9000-years-old stone houses discovered at archipelago off Australia’s coast

Circular stone foundations were discovered by archaeologists on Rosemary Island in the Dampier archipelago off Australia’s North-West coast. The structures are said to be even 9000 years old.

Excavations at Murujuga rock shelter (by The Guardian)
Excavations at Murujuga rock shelter (by The Guardian)

The Dampier archipelago and nearby Burrup peninsula are known as Murujuga (Ngarluma people’s word for “hip bones sticking out”). The first rock shelter structures discovered by the archaeologists date back 9000 years to the end of the last ice age, being one of the earliest known domestic structures in Australia. The excavations indicate that occupation was maintained in the area throughout the ice age and afterwards, when the rapid rise in sea level occurred and cut off the islands from the mainland as the waters rose 130 metres by the coast. Earlier excavations in the Murujuga area discovered evidence for occupation dating back prior to the ice age, 21000 years ago, and even 50000 years at a site on Barrow Island, located about 100 km to the West.

(after The Guardian)

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