Name: | Lake Nitchie Area/Lake Nitchie Skeleton |
Location: | 85 Kilometres north of Wentworth, east of Like Nitchie |
Use: | |
Constructed: | 0 |
Demolished: | 0 |
Theme: | The People |
Condition: | Excavated |
Endorsements: | Nominated item of National Estate, National Parks and Wildlife Aboriginal Sites |
Statement of Heritage Significance:
Architecture/Environment:
One of the five burials on an ancient lake. A tall robust male, modern, with some archaic features. The Nitchie skull is more marked than any other Australian skull. The burial (in a small grave, body fully flexed and a niche cut into the left floor for feet) is unique. The missing upper incisors may be the earliest example of ritual tooth evulsion in Australia. Probable age of the skeleton is 6,820 (+/- 200) BP. A “sarcophilus harrisi” tooth necklace with 178 pierced canine teeth was found with the skeleton. This animal has been extinct on the mainland since circa 3,000 BP.
History:
Recommendation:
Conservation by inclusion in the Local Environmental Plan as being environmentally sensitive.
References:
Register of the National Estate
Recording Date: 20/11/1987
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