Murujuga, Northwestern Australia: When Arid Hunter-Gatherers Became Coastal Foragers

Research at Murujuga, a UNESCO-listed cultural landscape in northwestern Australia, reveals the transition of arid hunter-gatherers to coastal foragers during the early Holocene. The study provides evidence for Australia's earliest domestic stone structures, dated between 8063 and 7355 cal BP, on Rosemary Island, challenging assumptions about island abandonment and recolonization. By integrating a 47,000-year occupation sequence from the Pilbara region with predictive models of sea-level rise, the research offers insights into how mobile arid hunter-fisher-gatherers adapted to changing seascape dynamics. This work not only advances our understanding of human adaptation in coastal environments but also contributes to the broader narrative of insular abandonment and resilience.

McDonald, J., & Berry, M. (2016). Murujuga, Northwestern Australia: When Arid Hunter-Gatherers Became Coastal Foragers. The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, 12(1), 24–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564894.2015.1125971