New research on Parramatta’s ancient sand bed
A new paper published online by the Linnean Society of New South Wales presents further research from site ‘AT14’, an Aboriginal site within the Cumberland Hospital East precinct in North Parramatta.
The research is reshaping understandings of early Aboriginal occupation in the Greater Sydney region. The site is part of the Parramatta Sand Bed, which contains some of NSW’s oldest Aboriginal archaeology, dated to around 35,000 years ago.
The Parramatta Sand Bed is listed on the NSW State Heritage Register for its significant Aboriginal archaeological and geomorphological heritage values. However, its formation process has long been debated.
In the paper, GML Principal and archaeologist Tim Owen, with co-author Stephen Gale of The University of Sydney, provides a detailed analysis of how the sand bed formed during the period of First Nations occupation, including changes through the Last Glacial Maximum and terminal Pleistocene.
