Bayini, Macassans, Balanda, and Bininj : defining the Indigenous past of Arnhem land through culture contact

This study has set out to investigate unresolved issues regarding the chronology, nature, and subsequent impacts from culture contacts between South East Asian maritime communities, Europeans, and northern Australian Indigenous populations. These issues include the question of whether there is archaeological evidence for pre-Macassan visitation in north western Arnhem Land. Therefore an important aim included assessing whether it is possible to measure the level of interaction and impact the trepang industry and later European economies had on local Indigenous communities through the investigation of the archaeological record from the Wellington Ranges, coastal region of Anuru Bay, and South Goulburn Island. Within the scope of this aim, it was important to re-assess and radiocarbon date the well-known Malara (Anuru Bay A) trepang processing site in order to gain a greater understanding of the intensity and frequency of Macassan (and possibly pre-Macassan) occupation, trepang processing, and contact with Aboriginal people. The results of this study support a longer timeframe of culture contact occurring from the early to mid-17th Century with a proliferation in the Macassan trepang processing industry from the mid-1700s.The study also aimed to investigate the complexity of change in Indigenous society during the culture contact period through documentation and analysis of the Indigenous archaeological record (material culture, rock art assemblages) at the Malarrak, Djulirri, and Maliwawa rockshelter complexes in the Wellington Range. This involved an examination of the spatial distribution of Indigenous rock art and archaeological sites to assess changes in residential mobility (both local and regional), resource utilisation, and impacts on Indigenous customary trade and exchange. A particular focus of this study analysed changes in Indigenous rock art production within western Arnhem Land that occurred during the culture contact period. This archaeological evidence has also been evaluated in conjunction with historical, ethnographic, linguistic, and anthropological records. The changes that occurred in Indigenous society accompanied by culture contact have been assessed using the Indigenous hybrid economy model developed by Altman (2006). This thesis argues that the archaeological evidence (i.e. occurrence of beads, rock art paintings of firearms and ships) establishes the presence of an operating hybrid economy between Indigenous people, Europeans, and Macassans. The operation of the hybrid economy allowed for Indigenous people to negotiate and interact with others based on customary law and tradition to influence the outcomes in these exchanges, such as allowing others to be on their country and to utilise their resources (i.e. trepang, buffalo). Building on Mitchell (1994) and Clarke's (1994) models of culture contact, this study proposes that western Arnhem Land culture contact proceeds and then transforms during five significant temporal phases consisting of (a) pre-Macassan, (b) Macassan, (c) Colonial, (d) Mission, and (e) Welfare economic periods

Buried on Foreign Shores: Isotope Analysis of the Origin of Human Remains Recovered from a Macassan Site in Arnhem Land

This study uses strontium (87Sr/86Sr), oxygen (ω18O) and carbon (ω13C) isotope analysis of archaeological tooth enamel samples to investigate the origins of human remains from two sites in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory: a coastal Macassan site and a

Pigment geochemistry as chronological marker: The case of lead pigment in rock art in the Urrmarning 'Red Lily Lagoon' rock art precinct, western Arnhem Land

This paper presents selected results of an experimental study using portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) for the non-destructive analysis of rock art pigments in northern Australia. During two weeks of fieldwork in the dry season of 2011 at the Red Lily Lagoon area in western Arnhem Land, 32 rock art motifs in four rockshelter sites were analysed. A total of 640 analyses were undertaken, including of white, red, black, yellow and blue pigments from both early and contact art motifs. This paper discusses the geochemical analysis of one particular motif painted with black pigment. It was determined that processed metal lead was the most likely pigment base. Contrary to previous stylistic analysis that suggested the motif had an old age, our analysis suggests that the motif was painted within the last 200-300 years

Implications for culture contact history from a glass artefact on a diingwulung earth mound in Weipa

This paper reports on a glass artefact found on an earth mound at Diingwulung in Wathayn Country, near Weipa, far north Queensland. Despite intense research efforts and cultural heritage management surveys over many years, and the fact that they have been reported commonly within the ethnographic literature, such artefacts have been found rarely outside of Aboriginal mission contexts. As well as describing the artefact, its location and the frontier contact complex of the area, this paper includes the background of knapped glass artefacts in Australia, archaeological and ethnographic descriptions of Indigenous glass use in far north Queensland and the methodology of glass artefact analysis. Although it is only a single artefact, we argue that this glass piece has much to reveal not only regarding its chronology, use, and the function of the site where it was found, but also about culture contact, persistence of traditional technology, connections to Country and the continuity and extent of post-contact Indigenous occupation of the area.</jats:p

Exploring palaeoecology in the Northern Territory: the Walanjiwurru rockshelter, vegetation dynamics and shifting social landscapes in Marra Country

This paper presents a palynological analysis of sediments from Walanjiwurru 1, a rockshelter located in the Country of the Marra Aboriginal people at Limmen National Park in the Northern Territory (Australia). Analysis seeks to test rockshelter sediments as a framework for research in an environmentally difficult location, and to explore how the palaeoecological record may capture the diversity of people-nature relationships over time in the Northern Territory. The Walanjiwurru 1 pollen record provides an approximate 500-year insight into the rockshelter’s surrounding landscape. Two plant communities demonstrate local presence across this time frame—foremost a drier eucalypt woodland, and a wetter fringing Melaleuca dominated habitat, each with an integrated series of monsoonal forest taxa. With only subtle shifts in vegetation, the Marra’s consistent maintenance of relations with their landscape is observable, and this is discussed in relation to the Walanjiwurru 1’s archaeology and regional European settler colonialism. Charcoal recovery from Walanjiwurru 1 is derived from in situ campfires, making it difficult to conclude on the response of plant types and vegetation communities to long-term landscape burning. Future palaeoecological research off-site from the rockshelter has therefore been recommended

Beneath the Top End: a regional assessment of submerged archaeological potential in the Northern Territory, Australia

Regional-scale assessments have proven to be invaluable frameworks for research, public engagement and management of submerged archaeological landscapes. Regional-scale approaches have been implemented internationally through a variety of academic or strategic studies. Such studies represent a much-needed next step towards subregional and site-level prospection to support management, engagement and mitigation of the impacts of offshore development. However, these regional studies are largely absent in Australia. In this article, we build on the recent discovery of submerged archaeological sites in Western Australia and produce a novel regional-scale assessment of submerged archaeological and cultural landscape potential in the coastal and island regions of the Northern Territory. This area is of special significance in the peopling of Australia, containing some of the oldest dated archaeological evidence. We collate and synthesise regional data related to sea-level change, ethnography (e.g. oral traditions), geomorphology, and archaeology, also taking account of logistics and existing data availability to identify prospective areas for further study. We highlight the need for a coordinated national program of regional baseline studies to address a legacy of under-representation of submerged landscapes and provide vital baseline data for a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including researchers, policy makers, environmental and heritage managers, developers and Traditional Owners

Symbols of Power: The Firearm Paintings of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II)

Depictions of firearms in Australian Aboriginal rock art provide a unique opportunity to archaeologically explore the roles that this type of material culture played in times of culture contact. From the earliest interactions with explorers to the buffalo shooting enterprises of the twentieth century—firearms played complex and shifting roles in western Arnhem Land Aboriginal societies. The site of Madjedbebe (sometimes referred to as Malakunanja II in earlier academic literature) in Jabiluka (Mirarr Country), offers the opportunity to explore these shifting roles over time with an unprecedented 16 paintings of firearms spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This rock art provides evidence for early firearms as objects of curiosity and threat to local groups, as well as evidence for later personal ownership and use of such weaponry. Moreover, we argue that the rock art suggests increasing incorporation of firearms into traditional cultural belief and artistic systems over time with Madjedbebe playing a key role in the communication of the cultural meanings behind this new subject matter

Nociceptive interneurons control modular motor pathways to promote escape behavior in Drosophila.

Rapid and efficient escape behaviors in response to noxious sensory stimuli are essential for protection and survival. Yet, how noxious stimuli are transformed to coordinated escape behaviors remains poorly understood. In Drosophila larvae, noxious stimuli trigger sequential body bending and corkscrew-like rolling behavior. We identified a population of interneurons in the nerve cord of Drosophila, termed Down-and-Back (DnB) neurons, that are activated by noxious heat, promote nociceptive behavior, and are required for robust escape responses to noxious stimuli. Electron microscopic circuit reconstruction shows that DnBs are targets of nociceptive and mechanosensory neurons, are directly presynaptic to pre-motor circuits, and link indirectly to Goro rolling command-like neurons. DnB activation promotes activity in Goro neurons, and coincident inactivation of Goro neurons prevents the rolling sequence but leaves intact body bending motor responses. Thus, activity from nociceptors to DnB interneurons coordinates modular elements of nociceptive escape behavior

Nociceptive interneurons control modular motor pathways to promote escape behavior in Drosophila

Rapid and efficient escape behaviors in response to noxious sensory stimuli are essential for protection and survival. Yet, how noxious stimuli are transformed to coordinated escape behaviors remains poorly understood. In Drosophila larvae, noxious stimuli trigger sequential body bending and corkscrew-like rolling behavior. We identified a population of interneurons in the nerve cord of Drosophila, termed Down-and-Back (DnB) neurons, that are activated by noxious heat, promote nociceptive behavior, and are required for robust escape responses to noxious stimuli. Electron microscopic circuit reconstruction shows that DnBs are targets of nociceptive and mechanosensory neurons, are directly presynaptic to pre-motor circuits, and link indirectly to Goro rolling command-like neurons. DnB activation promotes activity in Goro neurons, and coincident inactivation of Goro neurons prevents the rolling sequence but leaves intact body bending motor responses. Thus, activity from nociceptors to DnB interneurons coordinates modular elements of nociceptive escape behavior

Immunogenicity of an additional mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in people with HIV with hyporesponse after primary vaccination

Background:The COVIH study is a prospective coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination study in 1154 people with HIV (PWH), of whom 14% showed reduced antibody levels after primary vaccination. We evaluated whether an additional vaccination boosts immune responses in these hyporesponders. Methods: The primary end point was the increase in antibodies 28 days after additional mRNA-1273 vaccination. Secondary end points included neutralizing antibodies, S-specific T-cell and B-cell responses, and reactogenicity. Results:Of the 66 participants, 40 previously received 2 doses ChAdOx1-S, 22 received 2 doses BNT162b2, and 4 received a single dose Ad26.COV2.S. The median age was 63 years (interquartile range [IQR], 60–66), 86% were male, and median CD4 + T-cell count was 650/μL (IQR, 423–941). The mean S1-specific antibody level increased from 35 binding antibody units (BAU)/ mL (95% confidence interval [CI], 24–46) to 4317 BAU/mL (95% CI, 3275–5360) (P &lt; .0001). Of all participants, 97% showed an adequate response and the 45 antibody-negative participants all seroconverted. A significant increase in the proportion of PWH with ancestral S-specific CD4 + T cells (P = .04) and S-specific B cells (P = .02) was observed. Conclusions:An additional mRNA-1273 vaccination induced a robust serological response in 97% of PWH with a hyporesponse after primary vaccination.</p