Overview
- The study published July 22, 2026 in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology reports thousands of microscopic plant silica bodies called phytoliths and finds patterns that point to repeated, deliberate burning of whole grasses inside Cloggs Cave.
- Researchers focused on half‑burnt phytoliths because these remain where plants decay and are unlikely to have been carried in by wind, and they found grasses made up as much as 97 percent of the phytoliths with about 18 percent showing melting or burning.
- Radiometric and luminescence dating show 73 thin ashy layers that are well dated to roughly 4,400–1,600 years before present while the oldest securely dated phytolith samples fall between about 25,800 and 24,000 years ago, though deeper deposits may be mixed by rockfall.
- Excavations in 2019–2020, carried out at the request of and with active participation from the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Corporation, also recovered a 28 cm standing stone dated to about 2,000 years ago and older fat‑smeared wooden sticks that add material context for ritual activity.
- By combining scientific evidence with GunaiKurnai oral history and 19th‑century ethnography, the authors present a strong case for long‑term ritual use of the cave while calling for further work to resolve chronological uncertainties in the deepest layers.