Considerations for non man made artefacts;  for example, shell middens created by sea birds, charcoal layers due to burnt ant hills, and flaked stones resulting from birds dropping pebbles

Allen, Jim

Jones, Rhys

Australian Archaeology

Flinders Academic Commons

Australian Archaeology    Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au  Full Citation Details: Jones, R. & Allen, J. 1978. Caveat Excavator: A Sea Bird Midden on Steep Head Island, North West Tasmania.  'Australian Archaeology', no.8, 142-145.  C A V E A T  E X C A V A T O R :  A  S E A  B I R D  M I D D E N  ON S T E E P  H E A D  I S L A N D ,  NORTH W E S T  T A S M A N I A  Rhys Jones and Jim AZZen 'N i  h i 1  Desperandum' (Cicero,  Cal i gula e t  al. ) Archaeo log i s t s ,  even i f  they a r e  n o t  p e s s i m i s t i c  by n a t u r e  a r e  c o n s t a n t l y  being reminded of t h e  inadequacy o f  t h e  d a t a  upon which they a t t empt  t o  w r i t e  h i s t o r y .  Ethnographers ,  o b s e r v i n g  t h e  minut iae  of d a i l y  l i f e  comment upon how l i t t l e  of i t  is  f o s s i l i s e d  i n t o  a  non-decayable form capab le  of b e i n g  i n t e r p r e t e d  i n  t h e  f u t u r e .  Wanderers a long  a  sea  beach a f t e r  a  s t o r m  w i l l  no te  the  p i l e s  of a n c i e n t  s h e l l  be ing  washed i n t o  t h e  s u r f ,  o r  t h e  wind p o l i s h i n g  t o  sh iny  smoothness what once was a  s h a r p  edge. Dogs gnaw t h e  bones from k i t c h e n  t a b l e s  and hyenas r i p  and s p r e a d  t h e  c a r c a s s e s  of game k i l l e d  by bushmen. S e a l s  and c r o c o d i l e s  wi th  s t o n e s  i n  t h e i r  b e l l i e s ,  l i k e  t h e  l e a d  b e l t s  of  be-rubbered scuba d i v e r s ,  crawl  l a b o r i o u s l y  up sandy cays  and d i e ,  t h e  p e b b l e s  ou t  of p l a c e  i n  such a  sandy environment. Hermit c r a b s  c a r r y  t h e i r  temporary molluscan homes up t r o p i c a l  beaches .  A whole new s u b j e c t  - taphonomy, d e s t i n e d  s u r e l y  t o  usurp  economics as t h e  'd ismal  s c i e n c e '  - is  be ing  developed t o  a n a l y s e  t h e  v a r i o u s  p rocesses  by which o b j e c t s  become i n c o r p o r a t e d  w i t h i n  t h e  f o s s i l  o r  a rchaeo log ica l  records .  However, i f  t h e  Dev i l  r e a l l y  wanted t o  tempt t h e  f a i t h f u l  w i t h  h i s  ' s p o r t s  of n a t u r e ' ,  he would n o t  have chosen h i s  Tasmanian namesake who h a s  f i l l e d  many a  cave wi th  carnivorous  d e b r i s ,  b u t  r a t h e r  b i r d s  whose c o n t r i b u t i o n  t o  t h e  a rchaeo log ica l  r ecord  h a s  been more v e r s a t i l e  and u b i q u i t o u s .  Jung le  fowls of Arnhem Land b u i l d  huge e a r t h  mounds; emus walk around wi th  f o r e i g n  s t o n e s  i n  t h e i r  c r o p s ;  owls drop t h e i r  f a e c a l  p e l l e t s  f u l l  of r a t  bones o n t o  t h e  c a r r i o n  heaps  of  h u n t e r s ,  and hawks remove evidence of  f i s h  heads and o t h e r  h a l f  e a t e n  food;  magpies c o l l e c t  sh iny  g l a s s  and t i n f o i l  f o r  t h e i r  n e s t s .  It i s  a l s o  reasonably  w e l l  known t h a t  some s e a  b i r d s  b u i l d  s h e l l  middens ( c f .  f o r  an  independent obse rva t ion  of  t h e  same phenomena see Horton 1978 i n  p r e s s )  and we should  l i k e  t o  d e s c r i b e  one of  t h e s e  from Tasmania. During an a r c h a e o l o g i c a l  s e a r c h  of  S teep  Head, a  s m a l l  i s l a n d  3 km t o  t h e  west of Hunter I s l a n d  i n  t h e  Hunter Group i n  n o r t h  wes t  Tasmania, we made a  s y s t e m a t i c  s e a r c h  f o r  any t r a c e  of s h e l l  midden i n  o r d e r  t o  s e e  whether t h i s  i s l e t  had been used by Tasmanian Aborigines  i n  t h e  p a s t  o r  whether i t  was beyond t h e i r  c a p a c i t y  t o  reach ( s e e  Jones ,  Al len and Stockton,  t h i s  volume). Because i t  was probable  t h a t  any Abor ig ina l  v i s i t s  would have been f l e e t i n g ,  and t h e  r e s u l t a n t  d e b r i s  l i m i t e d  t o  t h e  odd meal,  we were  l o o k i n g  c a r e f u l l y  f o r  any t r a c e  of  s h e l l s .  On a  r i d g e  some 70 cm wide a t  t h e  t o p  and 1 5  m l o n g ,  c o n n e c t i n g  two h i g h  p o i n t s ,  we saw some s h e l l s  and small bones s t r a t i f i e d  i n  l o o s e  s tony  s o i l .  The l o c a t i o n  o f  t h i s  s i t e ,  compounded by t h e  f a c t  t h a t  both s i d e s  of t h e  r i d g e  f e l l  away a lmost  v e r t i c a l l y  70 m t o  a  Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.aus u l l e n ,  growling s e a ,  precluded any doubts  i n  our  mind t h a t  t h i s  cou ld  have been a human camp. C l e a r l y  i t  is t h e  l o c a t i o n  of an  o l d - n e s t  o r  f e e d i n g  p l a c e  of a s e a  b i r d ,  probably t h e  l a r g e  P a c i f i c  G u l l  (Larus p a c i f i c u s ) .  We decided t o  excavate  t h i s  s e a  b i r d  midden ( d e s i g n a t e d  SBMl i n  t h e  Sea Bird  S i t e  Survey Reg i s t e r  o f  Tasmania) i n  o r d e r  t o  s e e  what i t  conta ined.  The excavat ion was c a r r i e d  o u t  by Al len  s i t t i n g  a s t r i d e  i t ,  us ing  t h e  'open a r e a '  method of  excava t ion ,  t h e  t o t a l  bu lk  sample being pu t  i n t o  a p l a s t i c  bag f o r  l a t e r  d e t a i l e d  l a b o r a t o r y  a n a l y s i s  fo l lowing t h e  t echn ique  advocated by Cout t s  (l97O), Cout ts  (1977: 8 ) ,  Cout ts  , W i t t e r ,  Cochrane and P a t r i c k  (1976) and Cout ts  and W i t t e r  (1977). S h e l l s  and bones were found over  an a r e a  of about 200 s q  cm and s t r a t i g r a p h i c a l l y  speak ing ,  i n  l o o s e  s o i l  down t o  a depth  of 2-3 cm, showing t h a t  t h e  s i t e  had probably been used over  a r easonab le  l e n g t h  of  t ime - i . e .  t h a t  i t  had been a r e g u l a r  f eed ing /  n e s t i n g  p lace .  The a n a l y s i s  of  t h e  s h e l l f i s h  was c a r r i e d  o u t  by D r  Kathy Conover and o f  t h e  b i r d s  by D r  J e a n n e t t e  Hope, t h e  r e s u l t s  being t a b u l a t e d  below (Table  1 ) .  I t  can be seen t h a t  t h e  prey cons i s t ed  of b i r d s  i n c l u d i n g  t h e  mutton b i r d  (Puf f inus ) ,  c r a b / c r a y f i s h  and rocky c o a s t  gas t ropods  - t h e  l i m p e t s ,  CeZanna soZida,  and warrener SuhninelZa u n d u ~ a t a . '  The l a t t e r  was rep resen ted  by both operculae  and body whorl  fragments.  Large g u l l s  drop t h e s e  types  of tu rbo  s h e l l s  r e p e a t e d l y  on rocks  u n t i l  t h e  s h e l l s  break (Mr Melvin E v e r r e t ,  pe r s .  comm.). They can then g e t  a t  t h e  f l e s h .  The f a r  g r e a t e r  minimum numbers of t h i s  s h e l l  s p e c i e s  r ep resen ted  by operculae  r a t h e r  than  body s h e l l s  show t h a t  o f t e n  t h e  f l e s h  was c a r r i e d  t o  t h e  e a t i n g  pe rch  s t i l l  a t t a c h e d  t o  t h e  ' ca t s -eye ' .  I n  terms of s p e c i e s  of s h e l l  and b i r d ,  t h i s  assemblage could be  l o s t  i n  a s p e c i e s  l ist from a genuine Tasmanian Aboriginal  midden. Both g u l l  and man foraged amongst t h e  mutton b i r d  rooker ies  and t h e  m i d - l i t t o r a l  zones of t h e  rocky s h o r e l i n e s .  The operculae  had a l e n g t h  d i s t r i b u t i o n  of 20.5 2 2.8 cm (N=13). This  corresponds t o  whole s h e l l f i s h  weighing s l i g h t l y  g r e a t e r  than  24 gm each, wi th  8.5 gm steamed f l e s h  ( f i e l d  experiments a t  Rocky Cape, n o r t h  Tasmania, 1967).  S i m i l a r  s i z e d  SubnineZZa a r e  common on west c o a s t  Tasmanian middens. For example a fo reshore  midden a t  Sundown P o i n t  i n  1977 c o n t a i n e d  opercu lae  wi th  a l eng th  d i s t r i b u t i o n  of 19 .0  + 3 . 1  cm (N=25) (Mr D. Ranson, p e r s .  comm.). Q u i t e  obv ious ly ,  from i ts l o c a t i o n  t h i s  b i r d  midden would never  be confused w i t h  a human one,  and d e s p i t e  our  i n i t i a l  jeremiad, even i f  such b i r d  d e b r i s  was dropped on to  a genuine human midden, i t s  c o n t r i b u t i o n  t o  t h e  l a t t e r  would be s t a t i s t i c a l l y  i n s i g n i f i c a n t  even t o  pedan t s .  However c a s t i n g  a s i d e  the  l e v i t y  of t h i s  n o t e  f o r  a moment, t h e r e  a r e  a few a r c h a e o l o g i c a l  s i t u a t i o n s  where such b i r d  middens cou ld  genu ine ly  be mis leading.  One i s  t h e  s i t u a t i o n  which l e d  us  t o  t h i s  midden, t h a t  i s ,  l o o k i n g  f o r  t h e  meres t  pa l impses t s  of Abor ig ina l  occupat ion on i s l a n d s  which might have been a t  t h e  outermost range of t h e  capac i ty  of l Sample h e l d  i n  t h e  a r c h i v e s ,  Department of P r e h i s t o r y ,  Research School of P a c i f i c  S t u d i e s ,  The A u s t r a l i a n  Na t iona l  Unive r s i ty ,  under J o n e s ,  Rhys (SBM l ,  19"' Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auTABLE 1 Fauna1 content o f  the sea b i r d  rnidden (SBM 1 )  Common name Linnean name MO ZZusca c h i t o n  Limpets CeZZana sotida Mussels Brachidontes ros t ra tus  ModioZus putex Warreners Subnine Z La undu Zata No. o f  ind iv idua ls  ? - 21 segments 1 4  1 3 (body whorl  f ragments  - minimally 1 i n d i v i d u a l )  1 3  o p e r c u l a e  = 1 3  i n d i v i d u a l s  Crustacea crab  o r  c ray  claw fragment Aves Mutton b i r d s  P r o c e l l a r i f o r m e s  of znus puff' Diving p e t r e l  Pelecanoididae Aboriginal  wa te rc ross ing  technology. Two o r  t h r e e  such b i r d  middens incorpora ted  i n t o  a s o i l  hor izon  o r  b u r i e d  by d r i f t i n g  sand where t h e  ground l e v e l  was n o t  excess ive ly  s t e e p  o r  remote,  might e a s i l y  be confused f o r  t h e  odd snack of a d a r i n g  o r  d e s p e r a t e  t r a v e l l e r  dur ing  a b r i e f  so journ  on the  i s l and .  Where t i n y  s c a t t e r s  of s h e l l  a r e  t o  be  invoked a s  evidence f o r  such human a c t i o n s ,  then  a t  l e a s t  t h e  p o s s i b i l i t y  of an avian o r i g i n  must f i r s t  of a l l  be  discounted.  The second kind of s i t u a t i o n  is one which is l i k e l y  t o  i n c r e a s e  i n  f u t u r e  research a s  we move from t h e  'cowboy' phase  o f  A u s t r a l i a n  archaeology t o  d e t a i l e d  micro-regional s t u d i e s  i n v o l v i n g  s y s t e m a t i c  sampling of t h e  t o t a l  range of a r c h a e o l o g i c a l  m a n i f e s t a t i o n s  down t o  the  l a s t  supper.  A t  a  c e r t a i n  p o i n t  i t  might become genuinely  impossible  t o  d i s t i n g u i s h  between the  snack of a b i r d  o r  a man. Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.auThose who a s p i r e  t o  s u c h  p r e c i s i o n  must make s u r e  t h a t  t h e i r  r e s e a r c h  d e s i g n  does  n o t  become f i n e r  than t h e  l i m i t a t i o n s  of t h e  a r c h g e o l o g i c a l  r e c o r d .  D r  J e a n n e t t e  Hope has  reminded us  t h a t  b i r d  middens a r e  n o t  conf ined  t o  rocky c o a s t s ,  b u t  t h a t  t h e  same p r o c e s s e s  can be  observed on t h e  l agoons  and r i v e r  banks o f  i n l a n d  A u s t r a l i a .  Here, l i k e  t h e  a n c i e n t  Aborigines  of Mungo, wa te r  b i r d s  have hunted f o r  t h e  f r e s h  w a t e r  mussel VeZesunio ambiguus, and the  empty s h e l l s  become s c a t t e r e d  on l a k e  shores  and thus  incorpora ted  i n t o  l u n e t t e  and o t h e r  sand d e p o s i t s .  Add t h i s  t o  b u r n t  t e r m i t e  n e s t s  b e i n g  p robab ly  i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e  from cooking h e a r t h s  made from a n t  beds  (Chapman 1977) and w e  may on occas ions  have t o  r e t r e a t  t o  t h e  f i n a l  f a s t n e s s  of t h e  a r c h a e o l o g i s t .  The unique mark of  man i s  t h e  a r t e f a c t ,  t h e  modified p i e c e  of s tone .  But wasn' t t h e r e  a l s o  a c a s e  of b i r d s  seen  dropping l i t t l e  pebbles  and thus  f l a k i n g  them? A s  we s a i d  i n  our  t i t l e  - l e t  t h e  d igger  beware,  b u t  n e v e r  we hope,  despa i r .  References Chapman, V a l e r i e  19 76 The Jindabyne Val ley i n  Southern Up lands  P r e h i s t o r y :  An Archaeological  I n v e s t i g a t i o n .  Unpublished MA (Qual) t h e s i s ,  Department of P r e h i s t o r y  and Anthropology, School  of General  S t u d i e s ,  ANU, Canberra Cou t t s  , P. J.F. 1970 The ArchaeoZogy o f  W i l s m ' s  Promontory. A u s t r a l i a n  Abor ig ina l  S t u d i e s  no.28. AIAS: Canberra 1977 Summer f i e l d  programme of t h e  V i c t o r i a  Archaeo log ica l  Survey 1976177. In P. J. F .  Cout ts, D. C. W i t  t e r  and D.M. Parsons (eds)  Notes and News. Records o f  t h e  Vic tor ian  Archaeological Survey no. 4.  Melbourne and D.C. W i t t e r ,  R.M. Cochrane and J. P a t r i c k  1976 C o a s t a l  archaeology i n  V i c t o r i a .  S i t e s  o f  special s c i e n t i  f i c  i n t e r e s t  i n  the Victorian coastal r e g i m :  A repor t  on the  archaeoZogicaZ aspects. Town and Country P l a n n i n g  Board: Melbourne and D.C. W i t t e r  1977 A guide  t o  r ecord ing  a r c h a e o l o g i c a l  s i t e s  i n  V i c t o r i a .  Records o f  the Victorian Archaeological Survey no. 3. Melbourne Horton,  David 1978 ( i n  p r e s s )  P re l iminary  n o t e s  on the  a n a l y s i s  o f  A u s t r a l i a n  c o a s t a l  middens. Australian I n s t i t u t e  o f  AboriginaZ Studies News l e t t e r  Department o f  Prehistory The AustraZim National University Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au

Caveat Excavator: A Sea Bird Midden on Steep Head Island, North West Tasmania

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Caveat Excavator: A Sea Bird Midden on Steep Head Island, North West Tasmania

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