Humans were living in Australia longer than archaeologists previously believed, The Australian revealed on Saturday.

Archaeologists have unearthed thousands of artefacts in a cave on an island off the coast of Western Australia that date back 53,000 years ago.

The Australian newspaper reports that an Oxford University Laboratory found that grains mixed with a shellfish meal in Boodie Cave on Barrow Island near the Pilbara cracked the 50,000-year-old barrier.

RECOMMENDED STORY Australia’s oldest human remains begin journey home to Lake Mungo Australia's oldest human remains, known as Mungo Man, have been returned to their traditional owners 40 years after they were removed from the Mungo National Park to be studied.

The archaeologists measured the artefacts using the method of optically stimulated luminescence.

Archaeologists from University of Western Australia, the University of Queensland, James Cook University and Sacramento University have been working on the project for the past three years.

Peter Veth, lead archaeologist and Kimberley Foundation chair in rock art from UWA told The Australian that these were the oldest dates from the Southeast Asia region.

"People talked about it, and dates of 47,000 for Aboriginal ­occupation have been well ­accepted, but there was no hard data before"

"People talked about it, and dates of 47,000 for Aboriginal ­occupation have been well ­accepted, but there was no hard data before," he said.

­Traditional owners supported the project, as did Department of Parks and Wildlife officers on Barrow’s ­nature reserve.