Devil's Lair is a single-chamber

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

with a floor area of around that formed in a Quaternary dune

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

of the Leeuwin–Naturaliste Ridge, from the modern coastline of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The stratigraphic sequence in the cave floor deposit consists of of sandy sediments, with more than 100 distinct layers, intercalated with

flowstone Flowstones are sheetlike deposits of calcite or other carbonate minerals, formed where water flows down the walls or along the floors of a cave. They are typically found in "solution caves", in limestone, where they are the most common speleoth ...

and other indurated deposits. Excavations have been made in several areas of the cave floor. Since 1973, excavations have been concentrated in the middle (approximately on a north-west, south-east axis) of the cave, where 10 trenches have been dug. Archaeological evidence for intermittent human occupation extends down about to layer 30, with hearths, bone, and stone artefacts found throughout. The site provides evidence of human habitation of Southwest Australia 50,000 years before the present day.

Excavations

Devil's Lair has been the subject of scientific research since the 1970s by palaeontologists and archaeologists.

Excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

have recovered stone artefacts, numerous animal

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

remains, hearths, bone artefacts and human skeletal remains. Preservation of cultural materials has been very good and a long, well dated cultural sequence has been documented. The diversity and productiveness of the evidence from Devil's Lair make it unusually valuable as a source of information on cultural and natural history in the extreme southwest of Australia since the first colonisation of the continent. The site is named for the remains of the locally extinct ''

Sarcophilus harrisii The Tasmanian devil (''Sarcophilus harrisii'') (palawa kani: purinina) is a carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae. Until recently, it was only found on the island state of Tasmania, but it has been reintroduced to New South Wales in ...

'' uncovered there, their own bones and those of the animals they had fractured when consuming them at the site; the species was known by the remaining population that is referred to as the Tasmanian devil. The earliest palaeontological examination at the site was undertaken by E. L. Lundelius in 1955, then an American Fulbright scholar researching mammalian Pleistocene fauna in Western Australia. A review of tooth specimens of kangaroo species collected at the site discovered a human tooth was included and the archaeological significance of Devil's Lair prompted intense interest in that field.

Archaeological significance

Devil's Lair is important as one of the earliest sites of human occupation in Australia, a site with very early human

ornaments An ornament is something used for decoration. Ornament may also refer to: Decoration *Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts *Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...

and an unusually rich source of information for prehistoric cultural and natural history in the southwest of Western Australia.

Dating

Several different techniques of dating have been used at Devil's Lair to show that human occupation began at around 48,000 years. This makes it rank among the earliest sites in Australia and so an important source of information about the timing and character of the first human colonizers of Australia. Excavations at Devil's Lair have yielded early human ornaments in the form of three ground bone beads dating to 19,000–12,700 years BP. These beads were made from the limb-bones of

macropods Macropod may refer to: * Macropodidae, a marsupial family which includes kangaroos, wallabies, tree-kangaroos, pademelons, and several others * Macropodiformes, a marsupial suborder which includes kangaroos, wallabies and allies, bettongs, potoro ...

and were manufactured by cutting the bone shafts into short segments and grinding them smooth on abrasive stone. A deliberately perforated but otherwise unmodified stone object with wear patterns suggestive of its use as a

pendant A pendant is a loose-hanging piece of jewellery, generally attached by a small loop to a necklace, which may be known as a "pendant necklace". A pendant earring is an earring with a piece hanging down. Its name stems from the Latin word ' ...

dated to 14,000 year BP has also been recovered from Devil's Lair.*Bednarik, R. (1997). "Pleistocene stone pendant from Western Australia". ''Australian Archaeology'' 45:32-34.* These artefacts are some of the earliest evidence of symbolic behaviour in Australia and are internationally significant for understanding the timing and character of the emergence of symbolic capacities in humans.

References

{{Navbox prehistoric caves Archaeological sites in Western Australia Pleistocene paleontological sites of Australia Caves of Western Australia Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park Paleoanthropological sites