Flinders University researcher Amy Macken has discovered the age of sedimentary layers in the Naracoorte Caves using a cutting-edge computer modelling technique that has never before been used on an Australian fossil site.
As part of her PhD, Ms Macken studied two fossil sites – Wet Cave and Blanche Cave – located within South Australia’s Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area to determine the age of the deposits, thereby providing greater clarity on climatic changes and mammal communities in the region.
While the traditional method for dating archaeological and paleontological materials, known as radiocarbon dating, provided estimated age ranges for the two sites overall, Ms Macken said there were numerous information gaps on the age of the individual sedimentary layers. Read more.