Mega-drought triggered collapse of prehistoric Aboriginal society

A new study has shed light on the disappearance of a pre-historic culture, pre-dating present day aboriginal inhabitants. Researchers from The University of Queensland, Central Queensland University and Wollongong University made the discovery while investigating rapid climate change and its catastrophic impacts in the remote Kimberley region of northwest Australia.

Their findings were published last month (November) in the American Geophysical Union Journal. Associate Professor Hamish McGowan from UQ’s School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management said the studies in the north west Kimberley have shown there was a rapid change in climate around 5500 years ago. [...] Past Horizons

PDF download – McGowan, H., S. Marx, P. Moss, and A. Hammond (2012), Evidence of ENSO mega-drought triggered collapse of prehistory Aboriginal society in northwest Australia, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L22702, doi:10.1029/2012GL053916