Source: www.inquisitr.com --- Wednesday, September 21, 2016
The worlds of archaeology and art have just grown even more exciting with the recent announcement that Kimberley Aboriginal art found in northwestern Australia may actually date from the last Ice Age, as new evidence suggests that the rock art is 16,000 years old. After originally being discovered, the estimated time frame for the creation of these paintings was deemed to be roughly around 10,000 years of age, but with this week’s news, the Kimberely Aboriginal art is now on par with much of the early rock and cave art that has been discovered throughout Europe. When scientists were first examining the Aboriginal paintings, they were dismayed to find that using Uranium Series dating wasn’t fruitful in yielding results because of contamination. Similarly, carbon dating also failed to date the rock art. The University of New England’s June Ross has said that it is “very difficult” to date rock art, and it is clear that the team working on the Kimberley Aboriginal art needed to be very creative in order to date the rocks. What the team did next shows just how sheer determination can yield extremely fruitful results. As reported through SBS Australia, fossilized mud wasp nests found on top of the Kimberley Aboriginal rock art were used as these were the only type of material the team found that would actually stick to rock surfaces and could be used. They then used something called optically-stimulated luminescence, also known as OSL ...
from Australia http://ift.tt/2cV5MB0
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