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Archaeological find rewrites Tasmania's history
In the early 1980s, Australia was embroiled in a bitter environmental battle, centered on the Franklin River valley, an ancient rainforest wilderness that was due to be dammed in a massive hydro-electric scheme. The issue attracted worldwide attention, divided families and ultimately brought down the Federal government.
For a long time everyone thought that this remote area was uninhabitable and had never been inhabited by humans. When the Hydro-Electric commission justified the dam project it assumed that no archaeological remains were at risk. But then the discovery of a limestone cave revealed a hoard of human treasure.
Only now have the finds been analysed, by archaeologist Jillian Garvey, who has sifted through quarter of a million animal fragments and 75,000 tool fragments from the cave, and found that far from the area having never been occupied, there were people living here 15-20,000 years ago.
There's a lot more to discover in what is now thought to be one of Australia's richest archaeological sites. These findings could not have occurred if the area had been flooded by the Hydro Electric project. Awarded World Heritage Area status in 1982, which secured its survival, this incredible primeval wilderness is now protected and is home to Tasmanian devils, quolls, orange-bellied parrots, groves of Jurassic pencil pines and ancient dolertie crags. Used as a backdrop in the Walking with Dinosaurs documentaries, it continues to amaze the world and slowly reveal its many secrets.
http://www.homesworldwide.co.uk/global/australia/news/articles/archaeological_find_rewrites_tasmanias_history?news_id=0046902
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