Evidence has been uncovered which points to Aboriginal mining of stones at Sugarloaf Hill in South Australia's Riverland.
The first detailed investigation into an Aboriginal chert and silcrete quarry in the region estimates Indigenous mining activity dating back 7000 years.
Research from Flinders University in partnership with River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation determined hard, fine-grained rocks were mined by Aboriginal people to craft tools, weapons and for trade, with Riverland-sourced materials likely to have been widely redistributed beyond this area.
River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation spokesperson, Sheryl Giles, said the discovery highlights Aboriginal peoples longtime connection to SA's Riverland.
"This timeline demonstrates both the deep time and long-term connections that our ancestors have maintained with all aspects of our riverscape," Ms Giles said.
Flinders University said the Sugarloaf Hill Quarry represents one of several sources of silcrete and chert traditionally utilised by Aboriginal people within a highly localised region of the Murray River corridor between Berribee in northwestern Victoria and Overland Corner in SA.
They said given the scale of the Sugarloaf Hill Quarry, the site was an important source of material, though is less emphasised in historical literature.
Lead researcher Dr Craig Westell, from Flinders University's Archaeology discipline, said: "The key outcome from our research has been establishing a plausible timeline for the mining of these materials at Sugarloaf Hill."
"We believe similar outcomes can be achieved in the Riverland through further integration of ethnohistorical, archaeological and contemporary community views," Dr Westell said.
Flinders University said chronologies established at quarries elsewhere in Australia have provided valuable context for the essential aspect of Aboriginal life and an appreciation of the sociocultural and political systems embedded in it.
The University said the timing and nature of exchange in fine-grain siliceous materials sourced from the Riverland quarries may contribute to a deeper understanding of Aboriginal society and economies in the southwestern region of the Murray Darling Basin.
The new chronology also allows comparison to stone quarries elsewhere in Australia.
Flinders University Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Transforming Human Origins Research, Professor Amy Roberts, said stone quarries represent an essential part of Aboriginal people's connection to Country.
"The relationships that Aboriginal people share with their ancestors, the river and land shaped connections and responsibilities to country and ultimately systems of traditional land ownership," Professor Roberts said.
The Flinders University team is set to conduct further research to compare other Riverland quarries and determine whether this timeline is representative of the use of Riverland stone sources more generally.
The research, "7000 Years of Aboriginal Mining at Sugarloaf Hill in the Riverland Region of South Australia", by Craig Westell, Ian Moffat, Richard Fullagar, Amy Roberts, Justine Kemp, Mike Morley, Marc Fairhead and Simon Hoad - has been published in Archaeology in Oceania.
