organization said in a May 30 post. 'Platypus habitat is all along the south-east of Australia.' The Wilderness Society said the dense fur covering the little critters helps to make the animal 'waterproof,' allowing them to 'swim in very cold water for hours.' 'It's even said to provide better insulation than fur of polar bears and beavers,' the organization said. Platypus are part of a mammal order known as monotremes, which includes echidnas, and means they lay eggs, according to the Australian Museum. Their paddle-like tail acts as a fat reserve, and they have strong claws that are used for burrowing on land, the museum says. Platypuses are primarily nocturnal or active around twilight and at night, staying in their riverbank burrows during the day. They forage for a variety of aquatic invertebrates for about 10 to 12 hours a day, the museum says. Aside from their bills acting as a disguise, they also serve as the animal's primary sensory organ, the museum says. The bill has sensors that are sensitive to pressure as well as electroreceptors, but the exact way the bill detects a platypus's prey is still unknown. Platypuses are found throughout eastern and southeastern Australia, and on the island of Tasmania.
