Lake Mungo
Coordinates: 33 ° 45 ′ S , 143 ° 5 ′ E
The Lake Mungo is a dry lake in the southwest of New South Wales , in southeastern Australia . It is located approximately 740 km west of Sydney and 90 km northeast of Mildura . The lake is the main attraction of Mungo National Park and one of the 17 lakes of the Willandra Lakes Region , which the UNESCO - World Heritage belongs. Many well-known archaeological discoveries, including the fossilized remains of Mungo Man and Mungo Lady , estimated to be 40,000 years old , have been made here. New and more precise investigations of the last found Mungo 3 date it to between 57,000 and 69,000 years ago.
Living conditions at Lake Mungo 40,000 years ago
At the time of the Mungo Man, Lake Mungo was filled with water, but Australia was in a climatic transition phase. Lake Mungo experienced numerous sandstorms from the west and the drought increased. The water levels in the lake fell and oscillated to a lower level. At the time of the Mungo Man, the area around Lake Mungo appears to have been the most densely populated and most continuous, as around 750 artifacts such as stone tools, charcoal and burned bones from this period have been found. On the basis of found otoliths - structures that serve the hearing in fish - from perch , it is assumed that the Aborigines could catch fish with traps and nets. In addition, crustaceans , small mammals, eggs, and vegetarian foods appear to have been consumed.
Individual evidence
- ^ Peter Hiscock: Colonization of the 5th continent. In: Archeology in Germany 2/2002 pp. 14–17
- ↑ J. Flood: The Original Australians . 2006, page 182 ff., ISBN 978-1-74114-872-5