Pleistocene human remains from Australia: A living site and human cremation from Lake Mungo, western New South Wales

Abstract

A recently discovered Pleistocene archaeological site at Lake Mungo, western N.S.W., is announced and described. This was found within the core of a lunette sand dune at a level dated to between 25,000 and 32,000 years B.P., and is thus the oldest archaeological site so far discovered in Australia. The stratigraphy and chronology are described, and a palaeo‐environ‐mental reconstruction is made. Within the site were stone tools, hearths, faunal remains and a human cremation. The Mungo typology changes little in south‐eastern Australia until about 6,000 years ago, and the diet is similar to that recorded in the ethnographic record. The cremation was of a young adult female; the bones had been smashed after burning. Morphologically, the remains show some resemblances to Australian Aborigines, but there are also some palaeo‐Australian features.