We dated a sacred Aboriginal women's site used for birthing ceremonies and discovered 7,000 years' worth of tool making

UNE 16, 2024

by Irina Ponomareva, Colin McLennan, Justine Kemp and Marie Wallace, The Conversation

Investigation of a sacred area at Avon Downs in Jangga Country, Central Queensland, has uncovered evidence of stone tool production in a place that was traditionally restricted to women. We detail our findings in newly published research in collaboration with archaeological expert Liz Hatte and Jangga Elders Colin McLennan and Marie Wallace.

Our excavation of the layered sediments at Avon Downs reveals a long history of raw stone extraction and tool making. In the short period of our study, we recorded about 1,500 stone artifacts on the surface and under the ground. And this is just the tip of the iceberg, as we expect more detailed evidence of tool production to be found beneath the site's surface and in neighboring areas.

By dating these artifacts, we have traced a 7,000-year history of continuous stone tool production by Aboriginal women—including objects traditionally associated with men. We are also the first team to ever date a sacred Aboriginal women's area.

Hundreds of generations of tool making
Using a technique called optically stimulated luminescence, we measured the age of individual sand grains within the artifact-rich layers of the hill slope. We were then able to date the artifacts by association.

The uncovered artifacts varied in age from about 430 years ago (before the first Europeans arrived) to some 7,000 years ago. This implies the site was used for stone tool production and possibly as a sacred women's area for hundreds of generations.

More:
https://phys.org/news/2024-06-dated-sacred-aboriginal-women-site.html