RESEARCH
Understanding ancient truths An Adnyamathanha Elder is working with Flinders University researchers and the local community to uncover the cultural history of the Warratyi Rock Shelter. BY DAVID SLY
Cliff Coulthard
The chance discovery of a remote South Australian cave has uncovered archaeological evidence of 50,000-yearold human occupation – one of the oldest in Australia's Aboriginal history. When Adnyamathanha Elder and cultural teacher, ranger and researcher Cliff Coulthard showed Flinders University researcher Dr Giles Hamm the Warratyi Rock Shelter in 2012, they had no idea of the extraordinary archaeological riches they would uncover. Their initial dig at the site produced a wide range of items that have been dated using radiocarbon and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) methods, and papers of their find have been published in the prestigious Nature journal. ‘We had done digs at other sites in the southern Flinders Ranges – at Arkaba and Hookina Creek – but we only found items that date back to around 27,000 years. It was incredibly fortunate that we went further north, because that is where we struck gold,’ says Cliff. 8
F L I N D E R S U N I V E R S I T Y / Encounter
RESEARCH FUNDING Warratyi, located in a sheer gorge near a spring just south of the Strzelecki Track, was first pointed out to Cliff when he was a 15-year-old stockman working beside Adnyamathanha Elders Colin and Lachlan Wilton. He had since forgotten about Warratyi and only recognised the location by chance while conducting extensive Flinders Ranges fieldwork, with Dr Hamm, to identify sites for potential excavation. Receiving $910,000 of Australian Research Council funding in December 2021 will now enable Flinders University researchers – led by Dr Hamm along with Cliff and his brother Terry Coulthard (of Iga Warta and Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Council), Professor Mike Smith, Professor Claire Smith, Dr Chris Wilson (BArchaeol(Hons) ’06, PhD(EHLT) ’17) and Associate Professor Mike Morley – to undertake further investigations at the Warratyi site.
