Deep History of Australia: Country, Communities, and Living Heritage
Southwestern Australia · Profil avec revue des sources

Devil's Lair and southwestern archaeological sequences

Devil's Lair (archaeological site label)

This southwestern sequence illustrates how improved dating can change an archaeological account. Stone objects, organic preservation, and the history of museum research must be read alongside the limits of individual samples.

Archaeological chronology and museum-research context Late Pleistocene to Holocene; early occupation approximately 48,000 calibrated years ago in the 2001 study Stone objects, charcoal, sedimentary context, radiocarbon pretreatment, and independent luminescence or other chronological comparisons. Margaret River town public regional orientation, not the cave; approximate public-institution or regional orientation point only, never a territorial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, maritime, sovereignty, native-title, or modern national boundary. Not the location of burials, restricted knowledge, excavation trenches, or permission to enter Country.
Aperçu

Éléments probants e histoires locales

Paysages et connexions cambiantes

The southwestern landscape and its resources changed through glacial and later environments. One cave does not represent all coastal or inland households.

Organisation sociale et échelle communautaire

An excavated cave does not identify a named regional capital or one political community lasting across its entire sequence.

Patrimoine vivant, transformation ultérieure et conservation

The collection uses a historical excavation label, not a replacement for living Noongar place knowledge or custodianship. No access permission or personal ancestry inference follows.

Chronology Early ages were reassessed

The 2001 study used improved pretreatment and independent checks to support a deeper occupation chronology.

Source review: 2026-10-20 [S1]
Method Contamination is not a minor detail

The dating review compares successful and unreliable samples rather than assuming every charcoal fragment dates deposition.

Source review: 2026-10-20 [S2]
Research history Museum work shaped the surviving record

The museum's account describes Merrilees's role in the excavation and study of regional fauna and archaeology.

Source review: 2026-10-20 [S3]
Séquence historique

Uma cronologia breve e documentada

Ces repères servent d'orientation et ne constituent pas une histoire complète.

  1. Occupation leaves a material sequence

    Deposits include cultural evidence later examined with several dating approaches.

  2. Preservation and contamination affect samples

    Chemical processes change what a measurement can securely date.

  3. Museum excavation and analysis

    The museum's research history places the excavation within a particular institutional period.

  4. Improved chronological study

    Radiocarbon pretreatment and independent methods support reassessment of early occupation.

Culture et langue

Alimentation, artisanat, paysages et savoirs

Langues mentionnées dans ce profil

  • Earlier spoken languages cannot be identified from these archaeological objects alone.

Famille linguistique: Language relationships require dated linguistic evidence; material styles are not language families or biological populations.

Revised charcoal treatment

Multiple chronological methods

Museum research history

Cited Traditional Owners, researchers, museums, governments, AIATSIS, and UNESCO did not author or endorse this atlas. These are original attributed summaries, not community-approved cultural knowledge or legal advice. No artifact, art, burial, sacred-site, or human-remains imagery is included. Respect Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, access restrictions, and community authority; use the site's contact channel for corrections or concerns.

Guide de recherche IA

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Le guide peut expliquer et relier les faits déjà présents sur cette page. Il ne peut pas interroger le web ouvert, établir une identité ou une citoyenneté, ni évaluer une ascendance ou une information génétique.

Ancré dans le contenu approuvé du profil Les citations utilisent les identifiants de sources ci-dessous Aucun contexte de compte ni d'ADN

N'introduisez pas de noms, coordonnées, informations d'arbre généalogique, identifiants de compte ou de kit, ni de données génétiques.

Registre des preuves

Sources utilisées pour cette page

Prioritize public Traditional Owner and community-controlled sources alongside accountable archaeological studies, museums, and heritage authorities. Compare dated evidence and interpretation rather than treat a heritage summary or one publication as an uncontested account.

  1. C1

    The AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia

    AIATSIS · Institutional heritage resource · Undated; accessed 2026-10-20

  2. C2

    Indigenous water

    Zena Cumpston; Australia State of the Environment · Indigenous-authored environmental synthesis · 2021

  3. C3

    AIATSIS Code of Ethics for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research

    Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies · Indigenous research ethics framework · 2020

  4. C4
  5. C5

    Radiocarbon dating of human occupation of Australia prior to 40 ka BP: Successes and pitfalls

    Quaternary Science Reviews; University of California repository · Peer-reviewed dating study · 2001

  6. C6

    Mabuygiw Garkaziw Kupay Torres Strait Islander Corporation

    MGK, community-controlled organization · Institutional heritage resource · Undated; accessed 2026-10-20

  7. C7

    World Heritage

    Budj Bim Cultural Landscape Tourism, Gunditjmara owned · Institutional heritage resource · Undated; accessed 2026-10-20

  8. C8

    Brewarrina Aboriginal Fish Traps (Baiame's Ngunnhu)

    Australian Government, DCCEEW · National Heritage record · Updated 2026-03-19

  9. C9

    Walking in the footsteps of our ancestors

    Mungo National Park and Traditional Tribal Groups · Institutional heritage resource · Undated; accessed 2026-10-20

  10. C10

    Third anniversary of destruction at Juukan Gorge

    PKKP Aboriginal Corporation · Traditional Owner heritage statement · 2023-05

  11. S1

    Early human occupation at Devil's Lair, southwestern Australia 50,000 years ago

    ANU Research Portal; Quaternary Research · Peer-reviewed chronological study · 2001

  12. S2

    Radiocarbon dating of human occupation of Australia prior to 40 ka BP: Successes and pitfalls

    Quaternary Science Reviews; University of California repository · Peer-reviewed dating study · 2001

  13. S3

    Duncan Merrilees (1922-2009)

    Western Australian Museum · Museum research history · 2009

Les sources et les noms restent la propriété de leurs éditeurs et communautés respectifs. Ils sont mentionnés à des fins de citation et d'éducation ; leur présence n'implique aucune recommandation de DNAGENICS par ces derniers. Les résumés sont des paraphrases éditoriales originales et doivent être comparés à la source liée pour tout usage important.

Revisión editorial: 20 octobre 2026