The Upper Swan refers to the upper portion of the Swan River, a river feeding into the sea named for the indigenous black swans. The Swan River runs right by the city of Perth, a major Australian city located in southwestern Australia. This area is referred to as the Bayswater area.
The major significance of the Upper Swan area is the remains of a campsite believed to be somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 years old. This campsite was left by ancient aborigines, the original inhabitants of Australia. The importance of this finding lies in the fact that campsites or permanent housings of ancient Australia are rare due to the fact that the aborigines, or at least their ancestors, kept moving from place to place. They probably kept moving to follow various food supplies. The tribe that inhabited most of the area was called the Nyoongar or the Nyungar. They Nyoongar date back for thousands of years. The first humans to inhabit Australia are believed to have traveled from Asia during the Ice Age. Skeletal remains from various parts of Asia, including; Java, Indus Valley in India, Mount Cormel in Palestine, as well as in Africa have very similar traits to those found in Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand.
References:
Sydney Collins, Australian Encyclopedia William Collins Pty. Ltd. Sydney 1984
A.A. Abbie, The Original Australian American Elsevier Publishing Company Inc. New York, 1969.
T. Douglas Price Pre historical Hunting-Gathering Academic Press Publishing. Orlando, Florida, 1985
Written by: Dean Ingram