Divers find more than 20 stone artefacts at two submerged sites off Murujuga

The paper's central claim, according to the Flinders University account of the study, is that the earlier Murujuga discoveries were not isolated finds but part of a broader submerged cultural landscape ^[2]. The new evidence for that is two sites and more than 20 stone artefacts ^[4]. In our view that is enough to show that Aboriginal heritage survives on the seabed there, as the authors say ^[1]. It is a small sample from which to size a landscape, given that more than 2 million square kilometres of continental shelf went under after the last ice age ^[17]. Lead researcher Jonathan Benjamin said of Murujuga: "I think there are thousands of underwater sites there potentially." ^[20] The "I think" and the "potentially" are his.

Sea level supplies the 9,000-year number. The study says the sites were submerged at least 9,000 years ago and that the artifacts could be considerably older ^[3]. ABC puts the submersion at 9,000 to 10,000 years ago ^[4]. Neither account explains how the artefacts were dated or how the stone was traced to its source. Audrey Cosmos, deputy chair of Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, pointed to "further research and scientific dating" as what the find opens up ^[12].

On the movement of stone, the evidence is firmer. Analysis indicates that some artifacts were made from stone sourced around Rosemary Island, about 23 kilometres from where they were found ^[6]. ABC reports distances of 20 to 25 kilometres ^[7]. The hill site was in use when the archipelago was still connected by dry land ^[14]. Stone found that far from its source was carried there. Benjamin read the pattern as choice: "People are selecting the raw material they prefer, and they're moving it from one upland outcrop all the way across the archipelago," he said ^[9].

Ranger Richard Variakojis, a co-author, described the spring site in terms of living tradition. "We did find a couple of artefacts in one area that's a submerged freshwater spring that's still sung about in the song lines to this day, even though it's been submerged for thousands of years," he said ^[16]. Vincent Adams, director of the corporation, said: "The Ngarda-Ngarli people have cared for Murujuga for at least 50,000 years." ^[11]

The peninsula is also a hub for Western Australia's oil and gas sector, with significant industrial development ^[18]. Ranger Malik Churnside said: "There's such amazing, beautiful natural sites surrounded by a lot of mining infrastructure, but you can go a long way to protect what is still here." ^[19]