According to Australian scientists, they have discovered a 'very rare' 2,000-year-old natural sea pearl. It is the first pearl found on the island continent. It has been uncovered during excavation of a remote coastal Aboriginal site.

According to Kat Szabo, an associate professor at the University of Wollongong, archeologists were carrying out the excavations on the north Kimberley coast of Western Australia when they found the gem under the surface.

Szabo specializes in study of shells at archaeological sites. According to her, "Natural pearls are very rare in nature and we certainly, despite many, many (oyster) shell middens being found in Australia, we've never found a natural pearl before. The location makes it particularly significant because the Kimberley coast of Australia is synonymous with pearling". It is a pink-and-gold-coloured pearl and almost spherical in shape, having a five-millimetre diameter.

A micro CT scan was used by researchers in order to test pearl's age. Doing this, they also wanted to prove that it was a naturally occurring pearl and not a farmed modern cultured pearl.

The oysters, which lead to production of pearls, have been used in rainmaking ceremonies in native cultures. Shells of these oysters have been found in the central desert over 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) away. The rainmaking ceremonies were known already, but it has been revealed for the first time that these ceremonies were performed since long. Szabo said that study of the pearl led them to know about the layer, where the pearl has been found.