Archaeologists often wonder how and when rock shelters formed, yet their origins and antiquity are almost never systematically investigated. Here we present a new method to determine how and when individual boulders and rock shelters came to lie in their present landscape settings. We do so through 3D laser (LiDAR) mapping, illustrating the method by example of the Borologa Aboriginal site complex in the Kimberley region of northwestern Australia. Through a combination of geomorphological study and high-resolution 3D modelling, individual blocks of rock are refitted and repositioned t680their originating cliff-line. Preliminary cosmogenic nuclide ages on exposed vertical cliff faces and associated detached boulders above the Borologa archaeological sites signal very slow detachment rates for the mass movements of large blocks down the Drysdale Valley slopes, suggesting relative landscape stability over hundreds of thousands of years (predating the arrival of people). These findings offer hitherto unknown details of the pace of regional landscape evolution and move us toward a better understanding of patterns of human occupation in a context of relatively stable rock outcrops both within the sites and across the region.

中文翻译：

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用三维建模确定景观尺度岩层的起源和形状变化：澳大利亚金伯利地区的博罗洛加岩石庇护所

考古学家经常想知道岩石掩体是如何以及何时形成的，但它们的起源和古代几乎从未被系统地研究过。在这里，我们提出了一种新方法来确定单个巨石和岩石庇护所如何以及何时出现在其当前的景观环境中。我们通过 3D 激光 (LiDAR) 测绘来实现，并以澳大利亚西北部金伯利地区的博洛洛加土著遗址群为例说明了该方法。通过结合地貌研究和高分辨率 3D 建模，单个岩石块被改装并重新定位到它们的原始悬崖线。Borologa 考古遗址上方暴露的垂直悬崖面和相关的分离巨石上的初步宇宙成因核素年龄表明，大块块体沿着德赖斯代尔谷斜坡向下移动的速度非常缓慢，表明相对景观稳定了数十万年（在到达之前）人）。这些发现提供了迄今为止未知的区域景观演变速度的细节，并促使我们更好地了解在遗址内和整个区域的岩石露头相对稳定的背景下人类居住的模式。