The tools were discovered some two meters (6.5 feet) beneath the floor of a rock shelter near the Hope Downs iron ore mine site in the northwest of the country, about 950 kilometers (590 miles) from Perth, the capital of Western Australia.
Archaeologists believe the tools could have belonged to one of the Martidja Banyjima Aboriginal people that inhabited the region thousands of years ago. Local Aborigines say the site is one of their ancestors' most ancient dwelling places.
"This appears to be a very, very important find. It seems likely to write a new chapter in the history of Aboriginal Australia," The Age quoted Melbourne University's Professor Jim Bowler as saying. Bowler discovered bones on the shores of Lake Mungo in the late 1960s that were later estimated to around 40,000 years old - the oldest human remains found in Australia to date.
"We have always known this is an important part of our history, that our ancestors lived here," Slim Parker, a Martidja Banyjima elder, said, adding that, "Our stories and songs tells us this. It is a good feeling to know archaeologists have proved what we say is true. It makes us feel strong. Now we want this place preserved. It is part of our heritage and our culture."
