Dr Slack and his colleagues’ report, due for publication this year, says the excavations provided new insights into the way of life for the earliest human populations, revealing the diversity and complexity of late Pleistocene toolkits, and the timing of tool use.
The sites’ significance could not be overstated, their report said, and the other rock shelters in the area were recommended for further exploration.
WAtoday understands three salvage trips were made in 2014 and has received conflicting information over whether a fourth trip was requested and denied.
On Sunday Rio detonated explosives at the shelters.
