Archaeologists dig at remote Kimberley camp
Archaeologists on the Kimberley coast have wrapped up the first dig at an Aboriginal campsite they believe may be between 6,000 and 10,000 years old.
More than 20 archaeologists and scientists spent a fortnight at the camp on the state's northern tip.
For the first time, traditional owners have allowed four pits to be dug to try to establish how old it is.
Project director June Ross says they have dug down through metres of shell remnants, indicating people ate shellfish meals at the site for hundreds of generations
She says the team also found items such as vegetable matter and string which they hope will prove to be the oldest discovered in the northern Kimberley.
"There's a huge sense of excitement and every day fresh information comes out of the sieves," she said.
"We were particularly lucky to be asked to work at this site because the deeper we dig down, the further back in time we go so it was a particularly exciting prospect for us as researchers."
Dr Ross says it will now take several months to carbon-date the samples.