Last night on the news were two stories on the discovery of 35,000 yr old Aboriginal/Koori stone tools found near a new mine site in Western Australia. It has forced the mining giant to re-think its location.

In another area in W.A since 1963 miners have systematically destroyed thousands of rock art paintings. One huge outcrop of rocks was bulldozed and left in a heap of rubble.

The age of the discovery could go back 40,000yrs B.P as they have more material a few metres under this discovery. It will be interesting to see how the "Out of Africa" people up their dates...Every time after a new Aborigine/Koori discovery, a few months late they seem to extend the age of modern humans "Out of Africa"..

The last Aboriginal/Koori discovery a few months late Africans went back to 200,000 years..As you can't have a race in Australia close-in-age to the African model of existence.

Ancient tools unearthed in mine
Andrea Hayward
April 07, 2008 07:00am

THE discovery of 35,000 year old aboriginal tools at the site of a planned Rio Tinto pit has left the mining giant with a change to their construction plans.

Mining giant Rio Tinto will amend construction plans at its Hope Downs mine to preserve the rock shelter where the Aboriginal tools were found, a company spokesman says.

Archaeologists have dated tools from the site between Newman and Port Hedland at 35,000 years old and are awaiting further test results which could push the date back further. Archaeologists hired by local Aborigines conducted radiocarbon tests on the materials and say the site is one of Australia's oldest Aboriginal dwelling places.

They say the site could rival the Lake Mungo Man discovery in outback NSW, where bones discovered in the late 1960s were estimated to be 40,000 years old. Australian Cultural Heritage Management Ltd managing director Dr Neale Draper said the site was on the edge of a proposed pit in the Hope Downs south area.

Rio Tinto is in the preliminary stages of extending the Hope Downs iron ore mine to the south, in conjunction with Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

The extension is expected to lead to production of eight million tonnes of iron ore per annum. Rio Tinto halted all work months ago when the rock shelter was discovered, Rio Tinto spokesman Gervase Greene said.

"The actual existence of the shelter ... the existence of the overhang was discovered late last year or very early this year,'' Mr Greene said. "We immediately stopped work and are in continual dialogue with the traditional owners.

"My understanding is we have already agreed to alter the mine plan sufficiently to accommodate the shelter.'' Mr Greene said it was very important such sites were thoroughly documented, and Rio Tinto prided itself on its heritage survey work.

Dr Draper said Rio Tinto had gone to a lot of trouble to ensure the site would be protected for the future. The first iron ore from the Hope Downs mine was sent by rail to Dampier port last December for shipment as part of Rio Tinto's new product, Pilbara Blend.

Original Story
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21...46-2761,00.html

and more

Aboriginal tools dated to 35,000 years


Maitland Parker holds a 35,000 year old chirt used for cutting.
Photo: Tony Mcdonough


Jan Mayman
April 7, 2008 - 9:10AM
Page 1 of 3 | Single page

ANCIENT Aboriginal tools found on a Pilbara mine site in Western Australia have been dated at 35,000 years — among the oldest so far discovered in Australia.

Archaeologists believe the dig could yield material up to 40,000 years old, comparable with the internationally famous Lake Mungo Man discovery in NSW.

The prehistoric dwelling place is on the multibillion-dollar Hope Downs iron ore mine, site about 160 kilometres from the outback town of Newman and 310 kilometres south of Port Hedland. It is jointly run by international mining giant Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting.

Archaeologists hired by the Aboriginal traditional owners have released the results of radiocarbon tests indicating that it is one of the oldest-dated sites in Australia and internationally significant as a prehistoric record of humanity.

"We have always known this is an important part of our history, that our ancestors lived here," said a senior elder of the Martidja Banyjima people, Slim Parker.

"Our stories and songs tells us this. It is a good feeling to know archaeologists have proved what we say is true. It makes us feel strong. Now we want this place preserved. It is part of our heritage and our culture."

The discovery shows Mr Parker's ancestors lived in the area for more than 1000 generations.

The Banyjimas' consultant archaeologist Neale Draper said: "We are thrilled at the test results. This is a major scientific discovery. It contains a large number of stone tools and it is one of the most data-rich ancient sites in Australia, with an exceptional amount of information about climate change through the last ice age, the earliest occupation of the Pilbara and North-West Australia."

Discussions are now under way between the company and the traditional owners, who want the sensitive areas protected from mining.

Melbourne University's Professor Jim Bowler, who discovered bones on the shores of Lake Mungo in the late 1960s — later estimated to be 40,000 years old, making them the oldest human remains found in Australia — said: "This appears to be a very, very important find. It seems likely to write a new chapter in the history of Aboriginal Australia."

Another eminent scholar, Dr Ian Crawford, former curator of archaeology and anthropology at the West Australian Museum, said: "Further work on this site is most important."

Dr Crawford said the discovery of ancient tools was especially significant. Analysis of seed remains on the artefacts might be able to settle a long debate among archaeologists about the date that grinding implements were first used by Australia's indigenous people.

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