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SYDNEY, June 17 (Xinhua) — Evidence of Australia’s earliest high-altitude Ice Age human occupation has been uncovered in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, fundamentally altering the understanding of ancient settlement patterns in this inland region.

This discovery overturns previous theories that the Australian high country was too harsh for human habitation during the last Ice Age, according to a release from the University of Sydney on Tuesday.

“This new evidence aligns Australia with global data that shows glacial landscapes were not necessarily natural barriers to early human movement and occupation,” said the study’s lead author, Amy Mosig Way, an archaeologist at the Australian Museum and lecturer at the University of Sydney.

Archaeologists have excavated 693 stone artefacts at Dargan Shelter, an ancient Blue Mountains cave situated 1,073 meters above sea level west of Sydney. The artefacts, including stone tools and a sandstone grinding slab, were found in sediment layers dating back 20,000 years, to a time when the region was treeless and seasonally frozen, the release said.

Radiocarbon dating of ancient hearths and artefacts at the site confirms repeated human occupation throughout the last 20,000 years, making Dargan Shelter the oldest known high-altitude Ice Age site in Australia, it said.

In close collaboration with Indigenous community members, researchers from the Australian Museum, the University of Sydney, and the Australian National University have demonstrated the extraordinary resilience and adaptability of Indigenous peoples, showing how they not only endured but flourished in these extreme conditions.

Artefacts found at Dargan Shelter suggest that people travelled great distances, with some materials sourced from up to 150 km away. The site also contains faded rock art, reinforcing its cultural significance as a place of gathering, storytelling, and survival for Aboriginal communities, said the study published in Nature Human Behavior.

While the Blue Mountains are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for their biodiversity, this discovery strengthens calls to formally protect the region’s Aboriginal cultural heritage, said Wayne Brennan, a rock art specialist at the University of Sydney, who initiated the research project.