Australia’s 120,000-year human link

HUMANS may have been living in Australia 120,000 years ago — more than 50,000 years longer than previous estimates, scientists have discovered at a dig in southwestern Victoria.

Identifying unusual, organised shell deposits and burnt stones indicating possible human activity, a scientific and archaeological team has spent a decade investigating the Moyjil site near Warrnambool.

Researchers believe the site could contain “middens” created by Aboriginal people during the period known as the last interglacial age, 115,000 to 130,000 years ago.

While the findings are compelling but not conclusive, if proven, the discovery would rewrite ancient indigenous history and reset what is known about human emergence from Africa.

“The site contains the remains of shellfish, crabs and fish in cemented sand, together with charcoal, blackened stones and features which resemble fireplaces,” Deakin’s School of Life and Environmental Sciences Dr John Sherwood said.

“What makes the site so significant is its great age. Dating of the shells, burnt stones and surrounding cemented sands by a variety of methods has established that the deposit was formed about 120,000 years ago.

“That’s about twice the presently accepted age of arrival of people on the Australian continent, based on archaeological evidence.”