Malangangerr is a rock shelter in the Kakadu region of Western Arnhem Land located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It lies open plains and near a river. Occupation of the Malangangerr rock shelter was radio carbon dated from 20,900 BC to 5,000 BC. This time frame covers both the Pleistocene and the Holocene periods. The occupation was probably sporadic throughout this tie period. The prehistoric residents of Malangangerr foraged on catfish, wallaby, possums, freshwater turtle and shellfish. Carmel Schrire, who excavated this site, suggests that Malangangerr was abandoned due to increasing aridity at the height of the last glaciation.
The people of Malangangerr used various types of tools, such as horse hoof cores, steep-edge scrapers, flaked tools, grind-stones, hammers, edge-ground axes and ochre. A majority of the tools were made from quartzite and quartz except for edge-ground axes which were made from volcanic materials. Ochre, found in various colors, was often crushed and used as paint for rock art. Another tool implemented was a single incisor of a wallaby or kangaroo mounted on a stick, sometimes using the whole jaw to provide a firm bed for the incisor and a grip for the user. This tool was used by drawing it towards the user, and served many different functions. These included incising and drilling holes in stone tjurunga, and it substituted as a drill, chisel, and even as a skin-scraper.
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Written By: Jennifer Gleason