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The re-excavation of Karnatukul (Serpent's Glen) has provided evidence for the human occupation of the Australian Western Desert to before 47,830 cal. BP (modelled median age). This new sequence is 20,000 years older than the previous known age for occupation at this site. Re-excavation of Karnatukul aimed to contextualise the site's painted art assemblage. We report on analyses of assemblages of stone artefacts and pigment art, pigment fragments, anthracology, new radiocarbon dates and detailed sediment analyses. Combined these add significantly to our understanding of this earliest occupation of Australia's Western Desert. The large lithic assemblage of over 25,000 artefacts includes a symmetrical geometric backed artefact dated to 45,570-41,650 cal. BP. The assemblage includes other evidence for hafting technology in its earliest phase of occupation. This research recalibrates the earliest Pleistocene occupation of Australia's desert core and confirms that people remained in this part of the arid zone during the Last Glacial Maximum. Changes in occupation intensity are demonstrated throughout the sequence: at the late Pleistocene/Holocene transition, the mid-Holocene and then during the last millennium. Karnatukul documents intensive site use with a range of occupation activities and different signalling behaviours during the last 1,000 years. This correlation of rock art and occupation evidence refines our understanding of how Western Desert peoples have inscribed their landscapes in the recent past, while the newly described occupation sequence highlights the dynamic adaptive culture of the first Australians, supporting arguments for their rapid very early migration from the coasts and northern tropics throughout the arid interior of the continent.

The archaeology of the arid and apparently inhospitable spinifex plains of today's inland Pilbara, Western Australia, is dominated by sites with bedrock grinding patches. These range from single and sometimes barely visible areas of ground granite to sites with more than a hundred flat, slightly concave or sometimes deeply grooved ground patches. Sometimes a solitary feature, sometimes associated with engravings or scattered stone artefacts, these sites contribute to the story of the movement of people through this arid landscape. But what do they tell us? Using ethnohistorical, ethnographic and experimental studies, this paper evaluates data collected from sites with bedrock grinding patches recorded on the Abydos Plain. Our results highlight the need for 'grinding' patches to be reconsidered as more than 'grinding' patches, for better modelling of freshwater ecology and inland fishing, and for the potential of spinifex fibre technology to be actively incorporated into reconstructions of hunter gatherer lifeways in arid landscapes.

The re-excavation of Karnatukul (Serpent's Glen) has provided evidence for the human occupation of the Australian Western Desert to before 47,830 cal. BP (modelled median age). This new sequence is 20,000 years older than the previous known age for occupation at this site. Re-excavation of Karnatukul aimed to contextualise the site's painted art assemblage. We report on analyses of assemblages of stone artefacts and pigment art, pigment fragments, anthracology, new radiocarbon dates and detailed sediment analyses. Combined these add significantly to our understanding of this earliest occupation of Australia's Western Desert. The large lithic assemblage of over 25,000 artefacts includes a symmetrical geometric backed artefact dated to 45,570-41,650 cal. BP. The assemblage includes other evidence for hafting technology in its earliest phase of occupation. This research recalibrates the earliest Pleistocene occupation of Australia's desert core and confirms that people remained in this part of the arid zone during the Last Glacial Maximum. Changes in occupation intensity are demonstrated throughout the sequence: at the late Pleistocene/Holocene transition, the mid-Holocene and then during the last millennium. Karnatukul documents intensive site use with a range of occupation activities and different signalling behaviours during the last 1,000 years. This correlation of rock art and occupation evidence refines our understanding of how Western Desert peoples have inscribed their landscapes in the recent past, while the newly described occupation sequence highlights the dynamic adaptive culture of the first Australians, supporting arguments for their rapid very early migration from the coasts and northern tropics throughout the arid interior of the continent.

Preliminary results of test-pit excavations in Yurlu Kankala and Kariyarra Rockshelter demonstrate the repeated occupation of a topographically distinct 'island of high land', in the northeastern Pilbara by Aboriginal people from 45,000 years ago to historical times. These results are the first Pilbara Pleistocene dates from sites outside the Hamersley Range and confirm occupation of this region prior to that in the central and western Pilbara and, at Yurlu Kankala, through the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). A third excavated site, Kunpaja Cave, provides evidence of inland Pilbara occupation through climatic amelioration following the LGM. All three sites are large, highly visible shelters located on ridges or hills, with commanding views over the surrounding land and access to major water sources. It is suggested that these factors played a key role in the discovery and occupation of Yurlu Kankala and Karriyarra Rockshelter by some of the Pilbara's first settlers, and of Kunpaja Cave as people expanded their territories as the climatic conditions of the LGM changed.

The presence of Aboriginal people in interior refuges as climate conditions deteriorated with the onset of glacial aridity is now well documented in the Australian arid zone. Further excavation at Yurlu Kankala, a large rock shelter located on an island of high land in the inland Pilbara, demonstrates repeated human occupation from at least 47–43 cal ka BP through the Last Glacial Maximum to the mid‐Holocene. Despite the continued presence of bone representing human food remains and an increased occurrence of hearths, after 18–17 cal ka BP there is a dramatic reduction in stone artefact numbers, suggesting that use of the site changed markedly. In exploring the drivers behind this change, we investigate the role of rock shelters in Aboriginal land‐use systems in the Pleistocene Pilbara. Yurlu Kankala makes a substantive contribution to answering questions on changing rock shelter and landscape use during the post‐LGM movement of people into the wider Pilbara uplands. RÉSUMÉ La présence de population de chasseurs–cueilleurs dans les zones refuges de la zone aride australienne au coeur du dernier maximum glaciaire est aujourd'hui bien documentée. La séquence de Yurlu Kankala, un grand abri sous roche dans les terres intérieures du Pilbara, a révélé une occupation humaine débutant à 47–43 cal BP et persistant à travers le dernier maximum glacière jusqu'au milieu de l'Holocène. Les restes de faune retrouvées et un nombre important de foyers suggèrent des occupations brèves mais répétées au cours du Pléistocène. Cependant, après 18–17 cal BP, une réduction importante de l'industrie lithique suggère un changement d'utilisation du site. En explorant les différents facteurs possibles à l'origine de ce changement, nous essayons de mieux comprendre le rôle des abris sous roche dans les systèmes d'occupation du territoire dans le Pilbara au Pléistocène. Yurlu Kankala apporte ainsi une contribution importante aux problématiques archéologiques régionales tels que les changements de type d'occupation des abris sous roche au cours du temps mais aussi l'occupation et l'utilisation du territoire dans le Pilbara à la suite du dernier maximum glaciaire.

The “Backed Artefact Symmetry Index” (BASI) provides a measure with which to describe geometric variation in Australian backed artefacts, and Peter Hiscock has suggested that desert versions of this artefact type will be more symmetrical than their coastal counterparts. The re‐excavated Serpent's Glen (Karnatukul) site and nearby site of Wirrili have produced a large assemblage of backed artefacts. These Western Desert assemblages allow for the testing of BASI. The backed artefacts demonstrate significantly more variability than predicted, demonstrating that all technological debates benefit from larger well‐dated assemblages. The signalling information observed in these sites’ pigment art repertoires, combined with this versatility in the toolkits, increases our understanding of the complexity of middle and late Holocene highly mobile foragers in the Australian arid zone. RÉSUMÉ L’« Indice de Symétrie sur Backed Artefact » (BASI) fournit une mesure permettant de décrire des variations géométriques sur outillage lithique de type microlith australien, pour lequel Peter Hiscock a suggéré que les versions produites dans les milieux désertiques seraient plus symétriques que leurs homologues associés aux régions côtières. Les nouvelles fouilles conduites sur les sites voisins de Serpent's Glen (Karnatukul) et de Wirrili ont produit un large assemblage de microlithes. Ces assemblages provenant du désert occidental permettent de tester le BASI. Les outils de microlithes manifestent une variabilité significativement plus importante que prédite. Ces débats technologiques bénéficient d'assemblages larges et bien datés. Les informations de signalisation présentes dans les répertoires d'art pariétal de ces sites, combinées à cette polyvalence de l'outillage lithique, permettent d'approfondir notre compréhension de la complexité caractérisant les groupes des chasseurs‐cueilleurs extrêmement mobiles qui peuplaient la zone aride australienne au milieu et à la fin de l’Holocène.