Teacher background information

This elaboration describes opportunities for students to investigate how technological advances in archaeological dating techniques combined with evidence from the rich cultural heritage of Aboriginal peoples have shaped our understanding of the beginnings of human habitation in Australia and the interactions of First Australians with their environment. The ongoing debate regarding the respective roles of climate change and human agency in the extinction of the Australian megafauna sets the context for students to research some of Australia’s most significant archaeological discoveries and the arguments that surround them. Students gain an understanding of some of the scientific principles underlying modern dating techniques. They also learn how cultural histories, petroglyphs and paintings provide evidence of Aboriginal peoples’ knowledge of climatic changes and extinct animal species. Students are then able to examine how this evidence can be used to support or refute various points of view.

Some Aboriginal histories tell of a time when inland Australia was much more fertile and inhabited by giant animals. There are also many examples of rock paintings that depict long extinct animal species, such as a giant flightless bird painted on a rock shelter in Arnhem Land. Both histories and rock paintings provide evidence of the age-old knowledge held by Aboriginal peoples and of the long human presence in Australia. They continue to inform modern science of the different fauna and climatic conditions that once existed on the Australian continent. 

Most scientists today tend to agree that the spread of early modern humans reached the Australian continent at least 45,000 years ago. This understanding is based on numerous archaeological finds throughout Australia, arguably the most important one being the site of human remains at Lake Mungo in western New South Wales which has been dated to between 40,000 and 45,000 years using radiocarbon dating. Before the disinterment of human remains at Lake Mungo, most scientists estimated that humans had been living in Australia for perhaps 20,000 years. New discoveries, such as the most recent findings at the Madjedbebe rock shelter in the homelands of the Mirarr People in the Northern Territory, and advances in dating techniques including refinements of radiocarbon dating and other methods based on radioactive decay, thermal and optical luminescence, and DNA analysis, now suggest even longer habitation of Australia by Aboriginal peoples going back about 65,000 years. 

Scientists are also in agreement over the fact that numerous large animal species, including Diprotodon (‘giant wombat’), Megalania (giant monitor lizard), Thylacoleo (marsupial lion), Procoptodon (giant kangaroo) and Genyornis (giant flightless bird), once existed on the Australian continent. However, a lively and ongoing scientific debate has developed over the question of whether the disappearance of the megafauna from the archaeological record coincided with the arrival of humans and, if so, whether there is a causal link between those events. Some scientists hypothesise that the hunting and/or fire-stick farming practices of First Australians may have driven these species to extinction. Others favour the hypothesis that changing climate conditions during this period were the primary cause for their disappearance.  

By investigating the cultural, historical and archaeological evidence used in this debate and the various dating methods that underpin this evidence, students gain an insight into exciting and authentic current research. This elaboration provides opportunities for students to learn more about the rich histories and cultures of Aboriginal Peoples. It allows students to recognise how age-old knowledge about Australia’s past environment, preserved and passed on through more than a thousand generations, can serve as a valuable source of data that informs contemporary science. Students also learn to appreciate how new scientific discoveries and technological advances shape and confirm understandings of the long histories and cultures of Aboriginal Peoples in Australia.