Abstract
ABORIGINAL chert artefacts abound in surface assemblages along the western margin of southwestern Australia north of Perth, but no local source of chert is known. The decrease in proportion of chert in assemblages further from the coast has been used as evidence of a westerly source on the present continental shelf but no data have been provided to show that this source is practical. Recent drilling by oil companies offshore in the northern Perth Basin has now shown that chert occurs at depths within reach of the last glacial sea level low and that the postulated source is not only reasonable but highly probable.
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QUILTY, P. The source of chert for aboriginal artefacts in southwestern Australia. Nature 275, 539–541 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/275539a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/275539a0
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