The extraordinary discoveries emerging from the ruins of Juukan Gorge

An archaeological dig at Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara is providing one of the most detailed pictures of how Indigenous people lived there 50,000 years ago.

An ancient Aboriginal rock shelter in the gorge was destroyed in a mining blast by Rio Tinto in 2020.

The ABC was invited on site by traditional owners to witness what remains and the thousands of archaeological artefacts that have been found.

Deep in the Western Australian outback, Burchell Hayes edges down a rocky slope towards the ground his ancestors walked on thousands of years ago.

It's the first time he's visited the newly unearthed bedrock of the sacred rock shelter overlooking Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara, where archaeologists have found a huge trove of extraordinary artefacts preserved in the arid soil.

Some date back 50,000 years, when archaeologists believe Aboriginal people first arrived this far inland.

They say that makes Juukan one of the most significant sites in Australian archaeology.

Standing near the bottom of the pit, Burchell looks at the one remaining wall of the rock shelter after it was destroyed in an authorised mining blast by Rio Tinto in 2020, prompting international condemnation.

He's holding a finely crafted cutting tool used by his ancestors thousands of years ago.

"It is really, really amazing that I'm able to stand up here and talk about this artefact that was created by my ancestors and to hold it," he said.

Juukan Gorge runs through the lands of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people and lies within Rio's Brockman mine site, 60 kilometres north-west of Tom Price in the Hammersley Range.

Archaeologists have erected a huge domed tent over the remains of the shelter to protect the site.

The ABC is the first media outlet invited to Juukan by the PKKP.

Inside, a team headed by lead archaeologist Michael Slack scrape at the ochre dirt with trowels, collecting raw material.

Dr Slack and his team from Scarp Archaeology have been commissioned by the PKKP to carry out a full excavation of the rock shelter.

"Where the guys are digging right now, it's getting down onto that level that's amongst the oldest sites in Australia," he said.

They have collected 50,000 artefacts, far more than are usually found during excavations, helping build a detailed picture of life at Juukan.

"This is one of the most important sites in Australian archaeology," Dr Slack said.

It was very important in understanding "how fast Aboriginal people might have moved into arid zone Australia" after arriving in the north of the continent.

Among the artefacts is a stunning bladed tool with a handle dating back some 3,000 years.

"It's kangaroo poo and spinifex resin as a handle. This is incredibly rare to find them like this," Dr Slack said.

There is a piece of baler shell, indicating long-distance trading routes from the coast 350 kilometres away.

There are remains of some 200 fires, and possible remnants of paperbark bedding at the back of the cave.

Among tens of thousands of bone fragments, the archaeologists found proof Tasmanian devils roamed arid inland Australia before becoming extinct on the mainland about 3,200 years ago.

Working from labs inside dongas on site, specialist Zoe Mavrogenes analyses the geochemistry of artefacts.

"So we can hopefully find where the raw material was from originally and where it was brought to at Juukan ... [and] hopefully contribute to the whole cultural landscape of what Juukan was like in the past," she said.

They're even revealing people's diets at Juukan over the millennia.

Archaeobotanist Elise Matheson sluices raw material, allowing carbonised organic matter to float to the top.

"It's one of the few sites in the arid zone of Australia where we actually have a really intact plant record for what people were eating," she said.

The discoveries are helping the healing.

"While it was certainly a devastating event for us, we want to see some good come out of such a devastating event," Burchell Hayes said.

"The preservation and protection this rock shelter provided our ancestors and all the artefacts that they've imported into here just strengthens our story around and about the connection to this place."

Traditional owner Terry Hayes agreed: "You'll always feel that pain or what happened here. To get to where we are today, it has helped us to heal together, but it can never ever take back what happened."

The PKKP has embarked on an ambitious project to reconstruct the rock shelter, taking inspiration from France's prehistoric Lascaux and Chauvet caves which have been recreated to scale for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit each year.

But Juukan Gorge is unlikely to become a tourist attraction.

Traditional owners are preserving their cultural heritage for future generations.

"When we finish here, even though they put the replica up, we still want to always come back here and bring our young people back here as well," Terry Hayes said.