They did not appear to bring the grasses solely for food, warmth or ordinary domestic work. Instead, new microscopic evidence suggests that whole plants were deliberately gathered, transported into the secluded cave and burned in repeated, low-temperature fires — activities that strengthen the interpretation of Cloggs Cave as a place reserved for ritual specialists, healing practices and spiritual power.
Located in GunaiKurnai Country in southeastern Australia, Cloggs Cave preserves one of the continent's longest archaeological records of relationships between people and plants. A new study published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology examined phytoliths — microscopic silica structures formed inside plants — preserved in deposits spanning approximately 25,000 years.
The results point toward something far more complex than a shelter where people simply cooked, slept or sought protection from the weather....<<<Read More>>>...
