Using advanced high-resolution LiDAR sensors mounted on marine drones, researchers have mapped a vast 8,000-year-old megalithic fish-trap network along the now-submerged coastlines of the Northern Territory. The survey reveals a complex system of stone walls and funnel-shaped channels that once utilized tidal movements to capture large quantities of marine life during the early Holocene.
These structures, currently resting under five meters of water, align with ancient shorelines that existed before the last major sea-level rise. The scale of the network indicates that indigenous communities were engaged in large-scale environmental management and aquaculture, supporting larger, more sedentary populations than previously estimated for this period of Australian prehistory.