Archaeologists William Anderson and Racheal Minos from Dr Vincent Clark & Associates have just published results of their excavations at Deep Creek, Bulla, located 24 km north-west of Melbourne in the most recent edition of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria, Volume 3, 2014.

Anderson and Minos’s findings are summarised in the article abstract:

Archaeological study of the Maribyrnong River valley north of Melbourne has been crucial to understanding long-term human habitation in Australia. A recent cultural heritage investigation across the incised valley of Deep Creek at Bulla has yielded new information on the chronology and context of Aboriginal occupation along this tributary of the Maribyrnong. Extensive lithic artefact scatters featuring diverse materials and forms span a large alluvial terrace beside a meander bend at the base of the valley. As well as documenting the abundant artefacts present on the surface and at shallow depths below ground, a mechanical excavation clarified the geomorphology of the terrace and verified the presence of deeply buried cultural deposits. Quartzite implements were found within stratified silt deposits of up to 3 m depth, and charcoal samples were recovered from secure cultural contexts. Radiocarbon dates obtained from these samples confirm human occupation of this valley before and during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.