Cuddie Springs

Cuddie Springs is a significant archaeological and paleontological site near Brewarrina in central northern New South Wales, Australia, occupying a shallow basin that formed an ancient lake. Known as a fossil locality since the 1870s, full-scale excavations from 1991 to 2009 by Dr. Judith Field revealed the only site in Australia with clear stratified evidence of human and megafauna coexistence, dated to 30,000-36,000 years ago. During arid periods, animals were attracted to shrinking water in the lake's centre, where they died and were embedded in sediments. The findings fuel ongoing debate about whether climate change or human hunting caused Australia's megafauna extinction.