A 40,000-year-old tribal gathering place has been discovered as a consequence of an archaeological survey about the prehistory of Tasmania conducted ahead of roadwork along Derwent River. It is being referred to as “the world’s southernmost location of early human life.”
The 600m by 60m riverbank site has up to three million items, including stone tools, clam fragments, and food waste. Rob Paton, the excavation’s director, claimed that the location seems to have served as a gathering place for three indigenous groups. The base strata of the site are at least 10,000 years older than the higher layers, which were determined to be 28,000 years old using optically stimulated luminescence dating.
Prehistory of Tasmania: Significant For Global Archaeology

Nearly nowhere in the world has an outdoor site experienced something like this, said Paton. “Most occurrences of this kind originate from cave deposits, which frequently only depict a very specific and short portion of human existence.” Our research to date has shown that this is a significant and intriguing site for science. It will be a significant location for interpreting Tasmania’s rich history as well as for global archaeology.
Australia’s indigenous groups demanded that the place be safeguarded: “The Tasmanian government must immediately proclaim it a protected site, not just for Aboriginal people but for peoples of the world,” declared Michael Mansell of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Center.
According to a government spokeswoman, “we will do everything we can to protect this important site.”
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