Event-based analysis: Identifying and sequencing prehistoric activities in buried palimpsests. An example from Lake George, Australia.

This thesis presents a new methodology for sequencing behavioural events in sub-surface stone artefact assemblages. While methods have been previously presented for the identification of activities, often termed 'moments in time', these studies have focused on temporally bounded living floors, usually in cave environments. Buried assemblages in open landscapes often do not retain such coherence, and so the development of a methodology for identifying and sequencing behavioural events in mixed assemblages is needed. This study develops a method, here termed event-based analysis (EBA), for the temporal sequencing of discrete activities in undifferentiated stratigraphies with vertically distributed artefactual deposits, which then allows comparisons of prehistoric activities to be made across space and time. Event-based analysis draws on several methods previously presented in the literature, principally RMU analysis, life-history framework and refitting for the reunification of refuse from single stone-working activities and the construction of inferences regarding the reduction and flow of stone though a site. Event-based analysis relies on these methods for identifying and understanding discrete stone working activities. EBA then extends the applicability of these methods to the analysis of temporally deep buried assemblages by providing a method whereby identified knapping and discard events can be sequenced. This shifts the unit of analysis in buried palimpsests from the assemblage to the event, and allows comparisons to be built over time and space from this behaviourally meaningful unit. This thesis is concerned with how archaeologists make inferences about prehistoric cultures from the archaeological record. To this end, a new methodological framework, event-based analysis, is advanced which both guides the construction of evidence-led inferences regarding prehistoric behaviour, and promotes the comparison of those behavioural inferences for the purpose of producing generalisations concerning use of place (Schiffer 2011). Using EBA, this project examines the configuration of foraging economies and technologies in the Lake George area of south-eastern Australia. A detailed place-use history is built from the comparison of discrete knapping and discard events over time and space. This thesis thus contributes to the development of archaeological methodologies which seek to build detailed and meaningful ‘thick descriptions’ (sensu Geertz (1973)) which are firmly grounded in the evidence examined. The aim is to provide detailed descriptions of the human activities which produced the stone artefact assemblages; it is to elucidate the ‘delicacy of its distinctions, not the sweep of its abstractions’ (Geertz 1973:25)

The Dig It Check It model

This data article describes how the Dig It Check It (DICI) model operates. The purpose of the DICI model is to assess the effectiveness of a specified subsurface sampling program in the detection of archaeological sites (Way and Tabrett, in press) [1]. Specifically, the aim of the model is to determine the inherent biases of the specified sampling program, i.e. what is the probability that sites of a certain size, density and density-distribution will be, or were, missed by the sampling program. A simulation is run which randomly places sites, the characteristics of which can be varied between runs, in a sampling area with the specified test-pit layout to determine the probability of overlap between the test-pits and sites with the selected characteristics. When overlap does occur, the site is recorded as intersected. The model then calculates the site density at that point and compares it with the test-pit size to determine whether the density is great enough for detection to also occur

Investigating hafting and composite tool repair as factors creating variability in backed artefacts: Evidence from Ngungara (Weereewa/Lake George), south-eastern Australia

Across the Australian continent, backed artefacts are produced in enormous numbers during the mid-late Holocene. Previous examinations have revealed variation in the average shape of these artefacts, at both continental and regional scales. To better understand the factors creating this variability, we examine a large assemblage of backed artefacts from Ngungara (Weereewa/Lake George), in south-eastern Australia. This is one of the few open sites in Australia which has high-resolution evidence for spatially distinct, short-term workshops. Within these well-bounded workshops both locally manufactured and imported backed artefacts are present. However, across this landscape the shape of these artefacts is not uniform; rather, similarly shaped backed artefacts are concentrated in different workshop areas. Through the analysis of backed artefacts in different workshops, we suggest that “insert copying” or the replacement of spent inserts with similarly shaped, locally manufactured artefacts creates variability in backed artefact shape

Preliminary report of the 2019 excavation at Sveduv Stul Cave in the Moravian Karst

Sveduv Stul Cave in the Moravian Karst has been excavated several times since Martin Kriz started the first excavation in 1886. Two parts of the site were re-excavated in 2019. The primary aim was to conduct classical as well as innovative and experimental sedimentological and geoarchaeological investigations of sediments from the discarded spoil heap outside the cave entrance (trench C-D). Intact sediments with a small number of lithic artefacts and a large number of animal bones were also excavated during the 2019 excavation (trench A-B) located under the trench excavated by Bohuslav Klima's team in the 1950s. An attempt is being made using pXRF, benchtop ED-XRF and ITRAX techniques to link some of the sedimentary material in the spoil heap (C-D) with the stratified sediments in trench A-B. Animal bones and lithic artefacts were found in both trenches. Numerous samples were collected for geoarchaeological, palaeoenvironmental and dating analyses and the results will be published in upcoming publications

The archaeology of overburden: Method within the madness at Sveduv Stul, Czech Republic

In the 19th and early to mid-20th centuries, a rush to better understand the European Palaeolithic led to the substantive removal of deposits from limestone caves. In the 21st century the situation has changed. Many caves are now excavated, leaving behind a human-made environment of diminished cave sediments and large spoil heaps, with the latter now targeted by those searching for artefacts missed during the original excavations. In an age in which archaeologists are increasingly attempting to balance their roles as cultural heritage educators and destroyers, the question remains - how much do we know about the taphonomy of these features? In this paper we report results from the excavation of a large spoil heap outside Sveduv Stul Cave, in the Moravian Karst region of Czech Republic. Results show heterogeneous sediment formation (revealed primarily through their field characteristics and ED-XRF and Itrax geochemical analyses) and patterns in artefact distributions (evident through assessment of Iron Age, Neolithic and modern artefacts) and faunal remains. This allows partial context to be provided for some artefacts and a methodology to be developed for excavation of overburden.We would like to thank volunteer students from ANU, Sydney and Masaryk Universities who assisted with excavation. We further acknowledge Indiegogo contributors who crowd-funded the 2019 fieldwork including generous contributions from Rear Admiral David John Campbell AM RAN (Rtd) and Michael Skopal. One of us (LL) would like to thank the Institute of Geology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (no. RVO 67985831) for research support