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Mungo Lady and Mungo Man
Controversies in Australian Prehistory
Fifty thousand years ago, a lush landscape greeted the first Australians moving towards the south-east of the continent. Temperatures were cooler than now. Megafauna - giant prehistoric animals such as marsupial lions and the rhinoceros-sized diprotodon - were abundant. Freshwater lakes in areas of western New South Wales (NSW) were brimming with fish. But change was coming. By 40,000 years ago, water levels had started to drop.
A study of the sediments and graves of Lake Mungo, a dry lake bed in western NSW, has uncovered the muddy layers deposited as the lake began to dry up. Forty thousand years ago, families took refuge at the lake from the encroaching desert, leaving artefacts such as stone tools, which researchers used to determine that the first wanderers came to the area between 46,000 and 50,000 years ago. By 20,000 years ago, the lake had become the dry, dusty hole it is today. This area was first examined by the University of Melbourne geologist Professor Jim Bowler in 1969. He was searching for ancient lakes and came across the remains of a woman who had been buried with some ceremony; she was given the name Mungo Lady. In 1974, he found a second set of remains, Mungo Man, buried 300 metres away. Bowler's comprehensive study of different sediment layers has concluded that both graves are 40,000 years old.
This is much younger than the 62,000 years Mungo Man was attributed with in 1999 by a team led by Professor Alan Thorne, of the Australian National University. Thorne is the country's leading opponent of the 'Out of Africa' theory - that modern humans spread around the globe from Africa about 100,000 years ago. The revision of Mungo Man's age has refocused attention on academic disputes about mankind's origins.
The arrival date of these early Australians is linked to another vexed question: the reason for the disappearance of the megafauna. Dr Tim Flannery, a proponent of the controversial theory that these animals were wiped out by the extreme hunting practices of humans, claims that the new Mungo dates support this view. For Bowler, however, these debates are speculative distractions. At 40,000 years old, he argues, Mungo Man and Mungo Lady remain Australia's oldest human burials and the earliest evidence on Earth of cultural sophistication.'At Lake Mungo, we have a cameo of people reacting to environmental change. It is one of the great stories of the people of the world.'
Two rival groups of researchers have each attacked the techniques used by the other to ascertain the date of Mungo Man. In the 1999 study, Thorne's team used three techniques to date Mungo Man - bone, tooth enamel and sand. Bowler has strongly challenged the results ever since. Dating human bones is 'notoriously unreliable', he says. In addition, the sand sample used by Thorne's group was taken hundreds of metres from the burial site.
Bowler has stated that it is not difficult 'to realise that the age of sand is not the same as the age of the grave'. He says his team's results are based on careful fieldwork, crosschecked between four laboratories, while Thorne's team misinterpreted the evidence, 'locked in a laboratory in Canberra'. Thorne counters that Bowler's team used one dating technique, while his used three. Best practice is to have at least two methods producing the same result. A Thorne team member, Professor Rainer Grün, says the fact that the latest results were consistent between laboratories doesn't mean they are correct.
We now have two data sets that are contradictory. I do not have a plausible explanation.Thorne recently made headlines with a study of Mungo Man's DNA, which he claimed supported his idea that modern humans developed from archaic humans in several places around the world, rather than emerging from Africa a relatively short time ago. Now, however, Thorne says the age of Mungo Man is irrelevant. Recent fossil finds show that modern humans were in China 110,000 years ago. So he has a long time to arrive in Australia. It doesn't matter if he is 40,000 or 60,000 years old.
In 2001, a member of Bowler's team, Dr Richard Roberts of Wollongong University, along with Flannery, Director of the South Australian Museum, published research on the extinction of the megafauna. They dated 28 sites across the continent, arguing that their analysis showed that the megafauna died out suddenly 46,600 years ago. This conclusion has been challenged by other scientists, including Dr Judith Field of the University of Sydney and Dr Richard Fullager of the Australian Museum, who point to the presence of megafauna fossils at the 36,000-year-old Cuddie Springs site in NSW.
Flannery praises the Bowler team's research as thorough and rigorous. He says the finding that humans arrived at Lake Mungo between 46,000 and 50,000 years ago supports the idea that that was a critical time in Australia's history. There is no evidence of a dramatic climate change at that time, he says. 'It's my view that humans arrived and megafauna extinction took place in almost the same geological instant.' Bowier, however, is sceptical of Flannery's theory about the disappearance of the giant animals. He argues that climate change 40,000 years ago was more intense than has been previously realised and could have played an important role in their extinction.
Look at the following theories (Questions 1-8) and the list of researchers below.
Match each theory with the correct researcher(s), A-F.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1 Our human ancestors did not originate in only one area.
2 The extinction of the megafauna happened within a brief period.
3 The megafauna died out as a result of human activity.
4 The similarity of results does not always guarantee their validity.
5 How old Mungo Man is, is unimportant.
6 There is evidence to disprove the theory of mass megafauna extinction.
7 An extreme environmental change occurred at the time that humans first moved into the Lake Mungo area.
8 The earliest evidence of advanced human culture is found in Australia.
List of Researchers
A Jim Bowler
B Alan Thorne
C Tim Flannery
D Rainer Grün
E Richard Roberts and Tim Flannery
F Judith Field and Richard Fullager
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
9 Objects found in the Lake Mungo area were used to date the arrival of humans.
10 Ancient weapons were found in the Lake Mungo area.
11 Scientists agree about the age of Mungo Man.
12 Thorne's research involved analysing more than one material.
13 Bowler has criticised the research methods used by Thorne.
1. Our human ancestors did not originate in only one area.
???? Answer: B (Alan Thorne)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“Thorne recently made headlines with a study of Mungo Man’s DNA, which he claimed supported his idea that modern humans developed from archaic humans in several places around the world...”
✅ → Đây là lý thuyết “Multiregional Origin”, đối lập với “Out of Africa”.
2. The extinction of the megafauna happened within a brief period.
???? Answer: E (Richard Roberts and Tim Flannery)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“In 2001, … Roberts of Wollongong University, along with Flannery … published research … arguing that their analysis showed that the megafauna died out suddenly 46,600 years ago.”
✅ → Từ khóa: died out suddenly = within a brief period.
3. The megafauna died out as a result of human activity.
???? Answer: C (Tim Flannery)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“Dr Tim Flannery, a proponent of the controversial theory that these animals were wiped out by the extreme hunting practices of humans...”
✅ → Flannery cho rằng con người săn bắt quá mức → tuyệt chủng.
4. The similarity of results does not always guarantee their validity.
???? Answer: D (Rainer Grün)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“Rainer Grün, says the fact that the latest results were consistent between laboratories doesn’t mean they are correct.”
✅ → Dù consistent results, ông nói “doesn’t mean they are correct” → giống nhau chưa chắc đúng.
5. How old Mungo Man is, is unimportant.
???? Answer: B (Alan Thorne)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“Now, however, Thorne says the age of Mungo Man is irrelevant.”
✅ → Chính ông nói tuổi của Mungo Man không quan trọng.
6. There is evidence to disprove the theory of mass megafauna extinction.
???? Answer: F (Judith Field and Richard Fullager)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“… challenged by other scientists, including Dr Judith Field … who point to the presence of megafauna fossils at the 36,000-year-old Cuddie Springs site...”
✅ → Hóa thạch 36,000 năm chứng minh megafauna vẫn tồn tại, phủ định ý kiến tuyệt chủng sớm.
7. An extreme environmental change occurred at the time that humans first moved into the Lake Mungo area.
???? Answer: A (Jim Bowler)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“He argues that climate change 40,000 years ago was more intense than has been previously realised...”
✅ → Bowler cho rằng biến đổi khí hậu mạnh mẽ trùng thời điểm người đến Lake Mungo.
8. The earliest evidence of advanced human culture is found in Australia.
???? Answer: A (Jim Bowler)
???? Dẫn chứng:
“… Mungo Man and Mungo Lady remain Australia’s oldest human burials and the earliest evidence on Earth of cultural sophistication.”
✅ → Bowler tuyên bố Mungo là bằng chứng văn hóa cổ xưa nhất thế giới.
✅ TRUE
Giải thích:
Đoạn 2 cho biết:
"...leaving artefacts such as stone tools, which researchers used to determine that the first wanderers came to the area between 46,000 and 50,000 years ago."
???? "artefacts such as stone tools" chính là những "objects", và chúng được dùng để xác định thời điểm con người xuất hiện.
❌ NOT GIVEN
Giải thích:
Bài chỉ nhắc tới "stone tools" như công cụ được phát hiện, nhưng không nói gì đến "weapons" (vũ khí). Công cụ đá có thể là để săn bắn, chế biến thức ăn,... nhưng không được gọi rõ là vũ khí.
❌ FALSE
Giải thích:
Bài viết nêu rõ sự bất đồng:
"This is much younger than the 62,000 years Mungo Man was attributed with in 1999 by a team led by Professor Alan Thorne..."
"Two rival groups of researchers have each attacked the techniques used by the other..."
???? Cho thấy các nhà khoa học không đồng thuận về độ tuổi của Mungo Man.
✅ TRUE
Giải thích:
Đoạn 6 cho biết:
"In the 1999 study, Thorne's team used three techniques to date Mungo Man – bone, tooth enamel and sand."
???? Có ba loại vật liệu đã được dùng để xác định niên đại.
✅ TRUE
Giải thích:
Cũng trong đoạn 6–7:
"Bowler has strongly challenged the results ever since."
"Dating human bones is 'notoriously unreliable', he says..."
"Bowler has stated... the age of sand is not the same as the age of the grave."
???? Rõ ràng Bowler phê phán cách lấy mẫu và phương pháp phân tích của Thorne.
