In a recent groundbreaking investigation, Professor Mike Archer from the University of New South Wales, alongside his esteemed colleagues, meticulously re-examined the fossilized tibia, a critical bone in the lower leg, belonging to an extinct species of giant sthenurine kangaroo. This significant fossil, unearthed from Mammoth Cave in the southwestern region of Australia around the era of the First World War, was subsequently identified as definitive proof of Indigenous Australians hunting megafauna. Professor Archer had been instrumental in the 1980 study that posited a distinct incision found on the fossilized bone indicated butchery. However, he now readily acknowledges that this initial conclusion was erroneous.
Megafaunal animals from Mammoth Cave approximately 50,000 years ago: the enormous long-beaked echidna Murrayglossus hacketti, the colossal kangaroo Procoptodon browneorum, the gargantuan diprotodontid Zygomaturus trilobus, and the thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus). Image courtesy of Peter Schouten.
“As a dedicated scientist, it is not merely my role but my fundamental obligation to rectify the scientific record when compelling new evidence emerges,” Professor Archer stated.
“In 1980, our interpretation of the incision was that it represented evidence of butchery, as this was the most plausible deduction we could make with the scientific instrumentation available at that juncture.”
“Owing to significant technological advancements, we are now capable of discerning that our initial assessment was, in fact, incorrect.”
“During the analysis of these bones commencing in the 1960s, considerable scholarly debate ensued regarding whether the First Peoples of Australia coexisted harmoniously with the continent’s prehistoric megafauna or if they were indeed the catalyst for their extinction.”
“Numerous scholars perceived the mark on the bone as having been inflicted by humans utilizing tools, thereby presenting definitive proof that the extinction of the megafauna and the advent of humans approximately 65,000 years ago were intrinsically linked.”
“For several decades, the Mammoth Cave bone served as the quintessential ‘smoking gun’ supporting the hypothesis that Australia’s First Peoples actively hunted megafauna. However, with this foundational evidence now debunked, the ongoing discourse concerning the causative factors behind the demise of these colossal creatures has been reopened, and the extent of human involvement is far less conclusive than previously assumed.”
To meticulously re-evaluate the same sthenurine leg bone bearing the incision, Professor Archer and his collaborators employed cutting-edge, three-dimensional scanning technology, enabling internal examination of the bone without inflicting any damage.
Furthermore, they utilized updated radiometric dating methodologies to ascertain the precise age of the bone and the incision, complemented by detailed microscopic examinations of the cut surfaces.
Their comprehensive analyses revealed that the incision was made subsequent to the bone’s desiccation and the development of shrinkage fissures, indicating that it was likely already fossilized when the mark was created.
The paleontologists also undertook an analysis of a fossilized tooth ‘charm’ that was presented by a representative of the Worora Nation to Kim Akerman, an archaeologist engaged in fieldwork with First Nations communities in the Kimberley during the 1960s.
This particular tooth belonged to Zygomaturus trilobus, a species of immense marsupial distantly related to wombats, which constituted a significant component of Australia’s Pleistocene megafauna.
Although the tooth was acquired in the Kimberley region of Northwestern Western Australia, its discernible characteristics and geological composition bore a striking resemblance to other fossils originating from Mammoth Cave in Southwestern Western Australia.
“The provenance of the tooth in the Kimberley, a considerable distance from its probable origin in Mammoth Cave, strongly suggests it may have been transported by humans or exchanged through extensive trade networks,” posited Dr. Kenny Travouillon, a distinguished researcher at the Western Australian Museum.
“This finding implies a cultural reverence or symbolic appropriation of fossils dating back to a period long preceding the advent of European scientific inquiry.”
“One could conjecture that the First Peoples may have been the continent’s—and perhaps the world’s—pioneering paleontologists.”
The research team does not entirely discount the possibility that the First Peoples did indeed hunt Australia’s megafauna.
However, in the absence of incontrovertible evidence, it remains impossible to assert with certainty that Indigenous Australians were directly responsible for their extinction.
“While these remain speculative propositions, concrete evidence is indispensable before it can be authoritatively concluded that predation on the now-extinct megafaunal species by the First Peoples contributed to their extinction, particularly considering the profound and enduring history of First Nations peoples in valuing and sustainably managing Australia’s wildlife,” Professor Archer emphasized.
“Had humans truly been accountable for the unsustainable hunting of Australia’s megafauna, one would anticipate the discovery of a substantially greater volume of evidence pertaining to hunting or butchery within the fossil record. Instead, the sole piece of definitive evidence we possessed was this solitary bone—and current findings strongly indicate that the incision was not made while the animal was still alive.”
Consequently, if human activity was not the sole determinant in the decline of Australia’s ancient megafauna, what other factors might have been at play?
The researchers point to evidence suggesting that numerous megafauna species disappeared well before the arrival of humans, while others coexisted with human populations for millennia, yet their decline frequently coincided with periods of profound climatic upheaval.
“What we can definitively ascertain is that the earliest inhabitants of Australia who exhibited a profound fascination with and collected fossils were the First Peoples, likely thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans on this continent,” the researchers concluded.
Their comprehensive dissertation has been formally published in the esteemed journal Royal Society Open Science.
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Michael Archer et al. 2025. Australia’s First Peoples: hunters of extinct megafauna or Australia’s first fossil collectors. R. Soc. Open Sci 12 (10): 250078; doi: 10.1098/rsos.250078
