Human life in WA's Mid West existed 30,000 years ago

Brendan Hamlett excavating at Yalibirri Mindi rock shelter in WA's Mid West. (Supplied: UWA)

The first proof that humans lived in Western Australia's Mid West at the same time as humans in the Pilbara and South West regions has been found in a cave 50 kilometres north-west of Cue. 

Previously, archaeologists had no established evidence that humans occupied the Mid West region more than 10,000 years ago.

But charcoal associated with stone artefacts excavated in the Yalibirri Mindi rock shelter in the Weld Range have been shown to belong to ancestors of the Wajarri native title claimants living 30,000 years ago.

The discovery brings the history of human occupation in the state in line with well established evidence found in the Pilbara, Devil's Lair south of Perth and further to the east in the Western Desert.

The project was a collaboration between archaeologists from the University of Western Australia and Wajarri traditional owners.

Project coordinator Viviene Brown said it was an exciting find for both archaeologists and the Wajarri people. [...] abc.net.au / Link 2