Scientists Discover 7,000-year-old Tools Off Australia's West Coast
2020-07-07
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1Scientists say they have found Australia's first underwater archeological areas off the country's west coast.
2The sites are believed to be 7,000 years old.
3The area where they were found was once dry land.
4Archeologists say study of the hundreds of found objects will increase understanding of the culture and technological development of Australia's aboriginal people.
5The two ancient sites are now underwater in the Dampier Archipelago island group.
6Divers from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, made the discovery.
7The area was already well known for its rich ancient history and its rock-art carvings.
8However, the two sites are the first confirmed underwater places holding evidence of human civilization in Australia and the area around it.
9Michael O'Leary is a marine geoscientist and co-director of the project to study the tools.
10He told Reuters that his team wants to study "the skill, the technology, how they made these tools, to see if they represent a different cultural approach to tool making that we haven't yet identified in Australia,"
11Archeologist Jonathan Benjamin also leads the project.
12He said the scientists have found cutting and grinding tools that are thousands of years old.
13"You can start to recreate what the people were doing and how they were making their life way in their economy," Benjamin said.
14Information from the discovery is being studied to find out how old the objects are.
15However, the radiocarbon dating method and study of sea-level changes show the areas are at least 7,000 years old.
16Benjamin said the majority of objects remain on the seabed.
17The ones taken have been scanned for further research.
18They will then be given to the indigenous landowners, the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation.
19I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
1Scientists say they have found Australia's first underwater archeological areas off the country's west coast. 2The sites are believed to be 7,000 years old. The area where they were found was once dry land. 3Archeologists say study of the hundreds of found objects will increase understanding of the culture and technological development of Australia's aboriginal people. 4The two ancient sites are now underwater in the Dampier Archipelago island group. Divers from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, made the discovery. 5The area was already well known for its rich ancient history and its rock-art carvings. However, the two sites are the first confirmed underwater places holding evidence of human civilization in Australia and the area around it. 6Michael O'Leary is a marine geoscientist and co-director of the project to study the tools. He told Reuters that his team wants to study "the skill, the technology, how they made these tools, to see if they represent a different cultural approach to tool making that we haven't yet identified in Australia," 7Archeologist Jonathan Benjamin also leads the project. He said the scientists have found cutting and grinding tools that are thousands of years old. 8"You can start to recreate what the people were doing and how they were making their life way in their economy," Benjamin said. 9Information from the discovery is being studied to find out how old the objects are. However, the radiocarbon dating method and study of sea-level changes show the areas are at least 7,000 years old. 10Benjamin said the majority of objects remain on the seabed. The ones taken have been scanned for further research. They will then be given to the indigenous landowners, the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation. 11I'm Mario Ritter Jr. 12Paulina Duran and Jill Gralow reported this story for Reuters. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 13________________________________________________________________ 14Words in This Story 15archeological -adj. related to archeology, the study of past human life 16site -n. a place where something was in the past 17aboriginal -adj. related to the native people of Australia 18carvings -n.(pl.) objects that are cut from stone or wood 19civilization -n. a condition in which people have developed effective ways to organize and live as a society 20approach -n. a way of doing things 21grind -v. to make something sharp by rubbing it against a hard surface 22scan -v. to use a machine to make a digital image of something for study or reproduction 23indigenous -adj. native to a particular area