Bone tools found in the Kimberley among oldest in Australia

The ancient bone tools were found in the Riwi Cave in Mimbi country in the south-central Kimberley region of Western Australia. Credit: Jane Balme - Bone tools found in a well-known Kimberley cave site are more than 35,000 years old and among the oldest discovered in Australia, according to new research. The research team from Griffith University, The University of Western Australia (UWA) and The Australian National University (ANU) analysed eight bone tools from Riwi Cave in Mimbi country in the south-central Kimberley region of Western Australia. Four of the bone tools found in layers dating to between 35,000 and 46,000 years ago indicate the artefacts are among the oldest uncovered in Australia. The tools were used for a range of activities at the site, including the manufacture of plant fibre items, the processing of spinifex resin and hunting. Co-researcher ANU Professor Sue O'Connor said bone tools of this age were thought, until recently, to be confined to the cold southern regions of Australia and Tasmania, and to have been used in skin working to make clothing as protection against the cold.   "These new finds from the arid zone have changed our perspective," Professor O'Connor said. The research is published in the  International Journal of Osteoachaeology.