In June 1974 exceptionally strong winds coincided with high tides on the coast of New South Wales to create damaging waves. Unpublicized results were wave cut sections in middens previously unrecorded. One such exposure was on Broughton Island, which was visited by the author for a day in July 1974

Wright, R.V.S.

Australian Archaeology

Flinders Academic Commons

Australian Archaeology    Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au  Full Citation Details: Wright, R.V.S. 1975. Broughton Island, N.S.W. Recent Prehistoric use of an Offshore Ocean Island. 'Australian Archaeology', no.3, 18-23.  Dortch, C.E. 1975 Geometric microl i ths  from a dated archaeozogical deposit near Northcl i f fe ,  Western Austra l ia .  Jour. Roy. Soc. West. Aust.,58. Dortch, C.E. and D. Merrilees. 1973. Human occupation of Devi l ' s  Lai r ,  Western Austra l ia  during the  Pleistocene.  A.P.A.O. V I I I ,  2. Glover, J.E. 1974 Petrology of che r t  a r t i f a c t s  from Devil 's  La i r ,  Western Austral ia.  Jour. Roy. Soc. West. Aust., 57. Glover, J .E .  1975. Aboriginal che r t  a r t i f a c t s  probably from quar r i e s  on the  cont inenta l  s h e l f ,  Western Austra l ia .  Search, 6, 9. Glover, J. E. and A. E. Cockbain. 1971. Transported Aboriginal a r t i f  a c t  material ,  Pe r th  Basin, Western Austra l ia .  Nature, 234. Hallam, S.J. 1972. "An Archaeological survey of the  Per th  area:..." A.I.A.S. Newsletter 3, 5. Hallam, S.J. 1975. Hearth and Fire .  A.I.A.S. (A.A.S. 58), Canberra. McArthur, W.M. and E. Bettenay. 1960. Development and d i s t r i b u t i o n  of s o i l s  on the  Swan Coastal  P la in ,  W.A. C.S. I.R.O. S o i l  FubZ. No. 16. Meagher, S.J. 1974. The food resources of t h e  south-west of Western Austral ia.  Rec. West. A w t .  Mus. 3, 1. BROUGHTON ISLAND, N.S.W. RECENT PREHISTORIC USE OF AN OFFSHORE OCEAN ISLAND Introduction I n  June 1974 exceptionally s t rong  winds coincided with high t ides  on the  coast  of N e w  South Wales t o  c r e a t e  damaging waves. Unpublicised r e s u l t s  were wave cu t  sec t ions  i n  middens previously unrecorded. One such exposure was on Broughton Is land,  which I v i s i t e d  f o r  a day i n  July 1974. Location Broughton Is land is 32O 35' S, 152O 20' E; g r id  reference  is 535967. The is land is of i r r e g u l a r  shape, being from nor th  t o  south about 2 km across and from e a s t  t o  w e s t  3 km. An a e r i a l  photo has been published i n  D. Baglin and B. Mullins Is2ands of AustmZia. Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auThis rocky i s l a n d  (highest  poin t  is 91 m) lies i n  the  P a c i f i c  Ocean 3 km o f f  a mainland coast  which is low, with swamp and dunes. The maximum depth of water i n  the 3 km between t h e  i s l a n d  and the  coast  i s  about 15 m. Environment The i s l a n d  is composed of var ious  rock types, including s i l i c e o u s  ones s u i t a b l e  f o r  making s tone  implements. Grass covers t h e  i s l a n d ,  t r e e s  and shrubs being scarce .  Such bareness may be  an  a r t i f a c t  of  p e r i o d i c  white se t t lement ;  i t  is not iceable  t h a t  nearby Cabbage Tree I s l a n d ,  which has not been s e t t l e d ,  has a dense cover of shrubs and t r e e s .  Fresh water  is permanently ava i l ab le  and dra ins  from swamps backed up behind dunes. There a r e  bays a t  var ious  p laces  around the i s land.  This means t h a t  s h e l t e r  can be found from winds of any d i r ec t ion .  There a r e  extens ive  rock-platforms i n  t h e  i n t e r t i d a l  zone, which supply molluscs and f l a t  s u r f a c e s  s u i t a b l e  f o r  s e t t i n g  f i s h  t raps .  Mutton- b i r d s  n e s t  i n  t h e  s p r i n g  and ea r ly  summer. A l l  i n  a l l  i t  is  an  i s l and  eminently s u i t a b l e  f o r  castaways, The midden I inves t iga ted  is  on the  north s i d e  of t h e  i s l and ,  nor th  west of t h e  h ighes t  po in t .  The high seas  of June 1974 had cu t  a f a c e  1 .5  m h igh  i n  a dune f ron t ing  the beach. The su r face  of t h i s  dune was grassed and i t  had apparently sloped gently down to  t h e  beach be fo re  the  sudden erosion.  Geomorphologically the  dune must be recent .  It is composed of coarse  sand,  on and i n  which no s o i l s  have developed. It sits on t h e  present  beach and is separa ted  by a swamp from older  dunes in land.  The dune runs  f o r  some 300 m along the beach. Evidence f o r  human h a b i t a t i o n  is t o  be seen  s t r a t i f i e d  i n  t h e  exposed sec t ion  of  t h i s  dune from a p o i n t  midway on the beach along t o  i ts  eas t e rn  end. The t h i c k e s t  l a y e r  of midden is about 50 cm deep, a t  a point  30 m from t h e  e a s t e r n  end of the dune. Along most of the  dune two phases of hab i t a t ion  a r e  evidenced by grey bands of  midden separa ted  by some 50 cm of clean blown sand. I n  one p lace  a t  t he  e a s t e r n  end t h e  clean sand wedges out ,  causing the  l a y e r s  of h a b i t a t i o n  t o  merge f o r  a few metres a t  the g rea te s t  e l e v a t i o n  of t h e  midden above high water mark. A l l  along i t s  length a t  l e a s t  40 cm of c l ean  blown sand covers the midden. The contents  of t h e  midden I examined t h e  eroded face  of the midden, and the  s c a t t e r  of col lapsed d e b r i s  below. I d id  no excavation o r  quant i f ied  study. Apart from a s o i l  sample nothing was removed from the  s i t e .  Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auThe midden contains occasional f laked s tone  a r t i f a c t s  and burned pieces of sandstone. The e levat ion of the  midden is such tha t  we can sa fe ly  assume a l l  pieces of s tone were introduced during occupation. The flaked implements were e n t i r e l y  l a r g e  scrapers,  which a r e  charac te r i s t i c  of middens north of Newcastle. As is t o  be expected I found no t r a c e  of the  s p e c i f i c  implement types of the Bondaian t rad i t ion ,  which a r e  c h a r a c t e r i s t i c  of recent middens only t o  the  south of Newcastle. Plant remains are  exclusively disseminated fragments of charcoal. There a r e  several  species of s h e l l f i s h  present.  Limpets and peri-winkles a r e  the  most numerous, though the  g rea tes t  y ie ld  of meat was probably from abalone. Fish bones and jaws a r e  common. When a small sample of midden was being dried and sieved i n  t h e  laboratory  t o  c o l l e c t  charcoal I noticed several  sca les  of f i sh .  Bird bones (most of which I presume a r e  of mutton-birds) a r e  d i s t r i b u t e d  through t h e  midden. Though -1 bones a r e  c l e a r l y  sca rce  I saw p a r t  of the  maxilla of a young s e a l  and one s i d e  of the  mandible of an  a d u l t  dog. A s  i s  t o  be expected, the  pH of the  midden is s l i g h t l y  alkaline.  Human s k e l e t a l  remains Remains of two skeletons a r e  t o  be seen exposed i n  s e c t i o n  a t  the  eastern end of the dune. Some bones had tunbledto t h e  beach below. The f i r s t  skeleton. This had been buried i n  a grave dug t o  j u s t  over 0.5 m deep from the  upper midden l a y e r  ( f ig .  1)  ; the  grave penetrated the lower layer  and had its base i n  c lean sand. It appears t o  have been dug during the  e a r l y  phase of deposi t ion of the upper midden. In the collapsed dune below t h i s  skele ton were severa l  post- crania l  bones, including bones from the  upper and lower limbs. However I saw no bones of the s k u l l .  It is easy t o  reconstruct how t h i s  skele ton became exposed. Flush with the  sect ion were the proximal ends of both t i b i a e ,  the  condylar surfaces of which were p a r a l l e l  with the  sect ion.  The femurs had f a l l e n  out and lay i n  the  collapsed debris.  Therefore the skeleton did  not have i ts  knees f lexed beyond 90° and may have been i n  an extended posit ion.  I n  e i t h e r  case one of t h e  f i r s t  bones t o  be exposed would have been t h e  s k u l l  and i n  the  absence of m 3  of its bones i n  the  debris we can presume i t  was ca r r i ed  away by the  waves. However the  bones of the  upper limb found i n  the  d e b r i s  included a c lav ic le  and scapula. Therefore d i r e c t  wave a c t i o n  penetrated no fu r the r  than the ce rv ica l  ver tebrae ,  the  r e s t  of the  skeleton being exposed by subsequent col lapse  of the  dune. Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auBROUGHTON ISLAND section at skeleton 1 . . tibiae Fig. 1 above approx. h.w.m. Section of the Dune showing position of one of the skeletons i n  the midden. The layers are: 1. clean sand 2.  upper midden 3. grave f i l l  4 .  clean sand 5. lower midden 6. clean sand Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auThe disposi t ion of the  body a t  inhumation is reasonably c lear .  The l e f t  t i b i a  lay above t h e  r i g h t  and t h e  a n t e r i o r  surfaces of both bones faced w e s t .  W e  can conclude t h a t  the  body lay  on its r i g h t  s i d e  with its head t o  the  nor th  i n  an extended o r  s l i g h t l y  flexed posi t ion.  Sta ture  is estimated at 170-175 cm on the  b a s i s  of femur, humerus and radius using the  regress ion formulae of Dupertuis and Hadden. The angle of the  i l i o - s c i a t i c  notch on the  p e l v i s  seemed shallow and wide enough to  be  female. A l l  epiphyses were fused,  s o  the  individual  w a s  adul t .  The second skeleton. These remains were i n  t h e  s e c t i o n  10 m west of the  f i r s t  skeleton. There w e r e  no s igns  of a grave, the bones protruding from a 30-40 cm th ick  band of midden. The bones s t i l l  i n  sec t ion  were the  proximal ends of t h e  r i g h t  ulna and radius and t o  the  l e f t  of these  w e r e  2 r i b s  and a vertebra.  The skeleton had thus been n a t u r a l l y  sectioned ac ross  the waist  . The body had been l e f t  ly ing  (o r  shallowly inhumed) on its back, again with its head t o  the  north.  I n  the  collapsed dune below the  sect ion we found some post-cranial  bones of t h e  upper p a r t  of the  body only. It can therefore  be assumed the  body w a s  i n  an  extended posit ion.  Again I s a w  no bones of the  s k u l l .  The proximal end of t h e  r i g h t  humerus was i n  a very eroded s t a t e .  It is the re fo re  poss ib le  t h a t  the  top of t h i s  skeleton was exposed w e l l  before  t h e  June storm. I could make no assessment of sex  and made no es t imat ion of s t a tu re .  The epiphyses were fused, the re fo re  t h e  ind iv idua l  was an  adul t .  In  report ing the exposed remains t o  me a s  individuals  of the  l o c a l  t r i b e ,  M r  Gi lber t  had s p e c i f i c a l l y  asked m e  t o  rebury them. This I did, inse r t ing  the bones t h a t  had f a l l e n  ou t  of t h e  s e c t i o n  i n t o  the  dune below t h e i r  respect ive  places of b u r i a l .  It is common knowledge t h a t  t h e  June storm of 1974 was of exceptional sever i ty .  Speci f ic  evidence of its i n t e n s i t y  on Broughton Is land i s  the severe damage t o  shacks which had stood inv io la te  f o r  some decades i n  a cove fac ing south  west. It seems, therefore ,  t h a t  given normal seas  the  c lean blown sand and midden w i l l  slump i n t o  a na tu ra l  slope of r e s t .  Grass w i l l  then spread over the s lope and the midden w i l l  remain undisturbed. Age of the  occupation The s i t e  has a very recent appearance. The dune sites on the  present  beach and has no s o i l s  developed i n  it. Fish  s c a l e s  survive  i n  the  midden. I n  my repor t  t o  t h e  NPWS I i n t u i t i v e l y  judged t h e  s i t e  t o  be of recent p reh i s to r i c  age, not  more than 2,000 years  and possibly not more than 500 years  old.  The complete absence of  h i s t o r i c  a r t i f  a c t s  suggested an upper l i m i t  f o r  its recency. Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auIt is the re fo re  s a t i s f a c t o r y  to  now have a radiocarbon da te  which supports  my i n t u i t i o n s .  SUA-402C is charcoal from the  upper l a y e r  of midden and gives a da te  of 440 f 180 BP. A s h e l l  d a t e  may be measured l a t e r .  Comment S This midden is a scarce  example of the  recent p reh i s to r i c  use of an o f f shore  i s l and  on the exposed Pac i f i c  coas t  of Austral ia.  Some 3 km of open sea  must have been crossed i n  bark canoes, with dogs on board o r  swimming behind. Equipped as we were with l i f e -  j acke t s ,  dual  motors and f l a r e s  I admired the nerves of my p r e h i s t o r i c  antecedents.  The remains of migratory mutton-birds show t h a t  the  s i t e  was used a t  l e a s t  during spr ing and e a r l y  summer. The crossing could only be made i n  a calm sea.  I f  the  weather deter iora ted  while the  i s l a n d  was being used i t s  r i c h  resources would have kept a group fed f o r  some days, i f  not  weeks. I saw nothing i n  t h i s  shallow deposit  t o  suggest t h a t  the  i s l a n d  was p a r t  of  t h e  regular  seasonal  schedule of the  hunters and gatherers  of the  mainland. Unless and u n t i l  an archaeological survey of t h e  i s l and  shows more in tens ive  occupation i t  would be s a f e s t  t o  assume t h a t  we have evidence of a t  the  most two b r ie f  v i s i t s ,  separa ted by a few years. Indeed f o r  a l l  we know, the clean blown sand could represent  a strong wind during a s ing le  v i s i t .  The i s l a n d  would repay a de ta i l ed  archaeological survey. I was a b l e  t o  spend l e s s  than a day there .  Acknowlednements M r  B. Tynall of  Nelsons Bay, a long t i m e  v i s i t o r  t o  the  i s land,  f i r s t  not iced t h e  f r e s h l y  c u t  midden with human bones and to ld  M r  K. G i l b e r t  who then contacted the  University of Sydney. I obtained a permit  from t h e  National  Parks and Wildl i fe  Service, consulted with M r  G i l b e r t  and arranged t o  meet M r  J. Winter of NPWS on the island.  M r  D. P i lgr im kindly provided a boat f o r  the v i s i t .  Expenses were met from t h e  Universi ty Research Grant of the  University of Sydney. M r  D. Smith a s s i s t e d  m e  i n  the  survey. R.V.S. Wright, Department of Anthropology , Universi ty of Sydney Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au

Broughton Island, N.S.W. Recent Prehistoric use of an Offshore Ocean Island

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Broughton Island, N.S.W. Recent Prehistoric use of an Offshore Ocean Island

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