100 thousand years ago - time of the giants
About Cuddie Springs
Cuddie Springs is an ancient lake bed in the semi-arid zone of central northern New South Wales. The fossils are found in a claypan in the centre of the lake floor. The claypan fills with water after local rainstorms and may take months to dry. However, the wet soils are responsible for the survival of the bones over a long period of time.
The round area shown on the aerial photograph is the dry lake bed of Cuddie Springs.
Photo: J. Field © Austalian Museum.
Significant finds at Cuddie Springs
A significant archaeological discovery was made in one of the lower levels at the Cuddie Springs site. Wedged between the jaw of a wombat-shaped Diprotodon and the big leg bone of a big bird called Genyornis was a small flaked stone tool possibly an arrow or scraper. The bones and stone tool were left in a swampy area between 30,000 and 35,000 years ago. Close studies of the stone tool have shown that it was probably used for butchering it has blood traces on it and wear patterns are visible on the used edges.
The big bird called Genyornis and a wombat shaped Diprotodon.
Also discovered at Cuddie Springs was a sandstone grinding stone fragment thought to be approximately 30,000 years old. It is believed to be the oldest known grinding stone in the world and pre-dates others found in the Northern Hemisphere by 20,000 years.
Photo: J. Field © Austalian Museum.
Fossil-hunting at Cuddie Springs
The fossil bones of Megafauna were first discovered in the late 1870s when a well was sunk in the centre of the claypan. The Australian Museum launched excavations in 1933 and while many bones were found, there was no report of any archaeology. The first clues to a human presence at Cuddie Springs were in 1991 when researchers from the University of New South Wales encountered numerous stone tools during the collection of soil samples for environmental studies. The discovery of stone tools in a known fossil site presented the possibility that humans and Megafauna may have co-existed on the Australian continent.
