Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Science

Resin-mounted wallaby teeth reveal rare 1,200-year-old ornaments in Queensland

While sorting through animal bones in a rock shelter in Queensland, Australia, archaeologists came across a tooth where something was "not quite right." Stuck to the tip of its root was a blackish-brown ball of glue-like resin. Eleven more teeth with the same sticky substance were found, making them...

Resin-mounted wallaby teeth reveal rare 1,200-year-old ornaments in Queensland
Image: Phys.org
While sorting through animal bones in a rock shelter in Queensland, Australia, archaeologists came across a tooth where something was "not quite right." Stuck to the tip of its root was a blackish-brown ball of glue-like resin. Eleven more teeth with the same sticky substance were found, making them the only known instance of this type of tooth ornament found outside burials in northeastern Australia and the first in the Cape York Peninsula (CYP), the new study published in Australian Archaeology reports.

Originally published at Phys.org

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