Oldest known evidence of Aboriginal settlement in arid Australia found in Flinders Ranges rock shelter

The chance discovery of a rock shelter in the Flinders Ranges has unearthed one of the most important prehistoric sites in Australia. The site, known as Warratyi, shows Aboriginal Australians settled the arid interior of the country around 49,000 years ago - some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought. Lead author Giles Hamm, a consultant archaeologist and doctoral student at La Trobe University, found the site with local Adnyamathanha elder Clifford Coulthard while surveying gorges in the northern Flinders Ranges.

Map showing Warratyi rock shelter Source: Infographic