Archaeology
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The oldest occupation layers on the island date to 6510–5790 cal BP, which shows that Jiigurru was the earliest offshore island occupied on the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef. There are numerous shell middens, stone arrangements, and art sites on the island, showing signs of occupation of the island for thousands of years. In the 1990s, two Aboriginal rock art sites were observed in rockshelters formed by large granite boulders, in which red ochre was used.
Site 17[edit]
Site 17 is an archaeological site located on a hill above Freshwater Beach (also known as One Tree Coconut Beach) of Lizard Island, which was found to contain granite-derived, quartz sand temper. The midden is quite large, covering a total area of 7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft). Site 17 was first observed by Jim Specht in 1978–9, then excavated by Robynne Mills in 1992. The site was further excavated by a team including Specht in 2009, who created a 100 cm (39 in) X 50 cm (20 in) x 150 cm (59 in) trench, and identified six stratigraphic layers. It was observed through radiocarbon dating that the basal layer (6) produced a range of 3358–2929 cal BP on charcoal found at the 120–130 cm (47–51 in) depth. In October 2009 Lentfer, Specht, and a representative of the Dingaal people, Johnathan Charlie, began excavating a new trench 2 m (6 ft 7 in) east of Mills trench. This new trench was 60 cm (24 in) x 40 cm (16 in) x 140 cm (55 in), and showed six layers of stratigraphy similar to Mills trench. There were recovered pieces of quartz, granite, and pumice discovered from the basal levels of layer number 6, which using radiocarbon dating were dated to be from 3815 to 3571 cal BP to 3206–2959 cal BP.
Mangrove Beach[edit]
In 2006, New Zealand archaeologist Matthew Felgate found pottery in an intertidal zone by chance when he was on holiday on the island, on Mangrove Beach. This was the first pottery found, and was reported in a 2010 study by Felgate; however, it could not be reliably dated at that time. Later, Sean Ulm, distinguished professor at James Cook University, and Ian J. McNiven, professor at Monash University, both of whom were operating under the auspices of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage (CABAH), co-led a team including Kenneth McLean, chair of Walmbaar Aboriginal Corporation, and other members of the Dingaal and Ngurrumungu communities, that excavated several more pieces of pottery from the site in 2009, 2010, and 2012. Initial analysis showed local materials were used in the manufacture. However, the age of the pottery could not be established.
The Ulm team revisited Jiigurru and excavated a shell midden not far from the pottery site, discovering that the site had been settled at least 4,000 years previously, but no pottery was found. The same team started working with the Indigenous owners and excavated a different midden and found a lot of pottery. Digging deeper, cultural material was found nearly 2 m (6 ft 7 in) metres below ground level, which was radiocarbon-dated to around 6,500 years ago; the earliest evidence of use of an island on the northern Great Barrier Reef. The resulting study, published in April 2024 and involving many scientists, working with traditional owners, determined that sherds found on the island were the oldest securely dated ceramics found in Australia. The data showed that local raw materials were used and that the pottery was made on the island, which showed that the people who lived there were involved in the ancient maritime networks in the vicinity, including the possession of sophisticated canoe travel technology and skills in navigating on the ocean, which enabled them to connect with other peoples across the Coral Sea. The dating showed that it was created between 2950–2545 cal BP and 1970–1815 cal BP, which overlaps with the late Lapita and post-Lapita traditions of southern Papua New Guinea. Co-author Quan Hua of ANSTO is an expert in radiocarbon dating. The significance of the study lies in the fact that it is the first pottery in Australia to have been found and reliably dated, and that it shows that the people of Australia were not geographically isolated, but involved with other seafaring peoples. There is conclusive evidence that the pottery is not of Lapita origin, and it is also proof of continuous seasonal occupation of the island by Aboriginal people. It is not known by newer sherds were not found on that site, and further research is necessary. There has been a paucity of research done on the eastern side of Cape York Peninsula.