Late Quaternary human-environment interaction in Bunuba and Gooniyandi country, Western Australia

In north Western Australia, records of palaeoenvironmental change are scarce or under explored, particularly terrestrial archives that allow for comparison with the archaeological record and examination of human-environment interaction in the past. The extent to which these records reflect localised vegetation responses to climate fluctuations, and the manner in which people adapted to these changes in climate and vegetation, has yet to be investigated within the context of stratified archaeological inquiry. Analysis of archaeobotanical proxies excavated in association with other cultural remains provide the obvious evidential link to this issue; however, archaeobotany is rarely applied in Australian archaeology due to a lack of application of appropriate field techniques, limited reference collections, and the poor preservation of organic remains. This research, which is part of the ARC Linkage Project: Lifeways of the First Australians, investigates human-environment interaction using archaeobotanical techniques at two sites in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia: Riwi and Mount Behn rockshelter, during the late Quaternary. Located on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert in Gooniyandi country, Riwi has a discontinuous occupation sequence of about 45 ka, while Mount Behn rockshelter, located some 180 km northwest of Riwi in Bunuba country, has an occupation sequence of ~3 ka. Anthracology (wood charcoal), palynology (pollen and spores), and wood identification using X-ray microtomography are used alongside other research from the Lifeways Project to reconstruct vegetation, investigate humanenvironment interaction, and explore the taphonomy and representativeness of the different proxy data sets. The findings from each site are then located within a regional narrative of human-environment interaction

Excavations at the site of Vasino, Lautem District, Timor-Leste

This chapter explores the archaeology and ethnohistory of one of the distinctive fortified settlements in the eastern part of Timor-Leste. In 2009, a team from The Australian National University (ANU), together with local people, partially excavated the site of Vasino, located close to the north coast of Timor-Leste, above the modern village of Moro-Parlamento (Figure 4.1). The site had been fortified with large stone walls and the aim was to provide more data on when, how and why these fortifications were used in the region. Two related questions guided the research. First, when was the main period of fort construction initiated? Secondly, what were the prevailing environmental and social conditions of those times

Direct dating of resin hafted point technology in Australia

The rare recovery of hafting technology from archaeological deposits around the world prevents a clear picture of Palaeolithic hafting arrangements. Without the recovery of hafted stone tools, our understanding of this technology is limited to extrapolation from artefact morphology and ethnographic analogy, and such is the case in Australia. Here we present a direct date of 3160–2954 cal. BP, obtained from resin on a stone point recovered from Carpenters Gap 1 rockshelter in northern Western Australia. This artefact fits the description of point technology in Australia, being a retouched flake with converging margins, and provides the first direct date of hafting resin in situ on a stone tool from the Australian continent. The hafting arrangement of a stone point during the mid- to late Holocene is archaeologically visible for the first time in Australia. This point was hafted using resin adhesive as well as wound binding material. This rare artefact is used to discuss the current interpretations of technological change in the Holocene record of Australia and the direct dating process

Wood charcoal analysis at Riwi cave, Gooniyandi country, Western Australia

Wood charcoals excavated from archaeological sites provide a useful tool for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, particularly in arid and semi-arid zones, where suitable catchments for palynological archives are often limited. Preservation of organic material in northern Australia is characteristically poor, and wood charcoal analysis provides a viable alternative to understand shifts in woody vegetation in the past. The analysis of charcoal from matrix contexts at Riwi cave, located in the southern Kimberley region of northern Western Australia, has allowed a reconstruction of the local woody vegetation during occupation over the last 45,000 years. The wood charcoal assemblage from the Holocene stratigraphic units reflects the composition of the modern vegetation, and illustrates that people were occupying the site during periods of relative humidity. The Pleistocene stratigraphic units show a shift in vegetation composition from Eucalyptus spp. to Corymbia sp. dominated savanna, with an understory of secondary shrub, associated with a Late MIS 3 arid event observed in both terrestrial and marine archives, suggesting that activities continued at Riwi during this arid event. Further anthracological analysis of other sites in the Kimberley will help to build a regional picture of woody vegetation change, and will further disentangle local and regional climatic signals, particularly in relation to phases of occupation.This research was funded by the ARC Linkage Grant LP100200415, with contributions from the Kimberley Foundation Australia and the Department of Sustainability, Water, Populations and Communities

Home Is Where the Hearth Is: Anthracological and Microstratigraphic Analyses of Pleistocene and Holocene Combustion Features, Riwi Cave (Kimberley, Western Australia)

The manipulation of fire is a technological act. The identification of the archaeological signatures of the controlled use of fire has important implications not only for the estimations of the origins and functions of the first fireplaces but also for our understanding of prehistoric technological development and resource use. At Riwi (Kimberley region, Western Australia), excavations over two field seasons have revealed a discontinuous occupation sequence over the past 45 ka, showing numerous, different combustion features interspersed within the deposit. Anthracological and micromorphological investigations at Riwi Cave indicate that the combustion features at the site can be categorised into three types: flat combustion features (type A), dug combustion features (type B) and thick accumulations of mixed combustion residues (type C). These provide evidence for two kinds of combustion practice: (i) fires lit directly on the ground and most likely not re-used and (ii) ground ovens, the latter appearing some 10,000 years after the first evidence for occupation of the site. A comparison of the wood species identified within these combustion features with those from equivalent scattered context levels, enables an exploration of the potential factors influencing wood selection and fire use through time at the site. A detailed understanding of the relationship between wood charcoal remains and archaeological context yields significant information on changes to environmental context and site occupation patterns over time.This research was funded by the ARC Linkage Grant LP100200415, with contributions from the Kimberley Foundation Australia and the Department of Sustainability, Water, Populations and Communities. Figures 1, 6, 10 and 11 were produced by the Australian National University’s CartoGIS department

Home Is Where the Hearth Is: Anthracological and Microstratigraphic Analyses of Pleistocene and Holocene Combustion Features, Riwi Cave (Kimberley, Western Australia)

The manipulation of fire is a technological act. The identification of the archaeological signatures of the controlled use of fire has important implications not only for the estimations of the origins and functions of the first fireplaces but also for our understanding of prehistoric technological development and resource use. At Riwi (Kimberley region, Western Australia), excavations over two field seasons have revealed a discontinuous occupation sequence over the past 45 ka, showing numerous, different combustion features interspersed within the deposit. Anthracological and micromorphological investigations at Riwi Cave indicate that the combustion features at the site can be categorised into three types: flat combustion features (type A), dug combustion features (type B) and thick accumulations of mixed combustion residues (type C). These provide evidence for two kinds of combustion practice: (i) fires lit directly on the ground and most likely not re-used and (ii) ground ovens, the latter appearing some 10,000 years after the first evidence for occupation of the site. A comparison of the wood species identified within these combustion features with those from equivalent scattered context levels, enables an exploration of the potential factors influencing wood selection and fire use through time at the site. A detailed understanding of the relationship between wood charcoal remains and archaeological context yields significant information on changes to environmental context and site occupation patterns over time

Home Is Where the Hearth Is: Anthracological and Microstratigraphic Analyses of Pleistocene and Holocene Combustion Features, Riwi Cave (Kimberley, Western Australia)

The manipulation of fire is a technological act. The identification of the archaeological signatures of the controlled use of fire has important implications not only for the estimations of the origins and functions of the first fireplaces but also for our understanding of prehistoric technological development and resource use. At Riwi (Kimberley region, Western Australia), excavations over two field seasons have revealed a discontinuous occupation sequence over the past 45 ka, showing numerous, different combustion features interspersed within the deposit. Anthracological and micromorphological investigations at Riwi Cave indicate that the combustion features at the site can be categorised into three types: flat combustion features (type A), dug combustion features (type B) and thick accumulations of mixed combustion residues (type C). These provide evidence for two kinds of combustion practice: (i) fires lit directly on the ground and most likely not re-used and (ii) ground ovens, the latter appearing some 10,000 years after the first evidence for occupation of the site. A comparison of the wood species identified within these combustion features with those from equivalent scattered context levels, enables an exploration of the potential factors influencing wood selection and fire use through time at the site. A detailed understanding of the relationship between wood charcoal remains and archaeological context yields significant information on changes to environmental context and site occupation patterns over time

A spearthrower butt from Widgingarri, Western Kimberley, Western Australia

Despite the dominance of wood-based technologies in Australian Aboriginal techno-complexes, recovery of archaeological examples is exceedingly rare in the north of the continent where environmental conditions are most harsh for such archaeologically fragile items. Here we report the discovery of a 210 year old spearthrower butt made from bat-wing coral tree (Erythrina vespertilio) from the Worrorra site of Widgingarri 9 (western Kimberley).This research was funded by an ARC Linkage Grant LP100200415, with contributions from the Kimberley Foundation Australia, and the Dept. of Sustainability, Water, Populations, and Communities

The curious case of Proteaceae: macrobotanical investigations at Mount Behn rockshelter, Bunuba country, Western Australia

Macrobotanical analyses, which offer important information about human-environment interactions of the past, are underdeveloped in Australia due to limited reference materials, poor preservation of organic remains and inadequate field sampling strategies. Wood, seeds, fibres and resin provide invaluable information on diet, technology and human-environment interaction. When excavated from stratified archaeological deposits, macrobotanical remains enable analysis at a scale that is spatio-temporally linked with human occupation, unlike broad-scale palaeo-environmental records, which defy correlation with short-time human responses. Identification and analyses of wood charcoal and seeds from Mount Behn rockshelter, Bunuba country, in the southern Kimberley region of Western Australia, where the largest stone point assemblage for the region was excavated. Neither the anthracological nor carpological records reflect the taxon richness of vegetation communities of the modern vegetation, precluding both palaeo-environmental reconstruction and in-depth exploration of resource management and use. Certain taxa are over-represented in the anthracological and carpological records, in particular, Proteaceae wood charcoal and Celtis spp. endocarps, and we explore how anthracological and carpological spectra are artefacts of preservation, with particular reference to other macrobotanical research that has been conducted in the Kimberley region and Western Australia.This research was funded by the ARC Linkage Grant [LP100200415], with contributions from the Kimberley Foundation Australia and the Department of Sustainability, Water, Populations and Communities