An account of current research at the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of New England, was published in Australian Archaeology 3, just a year ago (Connah, 1975) . The purpose of the present account is to bring the reader up to date with archaeological activities at Armidale over the last year

Connah, Graham

Australian Archaeology

Flinders Academic Commons

Australian Archaeology    Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au  Full Citation Details: Connah, G. 1976. Archaeology at the University of New England, 1975-6. 'Australian Archaeology', no.5, 1-6.        ARCHAEOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND, 1975-6 An account of cur rent  research a t  the  Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, Universi ty of New England, was published in  Australian Archaeology 3 ,  j u s t  a yea r  ago (Connah, 1975) . The purpose of the p re sen t  account is  t o  b r ing  the  reader  up t o  da te  with archaeological a c t i v i t i e s  a t  Armidale over  t he  l a s t  year. The Department continues t o  develop i t s  teaching of a wide range of world p reh i s to ry ,  and student  i n t e r e s t  has been su f f i c i en t  t o  j u s t i f y  the  c rea t ion  of  a new lec tureship  f o r  1977. Although we recognize the  p r i o r i t y  t h a t  must be given t o  Austral ian archaeology, t h e  members of t he  Department represent  a broad spectrum of the subject :  my own s p e c i a l  i n t e r e s t s  being i n  African Iron Age archaeology (Connah, 1976), I a i n  Davidsonls i n  t he  Spanish Pa laeo l i t h i c  (Davidson, 1976) and Mike Kowiand [who took over during the  year  as iiesearch Ass is tan t j  having a main i n t e r e s t  i n  New Zealand (Rowland, 1976) and Paci f ic  archaeology. I t  is our hope t h a t  t he  new lec tureship  w i l l  enable us t o  s t rengthen  our  cont r ibut ion  t o  Austral ian,  S.E. Asian o r  Pac i f ic  archaeology. We have continued ou r  policy of i n v i t i n g  archaeologists  from o t h e r  i n s t i t u t i o n s  t o  g ive  guest  seminars i n  the  Department. In the cu r ren t  yea r  John Clegg of the  University of Sydney, and Jack Golson and Wilfred Shawcross from t he  Austral ian National University, Canberra, have very kindly a s s i s t e d  us i n  t h i s  way. In addit ion our own Department was involved with the  Division of Ecology, a t  the  University of New England, i n  t he  organiza t ion  of a s e r i e s  of seminars e n t i t l e d  lMan and environment i n  Aus t r a l i a  - the  l a s t  50,000 years  l .  Guest speakers a t  t hese  seminars were J . M .  Bowler and G.S. Hope from the Australian National  Universi ty,  David Horton from the  Austral ian I n s t i t u t e  of Aboriginal  S tud ie s  and H a r r y  Lourandos from the  University of Sydney. In s p i t e  o f  our  own wide i n t e r e s t s ,  t h a t  took Ia in  Davidson t o  Spain a t  t he  beginning of t he  year, Mike Rowland t o  F i j i  j u s t  before he joined the  Department, and myself t o  the Transvaal qu i t e  recent ly ,  we have continued t o  pursue a number of research pro jec ts  i n  the f i e l d  of Aust ra l ian  archaeology. My own research  programme i n  the lower River Macleay area,  which has  been under way s ince  1972, continues. In the l a s t  year no f u r t h e r  fieldwork has been done but  the ana lys is  of the s h e l l  midden s i t e s  i nves t iga t ed  i s  now well i n  hand. This ana lys is  was commenced by Penelope Emmerson, formerly Research Assistant  with the Department, and has been continued by Mike Rowland. A b r i e f  statement on the lower Macleay p ro j ec t  was given i n  my 1975 account i n  Australim Archaeology 3 bu t  it is now poss ib le  t o  add a few more d e t a i l s .  In  1974 excavations were conducted i n  a p ip i  midden a t  Maguirels Crossing on the  present  shore l ine  dune system. The s t r a t i f i c a t i o n  of this s i t e  cons is ted  of bands of p ip i s  (PZebidonax de l to ides)  within a grey/brown windblown sand. In the upper pa r t  of the sect ion were two bands of densely packed s h e l l s  separated by a layer  of  she l l - f ree  sand. Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auWithin the lower of these was a hearth,  designated Layer 4a, wood charcoal f r o m  which has now been dated by Sydney University Radio- carbon Laboratory as follows: Cutting I ,  Layer 4a: SUA 485 , 925 t 105 bp Below the two upper bands was a thick l aye r  o f  she l l - f r ee  sand under which fu r the r  th in  bands of p i p i  s h e l l s  occurred. Wood charcoal collected f r o m  throughout the zone of these lower bands (designated col lec t ively  Layer 6) has now been radiocarbon dated as follows : Cutting I ,  Layer 6: SUA 486 915 t 105 bp A bone point was recovered from t h i s  layer .  These dates may be compared with 3 date f o r  wood charcoal col lec ted  i n  1969, from a depth of 2-7 inches in an eroding section of  t h i s  midden, by Valerie Campbell (Campbell, 1972) : As f a r  as I can be cer ta in ,  t h i s  date probably re fe r s  t o  the  uppermost of the two upper bands of she l l .  There was l i t t l e  stone i n  t h i s  midden and very few stone a r t e fac t s .  The banded nature of t h e  archaeological &posit  together with the  r a r i t y  of cu l tu ra l  mater ia l  and the exposed location of the s i t e  would suggest a 'dinner camp' s i tuat ion.  The two dates from excavated charcoal should perhaps be given more emphasis than the previous da te  from an eroding sect ion.  The new dates would suggest tha t  the deposit  formed i n  a r e l a t i v e l y  short  time. Pipi  s h e l l s  from both of the  upper s h e l l  bands have a l s o  been submitted f o r  radiocarbon dating,  as of Richard G i l l e s p i e l s  investigation of the r e l i a b i l i t y  of  techniques f o r  dating s h e l l ,  but r e su l t s  are  not yet  available.  Also i n  1974 a single-phase p i p i  midden, Inner Barr ier  4,  was excavated on the. inner sand b a r r i e r  which l i e s  behind the  ocean swamp enclosed by the present shoreline dune system. This midden w a s  about 1 kilometre inland of the Maguire's Crossing mid&n. Inner Bar r i e r  4 had a shallow s t r a t i f i c a t i o n  with only one band of she l l s .  Wood charcoal from t h i s  band (Layer 2) has now been radiocarbon dated a s  follows: Cutting 1-4, Layer 2: SUA 483 1060 f 100 bp The band of she l l s  was extensively i n f i l t r a t e d  by humus from the  topso i l  which overlay it; and roots,  although they occurred throughout the  whole section, were pa r t i cu la r ly  concentrated i n  the s h e l l  band and the  top- s o i l  above it. Black sand, drying t o  grey, lay  beneath the  s h e l l  band and above the natura l  sand. Wood charcoal from the  upper ha l f  of t h i s  deposit (Layer 3a) has been radiocarbon dated a s  follows: Cutting 1-4, Layer 3a: SUA 487 2550 f 105 bp A few stone a r t e fac t s  were found i n  Layer 3a and it i s  always poss ible  that  t h i s  date r e fe r s  t o  an e a r l i e r  occupation than tha t  associa ted  with the midden. However, from its location,  Inner Barr ier  4 was expected t o  considerably pre-date Maguire l s  Crossing, and it could be t h a t  the  Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auLayer 2 sample was contaminated by l a t e r  mater ia l .  The base of Layer 2 was 20-25  cm below t h e  modern ground surface,  and the top of the layer  7-15 cm below the  modem ground surface.  P ip i  s h e l l s  from the s h e l l  band have a l s o  been submitted f o r  radiocarbon dat ing but r e s u l t s  arc n o t  y e t  ava i l ab l e .  In 1974 and again i n  1975 excavations were conducted a t  S t u a r t s  Poin t  1, a very la rge  oys t e r  and cockle midden (Cmssostrea comerciaZis and A n a d m  t q e z i a )  , on the  inner  b a r r i e r  north of the present  e s tua ry  of the Macleay. This midden cons is t s  of a s t r a t i f i e d  s e r i e s  o f  s h e l l - r i c h  bands containing hear ths ,  stone a r t e f a c t s ,  bone p o i n t s ,  f i s h  and animal bones and p lant  remains (Connah, Emmerson and Stanley ,  1976: Fig 2 ) .  A four th  year s tudent ,  Len Cubis, i s  presently s tudying t h e  p l a n t  ma te r i a l .  A column sample col lec ted  in  1974 has now been analysed by Mike Rowland and shows changes i n  s h e l l  species wi th  time, A+ first the  cnckles predminated b ~ t  these are grac!t!ally replaced by oys t e r s .  This  might be in t e rp re t ed  a s  a possible indica t ion  of environmental change and of  changing explo i ta t ion  pa t te rns .  Wood charcoal  from nea r  t he  base o f  t h e  cockle deposi ts  has been radiocarbon dated a s  fol lows:  1975, Cut t ing  I ,  Layer 2 ,  S p i t  13: SUA 484 9320 + 160 bp This  da t e  i n d i c a t e s  human se t t lement  of the mid north coast of New South Wales a t  an e a r l i e r  time than has been assumed i n  recent  years. The e a r l i e s t  da t e  u n t i l  now has been t h a t  of V27 6444 t 74 bp f o r  the basa l  l e v e l s  of  Seelands (McBryde 1974). Wood charcoal from a hearth i n  the  lower p a r t  of t he  o y s t e r  depos i t s ,  but  d e f i n i t e l y  above the t r a n s i t i o n  f r o m  a preponderance o f  cockles t o  one of oys ters ,  has been radiocarbon dated a s  Cut t ing  I ,  Layer Sp i t e  8 E 9 ,  Feature SUA 482 3750 t 280 bp I t  i s  poss ib l e  t h a t  t h e  s u b s t a n t i a l  difference between these two dates might be explained a s  represent ing  a long h a l t  i n  s h e l l  deposition. I t  may be s i g n i f i c a n t  t h a t  t he  two dates represent  explo i ta t ion  of d i f f e r e n t  spec ies .  Cockle s h e l l s  from the same s p i t  as  the e a r l i e r  da te ,  and oys t e r  i d  cockle s h e l l s  f r o m  a s p i t  adjacent- t o  the hearth which y ie lded  t h e  l a t e r  da t e ,  have been submitted f o r  radiocarbon dat ing but r e s u l t s  a r e  no t  y e t  ava i l ab l e .  The word 'archaeology1 was included i n  the t i t l e  of t h e  New England Department, when it was created three years  ago, partzy out  of deference t o  t he  s t rong  Austral ian h i s to ry  element i n  the University o f  New England's His tory  Department. I t  was recognized t h a t  eventually t h e  new Department should encourage study and research i n  both pre- h i s t o r i c  and h i s t o r i c  t op ic s .  To t h i s  end, an archaeological survey has been c a r r i e d  ou t  a t  Sawnarez Sta t ion ,  thought t o  be  the e a r l i e s t  sheep run i n  the  immediate Armidale area (Connah, i n  p re s s ) .  This survey ind ica t e s  t h a t  t he re  has been a change i n  the locat ion of wool production f a c i l i t i e s  owing t o  changing requirements f o r ,  and avai l -  a b i l i t y  of water.  I t  a l s o  indica tes  t ha t  a number o f  dwelling houses Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auand ploughlands formerly exis ted  i n  a reas  now pure ly  p a s t o r a l .  This  defunct set t lement  pa t t e rn  probably r e f l e c t s  former labour  requirements within the wool indus t ry  and a l s o  t h e  non-v iab i l i t y  o f  small  blocks of  land during the nineteenth century. Other h i s t o r i c a l  s i t e s  have a l s o  been examined i n  t h e  New England area ,  but a f a i r l y  extensive f i e l d  p r o j e c t  was undertaken during May 1976 on the  ru ins  of a s tone  house a t  Winterbourne, no r th  e a s t  of Walcha. This house was b u i l t  probably i n  t h e  1840s by Captain William Richards, who took up t h e  'Winterbourne sheep run i n  1836 a f t e r  s e l l i n g  h i s  sh ip  the  'Roslyn Cas t l e ' .  He was only  f o u r  yea r s  behind the e a r l i e s t  squa t t e r  on t h e  Tablelands. T r a d i t i o n a l l y  s a i d  t o  have been b u i l t  by convict labour, t h e  house was an imposing bu i ld ing  of one s torey ,  containing t en  rooms, with a verandah a t  t h e  f r o n t  and another a t  t he  back. I t  w a s  b u i l t  of t he  l o c a l  ' t r a p  rock '  and of lumps of white g ran i t e .  The s tones  were mortared toge the r  with a g r i t t y  clay dug nearby and the e x t e r i o r  of t h e  bu i ld ing  was rendered over with mater ia l  s imi l a r  t o  the  mortar and then whitewashed. The l i n t e l s  over doors and windows were s l a b s  of t imber and t h e  bu i ld ing  was roofed with a hipped roof of wooden sh ingles .  Behind t h e  house there  was a separa te  s tone building i n  which were k i tchen  and s t o r e  rooms. About 1922 the  house had t h e  roof demolished and was s t r i p p e d  of i ts  wooden f i t t i n g s .  Subsequently the  south e a s t  co rne r  o f  t h e  building was demolished and the  f r o n t  verandah disappeared. The k i tchen  building was razed t o  the ground. The weather got  i n t o  t h e  c lay-  bonded walls  of the remaining p a r t s  of  t h e  house and t h e  bu i ld ing  was ve ry  soon reduced t o  a ru in .  Mike Rowland and myself, with 30 of o u r  s tuden t s ,  spen t  most of May t h i s  year  compiling a f u l l  record o f  t h e  s i t e .  This  involved the drawing of plans and e levat ions ,  t he  making o f  a d e t a i l e d  photo- graphic record, and the  excavation of f i v e  c u t t i n g s  a t  var ious  po in t s  around the  building t o  f i l l  i n  various d e t a i l s  o f  t h e  p lan  and t o  f ind  corroborat ive dat ing mater ia l .  This research  produced a wealth of  da ta  which it i s  planned t o  publish a s  a sepa ra t e  s tudy.  The s i t e  a l s o  proved t o  be an excel len t  t r a i n i n g  ground i n  both survey and excavation work. I have continued my a e r i a l  photographic programme, p i l o t e d  by Frank Choate of the  Department o f  Physical  Chemistry, Univers i ty  of  New England. Four more s o r t i e s  have been flown during t h e  p re sen t  year ,  on both p reh i s to r i c  and h i s t o r i c  s i t e s .  We have experimented i n  d i f f e r e n t  l i gh t ing  conditions and using var ious  types o f  equipment and film. Our i n t e r e s t  is i n  low l eve l  oblique photography working normally i n  t h e  height  range 150-300 metres. Experience has demonstrated t h a t  pilot/photographer co-ordination is o f  v i t a l  importance f o r  successful  a e r i a l  recording. On t h e  archaeological  s i d e ,  I th ink  we a re  slowly, demonstrating how much more of an ' a rchaeologica l  land- scape' Aust ra l ia  has than is sometimes assumed. Our work, of  course,  has been confined t o  northern New South Wales but  we a r e  beginning t o  develop a 'have s k i l l s  w i l l  t r a v e l 1  menta l i ty .  Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auA su r face  f i e l d  survey was ca r r i ed  out during August 1976 in  some d i f f i c u l t ,  heavi ly  timbered, grani te  country north of Emmaville. E a r l i e r  t h i s  yea r  a new a r t  s i t e  i n  t h i s  a rea  came t o  our not icc .  This cons i s t s  o f  red  ochre pa in t ings  within a rock she l t e r .  Mike Rowland led  a group of ten s tudents  on a systematic  four day search of the  area.  This  produced no e x t r a  s i t e s  but  a number of good leads from loca l  people which a r e  s t i l l  being followed up. What did emerge from t h e  work was the  suggestion t h a t  most p reh i s to r i c  Austral ians probably had more sense than t o  try t o  explo i t  such a region. I a i n  Davidsonls bone col lec t ion  of indigenous fauna continues t o  grow. One o f  the main aims of t h i s  co l lec t ion  is  t o  enable us t o  i d e n t i f y  bones from excavated s i t e s .  We now have a col lec t ion  of about 70 specimens and another  30 a r e  i n  process of maceration. The c o l l e c t i o n  has both research and teaching value. Mike Rowland and P - - -  l*- L ~ L V L ~ , ~  Watts, a second y i  stlideiit, have bee= &le  t ~ ,  ide i i t i f j .  the very va r i ed  co l l ec t ion  of fauna excavated from the nineteenth century s i t e  a t  Winterbourne . I a i n  Davidson has a l s o  been continuing h i s  research on Mediterranean Spain and computing the  data on bones t h a t  he col lec ted  the re .  I t  is hoped t h a t  t he  programmes which a re  being developed by Professor  J .  Burr of t he  Computing Centre i n  the University of New England w i l l  be of general  appl ica t ion .  Analysis has a l so  been done on the s t a t i s t i c s  of  radiocarbon dates with D r .  E .  Bofinger of the Mathematics Department, U.N. E .  Concerning f i e l d  research by Ia in  Davidson i n  the gorge systems o f  t he  River Macleay catchment (Connah, 1975), radiocarbon dates have now been rece ived  from t h e  Sydney University Radiocarbon Laboratory which confirm t h e  presence of Aboriginal Man i n  the gorges of the Macleay before the  advent of Europeans. Mike Rowland i s  wr i t i ng  up the  r e s u l t s  of h i s  research on ma te r i a l  from the  e a r l y  New Zealand s i t e  of Tairua and from two s i t e s  on the  adjacent  S l ippe r  Is land.  He a l so  has i n  preparation a repor t  on h i s  survey artd t e s t  excavations on the h i l l f o r t  of Kedekede, Lakemba Is land ,  Lau Group, F i j i ,  completed p r i o r  t o  taking up the Research Ass is tan tsh ip  with the  Department. The r e s u l t s  of h i s  research i n t o  the  u s e  of  t h e  limpet Cetlima denticulata as a temporal i nd ica to r  f o r  s i t e s  along t h e  nor th  e a s t  coas t  o f  the North Is land,  New Zealand, were published i n  March (Rowland, 1976). F ina l ly ,  a l l  th ree  of us- have col laborated i n  the compilation of fou r  maps (with explanatory t ex t )  of  p reh i s to r i c  set t lement  i n  New England. These w i l l  form p a r t  of a regional  a t l a s  which i s  being published by the  Geography Department of the University o f  New England (Connah, Davidson and Rowland, i n  press)  . Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au. Acknowledgement i s  due to  the  University of  New England f o r  research funds t o  support our work. The kind cooperation of the  National Parks and Wildlife Service and of the  sy&ey University Radiocarbon Laboratory is also acknowledged. We have t o  thank many people i n  the  New England area fo r  t h e i r  continued help. We a l s o  have t o  thank our students,  whose enthusiasm provides the  fue l .  References Campbell, V. 19 72 Connah, G. 19 75 Connah, G. 19 76 Connah, G. ( in press) Connah, G .  1976 Emmerson, P. and Stanley, J. Connah, G; ,  Davidson, I. and Rowland, M . J .  ( i n  press)  Davidson, I .  19 76 McBryde, I. 19 74 Rowland, M. J. 1976 'Some radiocarbon dates f o r  aboriginal  she l l  middens i n  the  lower Macleay River Valley, New South Wales l ,  Mankind, 8. lCurrent research a t  the  Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of New England9 , AustmZian ArchaeoZogy , 3. 'The Daima sequence and the  p r e h i s t o r i c  chronology of the  Lake Chad region of Nigeria ' ,  JournaZ of A f r i c a n  History,  XV, Cambridge . 'Wool, water and sett lement:  the archaeological landscape of  Saumarez S t a t i o n * ,  Journal of the Armidale and District E i s t o ~ c a t  Society. 'Is there a place f o r  the  proton magnetometer i n  Australian f i e l d  archaeology1 ? , Mankind, 10. 'Prehis tor ic  se t t lement1  , Text and 4 maps i n  Regional A t b  of Neu England, Geography Department, U.N.E. 'Seasonality in  Spain , Zephyrus, 26. Aboriginal prehistory i n  N e u  E n g h d ,  Sydney. 'CeZZarza dent icuta tu  i n  middens on the  Coromandel Coast, New Zealand, - p o s s i b i l i t i e s  f o r  a temporal horizon , Journal  of the Royal Society of New Z e a h d ,  6 (1) . Graham Connah University of New England Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au

Archaeology at the University of New England, 1975-6

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Archaeology at the University of New England, 1975-6

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