Quantitative assessment of the oxygen isotope composition of fish otoliths from Lake Mungo, Australia

Abstract The Willandra Lakes region is a series of once interconnected and now-dry lake basins in the arid zone southeastern Australia. It UNESCO World Heritage Site cultural, archaeological, geological significance, preserving records Aboriginal occupation environmental change stretching back to at least 50 ka. Linking archaeology with commensurate palaeoenvironmental information complicated by millennial time spans represented past hydrological record preserved sediment vs. subdecadal evidence each archaeological site. Oxygen isotope across annual growth rings fish otoliths (ear stones) can elucidate flooding drying regimes on subannual scales. Otoliths from hearth sites (fireplaces) link hydrology people eating lakeshore. isotopic trends last glacial maximum (LGM) were previously interpreted terms high evaporation under dry conditions. However, this ignored hydrology-driven changes water ? 18 O. Here, mass balance model constructed test effect desiccation has O how compares LGM otolith records. Based modelling, we suggest that Lake Mungo signatures are better explained acting full lakes rather than drying.