In the Groove Analysis director Birgitta Stephenson discovers Australia's first 'burger and fries' An archaeologist has discovered what could be Australias very first burger and fries. No word on the dino-burger just yet though... SHE may be blonde and petite but Birgitta Stephenson is Brisbane's very own Indiana Jones Seen on rock faces around the country, the Director of In the Groove Analysis is leading the charge in residue analysis of ground stone artefacts and has discovered what could be Australia's very first burger and fries. Ms Stephenson has combined her pharmacy background with archaeological methods to unearth residues buried deep in the matrix of grinding stones and identify them using biochemical staining. Her recent work with Canberra archaeologist Colin Pardoe and artefacts from the Lachlan River region in central west New South Wales has revealed the area's original inhabitants may have feasted on burgers and fries. "We found the small grass starches, associated with the grinding of grass seeds, which is generally what people assume these grindstones were being used for," Ms Stephenson said. But then we found, amazingly, masses and masses of these large starches that are tuber starches ... things associated with your potatoes and yams. We also found on the same stone fragments of bone along with lots of collagenous tissue and collagen fibres, which are associated with animals. So this stone had been a multipurpose stone just like our kitchen chopping boards today. It's mostly likely been used for generations ... Stones are generally passed down from mother to daughter so there's a big tradition with these stones, which were very prized and used to be traded widely. With these findings, the archaeologists conceived a rather delicious theory of the nation's first burger and fries - the grass seeds forming the bun, collagen and bone fragments the meaty burger patty and the tubers, hand-cut chips. Mr Pardoe said the greater surprise was evidence of yams and tubers - Indigenous potatoes - because although they were widely distributed across the Western Plains, the introduction of sheep to Australia by the British spelled their end. This means the West Wyalong artefact could date back at least hundreds of years and pinning down an exact time period is the next step for the archaeologists. "That particular community are actively involving science to help fill in some of their traditional ecological knowledge gaps, which have been lost over the years," Ms Stephenson said. The science is being used to support their stories in a Western sense and make their myths alive for all. The grinding stone is one of many artefacts being catalogued by Mr Pardoe for the West Wyalong Local Aboriginal Land Council's collection.