Laser-equipped drones uncover 3 hidden Aboriginal rock shelters in Blue
University of Sydney researchers used LiDAR drones to find three new Aboriginal rock shelters. The shelters were in a tiny 4-square-kilometre patch.
A laser scanning drone has found three new Aboriginal rock shelters. They are in the dense bush deep in the Blue Mountains.
Some have red hand stencils and stone tools. Dr Jacob Bongers from the University of Sydney used LiDAR.
This bounces lasers through trees to map the ground below. In one small 4.16-square-kilometre area, the team found three unrecorded sites.
These show Indigenous people lived there for thousands of years. When Bongers and Dr Amy Mosig Way arrived, they spotted stone artefacts right away.
The artefacts were on the sandy shelter floors. The discovery gives hope that hundreds, maybe thousands, of ancient sites remain hidden.
These could be across the mountain's 1.03 million hectares. The findings could strengthen a push to extend the Blue Mountains' UNESCO listing.
This would formally recognise its Indigenous cultural heritage. It would also protect its biodiversity.
- 3
- New shelters found
- 4.16 square kilometres
- Survey area
- 1.03 million hectares
- Total park size
- Gulumada, meaning place of koalas
- Project name
Why it mattersThe discovery method could help identify and protect Australia's most fragile Indigenous heritage. Bushfire and erosion could destroy it forever.
AustraliaBlue Mountains Aboriginal communities can now use this technology to systematically locate and document undisturbed cultural sites across the landscape, strengthening efforts to preserve their heritage.
Corroborated bytheage.com.au·watoday.com.au
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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