NEW proof has been found showing Aboriginal people lived in Australia up to 18,000 years earlier than once thought, at the same time now-extinct species of giant animals roamed the land.

A team of archaeologists have uncovered a treasure trove of evidence with global significance for the history of human evolution, confirming the colonisation of Australia at least 65,000 years ago.

That’s much earlier than previous estimates of between 47,000 and 60,000 years. The discovery was made at the Northern Territory’s Madjedbebe rock shelter, located on the traditional lands of the Mirarr people surrounded by the World Heritage-listed Kakadu National Park.

It sets a new minimum age for the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa and across South Asia, and the subsequent interactions of homo sapiens with Neanderthals and Denisovans.

Findings from the excavation have this week been published in Nature magazine, and lead author Associate Professor Chris Clarkson says the new chronology places people in Australia more than 20,000 years before the continent-wide extinction of megafauna such as giant kangaroos and wombats. The site contains the oldest ground-edge stone axe technology in the world, the oldest known seed grinding tools in Australia and evidence of finely-made stone points which may have served as spear tips.

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Hundreds of thousands of unearthed artefacts from the dig also revealed strong Aboriginal cultural continuity, with huge quantities of ground ochre in a region known for its spectacular rock art.

“People who were camping here were really innovative, dynamic, artistic people,” Prof Clarkson said.

The site is located on indigenous land excluded from Kakadu National Park as a result of the Jabiluka uranium mining lease granted in 1982, held by Rio Tinto’s Energy Resources of Australia.

Two decades ago traditional owners led an international campaign against proposed uranium mining at Jabiluka, and all work there has since halted and the site rehabilitated.

Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Justin O’Brien says the study confirms the sophistication of the Aboriginal toolkit and underscores the need for conservation of the Jabiluka area.

For the first time in Australia, a landmark agreement gives the Mirarr people full control over the excavation, including curatorial powers and the final say over what happens to the artefacts at the end of the dig.

Bininj elder Mark Djandjomerr has been camping at the site with his family since he was a child, and says it has huge cultural importance to his people. Traditional owner May Nango is proud to share her history but is worried the landscape won’t be protected for future generations if mining goes ahead. “This country belongs to Mirarr ... we’d like to stay forever,” she said.