Australia: The Land Where Time Began
Near Blanchetown, South Australia, it is in the Murray River Valley. This occupation site is believed to have been used as an open air camp at times of the annual flood of the Murray River. The earliest charcoal from 4 hearths associated with stone cobble cooking structures and freshwater mussel shells, found at this site have been dated to 18,500 +/- 350 years ago. Tools from the Kartan industry have been found at this site.
The site appears to have been used only as a cemetery between about 7,000 and 4,000 years ago, then after about 4,000 years ago was being used as a habitation and cemetery site. There was a wide range of mortuary practices and some of the burials included grave goods.
Human Remains
Excavation of this site has revealed a burial of a man and a small child. The man was wrapped in a skin cloak fastened with bone pins. A pile of small bones from the feet of animals suggest the cloak was fastened at his shoulders by the paws of the animals still attached to the pelts. Bird bones were found near the body, suggesting that the cloak may have been fringed with feathers.
Burial No. 108 contained a skeleton, the skull of which had a double-stranded band of notched wallaby teeth on the forehead. It is more than 4,000 years old.
Flood, Josephine, 2004, Archaeology of the Dreamtime, JB Publications.
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