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main image for article: Rare boomerangs used by ancestors of Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people
Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka NSW
Rare boomerangs used by ancestors of Yandruwandha Yawarrawarrka people

ANSTO undertook radiocarbon dating to establish that the throwing sticks would have been used in an era from 200 years before European invasion up to the time of Burke and Wills.

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main image for article: Artefact reveals resilience of Aboriginal cultural knowledge
Wiradjuri NSW
Artefact reveals resilience of Aboriginal cultural knowledge

Radiocarbon dating at ANSTO was used to establish the age of a culturally-modified tree embedded with an Aboriginal stone tool on Wiradjuri country in NSW.

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main image for article: Evidence for human occupation of Western Australia’s northern Swan Coastal Plain
Whadjuk Noongar WA
Evidence for human occupation of Western Australia’s northern Swan Coastal Plain

First evidence for Pleistocene occupation of Western Australia’s northern Swan Coastal Plain.

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main image for article: Kimberley Rock Art dating
Wanjina WA
Kimberley Rock Art dating

The Kimberley Rock Art project involves a large team of researchers with complementary specialties from multiple institutions (University of Western Australia, Universities of Wollongong, Melbourne and Manchester), including ANSTO dating specialists, who are working together with the Indigenous Traditional Owners to obtain a chronology for the extraordinary rock art sequence of the Kimberley. The work is supported by the Australia Research Council and the Kimberley Foundation Australia.

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main image for article: Landscape changes may be linked to loss of traditional Indigenous Australian burning techniques
Takayna TAS
Landscape changes may be linked to loss of traditional Indigenous Australian burning techniques

Research investigates if the former open plains of western Tasmanian maintained by Aboriginal people became rainforest following the loss of traditional burning practices

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main image for article: How old is the Tasmanian cultural landscape?
Palawa TAS
How old is the Tasmanian cultural landscape?

Research confirms a model of Late Pleistocene inheritance of open vegetation using pollen-based landscape reconstructions.

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main image for article: Murray River earth mounds reveal Aboriginal cooking practices spanning 4000 years
Ngaiawang, Ngawait, Nganguruku, Erawirung, Ngintait, Ngaralte & Ngarkat SA
Murray River earth mounds reveal Aboriginal cooking practices spanning 4000 years

Aboriginal innovation and resilience revealed by research into traditional oven mounds used for cooking in Murray Darling Basin

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main image for article: Ancient foods provide clues to past rainfall
Mirrar Country NT
Ancient foods provide clues to past rainfall

ANSTO has contributed to research by University of Queensland researchers and the Mirarr Traditional Owners in Northern Australia that has helped build a record of rainfall during the late Pleistocene and Holocene, and shed light on the strategies of Indigenous Australians to cope with a changing landscape.

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main image for article: Nuclear science helps prove earliest Aboriginal occupation
Mirrar Country NT
Nuclear science helps prove earliest Aboriginal occupation

Scientists at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation’s (ANSTO) Centre for Accelerator Science and Australian Synchrotron were part of a team who have found new proof of the earliest occupation in Australia – some 65,000 years – in Kakadu National Park.

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main image for article: Aboriginal inhabitants of Madjedbebe, northern Australia used different ways to adapt to environmental change
Mirrar NT
Aboriginal inhabitants of Madjedbebe, northern Australia used different ways to adapt to environmental change

Research indicates that Aboriginal people had a broad diet and intensive plant processing technologies, allowing them to respond to changes in climate, sea level and vegetation over the last 65,000 years

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main image for article: The archaeology of Bindjarran rockshelter in Manilikarr Country, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory
Manilikarr NT
The archaeology of Bindjarran rockshelter in Manilikarr Country, Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory

Research provides evidence of human settlement on the East Alligator River floodplain from the terminal Pleistocene through to the twentieth century.

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main image for article: ANSTO helps verify the origin of traditional Aboriginal products to benefit consumer confidence and Aboriginal enterprises
Mambulanjin Aboriginal Corporation NT
ANSTO helps verify the origin of traditional Aboriginal products to benefit consumer confidence and Aboriginal enterprises

ANSTO’s nuclear analytical techniques have been used to ensure that traditional Aboriginal products, such as the Kakadu Plum, are authenticated as part of a new project in partnership with Northern Australia Aboriginal Kakadu Plum Alliance (NAAKAPA) administered by the Mamabulanjin Aboriginal Corporation (MAC) in WA.

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main image for article: Convergence of ceremonial and secular: The archaeology of Dabangai village on Mabuyag in Western Torres Strait
Mabuiag NT
Convergence of ceremonial and secular: The archaeology of Dabangai village on Mabuyag in Western Torres Strait

The long-term significance of Dabangay, with two discrete periods of human activity has been identified in research

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main image for article: Aboriginal occupation at the shell matrix site of Wurdukanhan
Lardil QLD
Aboriginal occupation at the shell matrix site of Wurdukanhan

Analysis of Wurdukanhan demonstrates high shellfish taxa diversity, high rates of natural shell predation and high densities of foraminifera throughout the deposit demonstrating a natural origin for the assemblage.

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main image for article: Aboriginal ochre art under high-tech ‘hands-off’ focus to map culture trail
Kunganyi QLD
Aboriginal ochre art under high-tech ‘hands-off’ focus to map culture trail

The first non-destructive analysis of Australian Aboriginal ochre artefacts using advanced X-ray technology at ANSTO'S Australia Synchrotron has paved the way for more accurate cultural mapping and new insights into the origin and style of Indigenous artworks.  

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main image for article: Environmental context for human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago
Kaiadilt QLD
Environmental context for human occupation of the South Wellesley Archipelago

A 2400-year record of environmental change is reported from a wetland on Bentinck Island in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, northern Australia.

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main image for article: Digital Preservation of Hand Stencils
Guringai Country NSW
Digital Preservation of Hand Stencils

Hand stencils are produced by placing a hand against the rock surface and "spluttering" a mouthful of clay. Work undertaken in the Kimberly region has used drones to capture images of Kimberly Rock art non-destructively. The data can be converted into 3D models to allow for further investigation of the site and potentially identifying features that may be difficult to see with the naked eye. This is the first time this technology has been used outside of the Kimberly.

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main image for article: Research supported World Heritage Listing for Aboriginal site
Gunditjmara VIC
Research supported World Heritage Listing for Aboriginal site

Radiocarbon dating at ANSTO and the University of Waikato Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory in NZ provided evidence of the antiquity of stone walled fish traps and aquaculture on the traditional country of the Gunditjmara people in southeastern Australia that received World Heritage Listing.

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main image for article: Evidence of earliest Aboriginal occupation of Australian coast
Earliest Aboriginal settlers WA
Evidence of earliest Aboriginal occupation of Australian coast

An archaeological study has found evidence of the earliest occupation of the Australian coast from Barrow Island, Northwest Australia.

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main image for article: Water movement at Thirlmere Lake
Dharawal, Dharug, Gundunggurra NSW
Water movement at Thirlmere Lake

ANSTO environmental researchers have been selected to participate in a three-year project funded by the NSW Office of Heritage and Environment to further investigate the movement of water at Thirlmere Lakes.

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main image for article: Indigenous knowledge linked to pollution data
Dharawal country NSW
Indigenous knowledge linked to pollution data

Indigenous weather cycles, based on observations in nature, are more appropriate and accurate than the traditional four seasons for interpreting pollution data

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main image for article: Indigenous knowledge linked to pollution data
Dharawal NSW
Indigenous knowledge linked to pollution data

Indigenous weather cycles, based on observations in nature, are more appropriate than the traditional four seasons for interpreting pollution data using radon

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main image for article: Investigating unusual water movement at Thirlmere Lakes
Dharawal NSW
Investigating unusual water movement at Thirlmere Lakes

ANSTO environmental researchers have been selected to participate in a three-year project funded by the NSW Office of Heritage and Environment to further investigate the movement of water at Thirlmere Lakes, an area of significance to local Aboriginal people.

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main image for article: Ensuring the safety of drinking water in NSW Aboriginal communities
Barkinji NSW
Ensuring the safety of drinking water in NSW Aboriginal communities

ANSTO works with the NSW government and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council to ensure drinking water supplied to Aboriginal communities is safe

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main image for article: Surface coatings on Aboriginal rock art provide insights into climate environment
Balanggarra Country WA
Surface coatings on Aboriginal rock art provide insights into climate environment

Radiocarbon measurements at ANSTO’s Centre for Accelerator Science have supported research that provided insights into what the environment was like for the Aboriginal artists who created rock art over intervals spanning 43,000 years

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main image for article: Radiocarbon dating at ANSTO informs date of oldest known Aboriginal rock art
Balanggarra WA
Radiocarbon dating at ANSTO informs date of oldest known Aboriginal rock art

ANSTO’s world-class radiocarbon dating capabilities at the Centre for Accelerator Science have provided evidence of a 17,300-year-old painting of a kangaroo from the Kimberley region that pre-dates the Gwion Gwion style.

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main image for article: Radiocarbon dating supports Aboriginal occupation of South Australia for 29,000 years
Euahlayi SA
Radiocarbon dating supports Aboriginal occupation of South Australia for 29,000 years

Radiocarbon dating at ANSTO has supported research that vastly extends the known timeline of the Aboriginal occupation of South Australia’s Riverland region, as reported in new research led by Flinders University in collaboration with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC).

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