Mastodawn

Initial report on the world significant #Juukan 2 rockshelter site. The results substantially revise the known antiquity of human occupation for the #Pilbara region and with that our understanding of the timing and processes of human settlement of the arid interior of #Australia.

This unique and precious 47,000 year old site was destroyed in 2020 by RioTintoZinc (who subsequently issued a pathetic apology for what amounts to a crime against humanity). Just imagine a corporation being permitted to destroy a cave of the Upper Palaeolithic!

#Indigenous #FirstNations #Australia #archaeology

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027737912400324X

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Radical Anthropology Jul 20, 2024

Comment here on the significance of the excavations

'Working with the Traditional Owners, we had excavated the shelter – known as Juukan 2 – in 2014, six years before its destruction. We found evidence Aboriginal people first used Juukan 2 around 47,000 years ago, likely throughout the last ice age, through to just a few decades before the cave was destroyed.

The site held thousands of significant objects including an ancient plait of human hair, tools and other artefacts, and animal remains. The results of the excavation led to last-minute efforts to stop the destruction of the site, but they were unsuccessful.'

https://theconversation.com/the-first-published-results-from-juukan-gorge-show-47-000-years-of-aboriginal-heritage-was-destroyed-in-mining-blast-234806

The first published results from Juukan Gorge show 47,000 years of Aboriginal heritage was destroyed in mining blast

The Juukan 2 rockshelter was blown up in 2020. The results of an archaeological dig carried out six years earlier are only now being published for the first time.

The Conversation

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Radical Anthropology Jul 20, 2024

'The material we found was extremely well preserved. We even found a bone point made from a kangaroo’s shinbone around 30,000 years old with ochre on its end. We don’t know what this was used for, but the ochre may indicate a ritual function.'