Redating the onset of burning at Lynchs Crater (North Queensland): Implications for human settlement in Australia

Abstract

Lynch's Crater preserves a continuous, high-resolution record of environmental changes in north Queensland. This record suggests a marked increase in burning that appears to be independent of any known major climatic boundaries. This increase is accompanied, or closely followed, by the virtually complete replacement of rainforest by sclerophyll vegetation. The absence of any major climatic shift associated with this increase in fire frequency therefore has been interpreted as a result of early human impact in the area. The age for this increase in burning, on the basis of conventional radiocarbon dating, was previously thought to be approximately 38 000 14C yr BP, supporting the traditional model for human arrival in Australia at 40 000 14C yr BP Here we have applied a more rigorous pre-treatment and graphitisation procedure for radiocarbon dating samples from the Lynch's Crater sequence. These new dates suggest that the increase in fire frequency occurred at 45 000 14C yr BP, supporting the alternative view that human occupation of Australia occurred by at least 45 000-55 000 cal. yr BP.