Discover rare 2,000-year-old pearls in Australia

Natural sea pearls excavated in an Australian archaeological site in 2011 dating back 2,000 years.

Rare 2,000-year-old pearls are rare in Australia

A round, 5 mm diameter pink gold pearl, found in the coastal Kimberley, Western Australia. It took four years for archaeologists from Wollongong University to analyze and date it by cutting micro-layers to avoid damaging the jewel.

Pink yellow pearls dating back 2,000 years.(Photo: Discovery)

"Natural pearls are very rare ," Szabo, expert mollusk shells, University of Wollongong said. "We have never found natural pearls in Australia."

Because natural pearls are often not round and the pearl is found near Australia's pearl culture center, scientists have to prove it is a natural pearl. It is not clear whether the pink gold color of the pearl is original or because it is buried long underground.

This pearl-making mussel is often used in rain prayers in Aboriginal culture , their shells found in desert areas more than 1,500 km from the coast.

According to Discovery, scientists still do not know when these rain prayers take place. Studying the pearl's chronology can help learn more about their historical context. The jewel will be on display at the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Perth, later this month.