SYDNEY: The price of a pearl is usually determined by its size, shape, colour and lustre, but archaeologists say a 2000-year-old near-round natural pearl uncovered in Western Australia is irreplaceable.
The historically significant Brremangurey rockshelter in the Kimberley’s Admiralty Gulf was being excavated by a team from the University of Wollongong, University of New England and the Wunambal-Gaambera Aboriginal Corporation when the discovery was made.
Associate professor Kat Szabo said it was difficult to put a price tag on the pearl, which was found inside a shell midden, describing it as “irreplaceable”.
“Pearls have not been recovered before from ancient sites in Australia,” she said.
To avoid damaging the pearl, researchers developed non-destructive ways of examining it and established its age through radiocarbon analysis of surrounding shell midden material.
Micro-computed tomography — a form of micro CAT scan — was also used to ensure it was not a modern cultured pearl that had worked its way in.
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