Talgai Skull

The Talgai Skull is a fossil found on the Talgai Station, Queensland, Australia. It was the first direct proof of the Pleistocene antiquity of humans in Australia.^[1]

History

In 1886 the first fossil evidence of early human occupation in the area, the Talgai skull, was found on Talgai Homestead. It was found by fencing contractor, Willian Naish. It had been embedded in the wall of Dalrymple Creek, which had been scoured out by heavy rain. It remained at the homestead until 1914 when Professor Edgeworth David, Professor of Archaeology at Sydney University visited Talgai and presented a theory that the skull was 20,000 years old and provided a "missing link" in the evolutionary chain. CSIRO and the Queensland_Museum conducted archaeological surveys at the site.^[2]

Radiocarbon dating suggests the Talgai skull is between 9,000 and 11,000 years old.^[3] It is believed to be the skull of a boy of approximately 15 years of age who had been killed by a massive blow to the side of the head.^[4]

The original skull is housed at the Sydney Museum.^[2]

The Talgai Skull is a 1968 documentary about the skull made by the Australian Broadcasting Commission.^[5]

References

1. "Bulletin of the History of Archaeology". doi:10.5334/bha.20202/.
2. "Talgai Homestead (entry 600006)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
3. Allen, Jim. "The Curious History of the Talgai Skull". Bulletin of the History of Archaeology. Ubiquity Press. ISSN 2047-6930. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
4. "Talgai Skull". austhrutime.com. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
5. The talgai skull: an investigation into the origin of the Australian Aborigines, Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1968, retrieved 11 September 2015