The NSW government won't confirm whether it will continue construction on a section of Sydney's new light rail line where thousands of indigenous artefacts have been found.
About 20,000 artefacts were discovered in excavation pits around the rail line's proposed tram stable yard in Randwick in the city's east, including items believed traded from the Lower Hunter Valley which have never been seen before.
Transport for NSW recognised the significance of the find between late 2015 and January, 2016 but did not say if it would stop work on the $2.1 billion project.
"All work that has occurred on the site since the artefacts were found has been in consultation with all Aboriginal groups," a department spokesman said.
"The social value of the site to the local Aboriginal community is very high and we are continuing to work with (the Aboriginal groups) to identify the artefacts and how they came to be found in Randwick."
Indigenous heritage advocates have called for the site to be classed as an Aboriginal heritage area.
Darug Elder Uncle Des Dyer said some of the artefacts, including spear heads and cutting tools, appeared to show trade and contact with indigenous people in the Hunter Valley.
"Each area has its own stones," he told ABC Radio.
"And on our song-lines one group would come down to us and they'd bring their stones and tools with them to swap and we'd give them ours and they'd take it back to wherever they came from."
Greens MP David Shoebridge said the entire site would be destroyed in coming weeks unless a stop-work order was issued.
"If this was the centre of Athens or Paris and a heritage find of this significance occurred, then there is no doubt the work would be stopped to see how the site could be saved," he said.
"This site should be protected and celebrated. The story it tells about the history of Aboriginal people and its evidence of trade routes and potential first contact makes it genuinely unique."
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