Plans are progressing to rebury the remains of some of Australia’s most significant inhabitants. But scientists say this will see the potential to learn more about the origins of humanity vanish.
It’s been 50 years since the find of burnt bones in ancient soil, eroded from deep in shoreline dune in NSW.
Jim Bowler
It’s been half a century since Jim Bowler discovered Mungo Lady, which changed the course of Australian history. But now he says the find has fallen off the national radar, leaving a legacy of shame.
Lake Mungo and the surrounding Willandra Lakes of NSW were established around 150,000 years ago.
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Over the past half century, Australia has experienced a ‘time revolution’ with Indigenous history pushed back into the dizzying expanse of deep time. The latest discovery reminds us that science, like history, is an ongoing inquiry.
Mungo Man finally returns to where he was found in the Mungo National Park.
Office of Environment and Heritage/J Spencer
The remains of the first known Australian, Mungo Man, begin their journey home today. Scientists hope they’ll still get a chance to study the ancient remains, working with the Traditional Owners.
The original excavation of Mungo Man, found near Lake Mungo in southwestern New South Wales, Australia.
Wilfred Shawcross.
Research first published in 2001 has been used to question of whether Aboriginal People were the First Australians. So why not re-test those results with improved techniques and equipment?
The 40,000-year-old remains of Mungo Man were discovered in 1974 on the southern sector of the eroding Lake Mungo shoreline.
Jim Bowler
The remains of the Aboriginal man who lived more than 40,000 years ago are on the move again. But they’re still not returning home, to the place where they were discovered four decades ago.
Senator David Leyonhjelm has said he is not taking sides in the debate, saying only that anthropologists disagree.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
Evidence of the first people to settle in Australia can be found in the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area, in western New South Wales, informally referred to as Australia’s Rift Valley. Hundreds of archaeological…