Nearly 50 years ago ancient dingo bones were unearthed in Madura Cave on the Nullarbor Plain.

Key points: New analysis of ancient dingo bones shows the animals were in South Australia 3,081–3,348 years ago.

New analysis of ancient dingo bones shows the animals were in South Australia 3,081–3,348 years ago. Study suggests dingoes may have played a role in the decline of Tasmanian tigers and devils on the mainland, which began to die off around this time.

Study suggests dingoes may have played a role in the decline of Tasmanian tigers and devils on the mainland, which began to die off around this time. Provides support for the theory that dingoes came to Australia by boat with humans.

Now a trio of archaeologists — Jane Balme, Sue O'Connor and Stewart Fallon — have analysed the bones using a special carbon dating technique to provide the oldest direct date for the dingo's arrival in Australia so far.

The analysis, published in the journal Scientific Reports this week, show the apex predators were in South Australia 3,081–3,348 years ago.

The timing suggests dingoes may have played a role in the decline of Tasmanian tigers and devils on the mainland.

According to the paper, the most commonly quoted arrival time for dingoes is 4,000–5,000 years ago.

But these figures factored in a long migration time for dingoes from the northern tip of Australia to the excavation location in South Australia — about 500 years.

The new study argues this figure may be bloated.

"What we're saying is, well, actually they got here later than that, and their dispersal was really quick as they were aided by people," Professor Balme, from the University of Western Australia, said.

"When they came to Australia, they must've been domesticated. All the places they might have come from, such as south-east Asia, dogs were domesticated."

A bone from Madura Cave analysed in the study. ( Supplied: Jane Balme )

This plays in to the widely-held notion that dingoes came to Australia by boat or raft alongside humans.

The evidence for this is strong when linked with the new dates, as there was no land connecting Australia to south-east Asia 3,000 years ago.

The 'taming' of the dingo

The taming of dingoes is still a point of contention.

Molecular biologist and geneticist Kylie Cairns from the University of New South Wales, who was not involved with the new study, points to factors such as dingoes being able to live without humans, unlike dogs.

Oral history suggests dingoes were closely associated with some Indigenous cultures. ( ABC Open contributor outdoorsnap )

"They're not truly domesticated in the sense that they're not like a pet Labrador," Dr Cairns said.

Dingoes also don't carry a lot of the physical traits of other animals that have been domesticated.

Still, this doesn't necessarily rule out the predator aiding humans.

"There's definitely some stories and oral history that suggests dingoes were closely associated with some Indigenous cultures," Dr Cairns said.

"They might have used them for hunting, but certainly there were also wild dingoes that lived separately to humans."

Dingo arrival and native predator departure

Dr Cairns believes the new dates are useful, as they provide firm evidence that dingoes were in south-west Australia at least 3,000 years ago — although older fossils may yet be discovered.

If dingoes did enter Australia during the timeframe suggested by the study, this could help explain the decline of other native predators around this time.

The study highlights evidence that Tasmanian tiger and devil populations began waning around the same period on the mainland.

Professor Balme now wants to examine ancient interactions between humans and dingoes. ( ABC Local: Anthony Pancia )

"It looks as though everything happened at the same time, which we couldn't say before because we didn't have good dates for the dingoes," Professor Balme said.

The new dates provide a good platform to unveil more about this time and how much dingoes contributed to the extinction of other species, she said.

As well as changing the course of nature, the arrival of dingoes may have changed human lives too.

The next goal for Professor Balme is to look at archaeological material from different sites to find out more about the interaction between humans and dingoes 3,000 years ago.

"How did domestication occur and how did each species serve each other?"

The type of animals people ate could suggest that dingoes were used in hunting quite early.

"That's what we're really interested in, is the whole human-dog relationship," Professor Balme said.

"How did that change people's lives?"