A discovery of ancient artefacts on the seabed off Australia’s west coast has opened up a new frontier for resource companies to watch out for in conserving indigenous heritage.
Archaeologists in July reported they had found hundreds of stone tools submerged off the Dampier Archipelago in Western Australia, showing evidence of people living in the area when it was dry land more than 7 000 years ago.
The two sites are about 5 km (3 miles) east of where Woodside Petroleum, Australia’s top independent gas producer, plans to build a pipeline connecting its Scarborough gas field to its Pluto gas plant on the Burrup Peninsula.
The company is speaking to archaeologists involved in the Deep History of Sea Country, which made the discoveries, and the Murujuga Aboriginal Corp (MAC), the indigenous land owners in that region, about its pipeline route.
"We are concerned there is potential for submerged heritage to be impacted, regardless of whether it has been discovered or is yet to be discovered," Peter Jeffries, chief executive of MAC, told Reuters in emailed comments.