Submerged Archaeological Sites Study: Researchers map two underwater Aboriginal sites; stone moved 23 km

Archaeologists working with Indigenous rangers have documented two underwater sites off Murujuga in Western Australia, uncovering evidence of how First Nations communities used the landscape before rising sea levels submerged it thousands of years ago. The findings, reported by ABC News and detailed in a new study published in Quaternary Science Reviews, expand on earlier research into the region’s submerged Aboriginal heritage. The research was also announced by Flinders University, one of the institutions involved in the project. The discoveries include stone artefacts near an ancient freshwater spring and evidence of activity around a rocky hill overlooking a former river channel. Together, they offer a glimpse into a landscape that once connected parts of the Dampier Archipelago before the coastline changed following the last Ice Age.Two sites reveal how people used the landscapeThe newly documented locations highlight how people interacted with different environments, from freshwater sources to elevated terrain overlooking waterways. Before rising seas transformed the region, these areas were part of an accessible landscape rather than the seabed they have become today.The fre...