Posted on 04/30/2010 8:08:40 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists have confirmed an Aboriginal site in the path of a major Tasmanian highway contains the oldest evidence of human habitation in the southern hemisphere.
About 3 million Indigenous artefacts were discovered at the Jordan River levee north of Hobart.
The State Government commissioned archaeologists to examine the site after the Aboriginal community raised concerns that construction of the Brighton bypass could damage it.
The site's archaeological director, Rob Paton, says the final report on the dig confirms some artefacts are about 40,000 years old.
"They're stone artefacts, they're used for day to day living, cutting and sharpening. It's that day-to-day stuff that really is rarely found," he said.
"That's why to get a snapshot of what life was like 40,000 years ago is really quite unique, not just for Australia but for hunter-gatherer sites anywhere in the world."
Tasmania's Department of Infrastructure insists the site will be protected.
Department Secretary Norm McIlfatrick is confident a bridge over the site is sufficient.
"Our view is, and has always been, that we won't carry out any work on that site until we have a full permit from the Minister for Heritage," he said.
"Now that Minister will receive the report from us and our management plan and will also have the view of the community before he makes the decision."
He is standing by the government's preferred option of building a bridge over the site.
"Most of the heritage, or all of the heritage that we're aware of, that is significant is under the ground."
Nala Mansell-McKenna from the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre maintains that the bypass must be re-routed.
"Building a bridge across it, removing the artefacts, is definitely not an option," she said.
The archaeologists' report will be considered by new Heritage Minister David O'Byrne.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
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Gods |
I left in ALL the paragraph breaks, just to please those who sometimes complain about their removal. |
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Did I tell you I have Zulu ancestors?
;o]
We played cards with the natives.
Zulus?
No, mostly we won...
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