Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press... more Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (1989), 124 pp. ISBN 0521253500 (hardcover). Price $95.00. Includes references.
Large oval flakes made from greywacke beach cobbles and their cores are conspicuous on the south ... more Large oval flakes made from greywacke beach cobbles and their cores are conspicuous on the south Canterbury coast. Replication trials show that the main method of flake production was to strike the cobble end-on against an anvil. This is an unusual technique and is termed here the ‘mass impact’ method. An archaeological site 4 km east of the Rakaia River mouth with greywacke assemblages was discovered during an archaeological assessment survey. It contained five artefact clusters where impact flakes had been transported and discarded. In addition there was found a workshop with cores and flakes (including conjoins) and anvils associated with an oven. These features were analysed using a reduction chart, which shows there were at least two distinct flake assemblage types as well as the workshop. The site has logistical and functional implications, although the landscape has been considerably altered by coastal cutting.
Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press... more Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (1989), 124 pp. ISBN 0521253500 (hardcover). Price $95.00. Includes references.
Surface scatters of stone artefacts are ubiquitous in the Australian landscape and form the basis... more Surface scatters of stone artefacts are ubiquitous in the Australian landscape and form the basis for the majority of archaeological conservation decisions. The research reported here proposes a distributional approach for analysing this record founded on the artefact as the minimal recording unit rather than the site. A method of assemblage definition is proposed to permit the study of assemblage composition across space. The method is applied to artefacts exposed on the surface as a result of recent erosion at TIB 13 (Sturt National Park, NSW). All stone artefacts greater than 20mm in maximum dimension were recorded by locating each artefact in three‐dimensional space and analysing it in place. The distribution of these artefacts was then compared to the nature of the landform on which they rested through the use of a GIS. Analysis of assemblage composition indicates significant differences across an area of approximately 30,000m2.
The Aboriginal songline or Dreaming track system may be examined from the point of view of an ada... more The Aboriginal songline or Dreaming track system may be examined from the point of view of an adaptive strategy for high mobility which makes it possible to map consumers on resources in a dominantly dry continent with highly variable weather patterns�� The Dreaming track adaptation operates on four main principles: acquisition of Dreaming track songs; complex social organisation; reciprocity; and information flow�� Such an adaptation may have been prompted by the intense aridity of the last glacial maximum of 18,000 years ago, or perhaps by about 6,000 years ago when the current climatic regime became established�� The archaeological evidence for its presence at these times is inconclusive�� However a strong case for the Dreaming track system being in place can be made by about 1500 years ago in western New South Wales and about 1200 years ago in the Northern Territory�� At a global scale, the Dreaming track system can be seen as a social and economic institution which provided an adequate supply of resources for Aboriginal people and was an alternative for the adoption of horticulture in Australia��
Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement, 1993
In 1987 a female adult skeleton with a small child was found near Dubbo, NSW, during the course o... more In 1987 a female adult skeleton with a small child was found near Dubbo, NSW, during the course of landscape gardening. Although the burials were disturbed by the landscaping work, artefacts found at the time can be associated with the burials. The presence of certain artefacts raises questions concerning the status of the female, and the cause of her death.
Analysis of 28 radiocarbon determinations obtained from the excavation of heat retainer hearths f... more Analysis of 28 radiocarbon determinations obtained from the excavation of heat retainer hearths from Sturt National Park in western New South Wales, indicates Aboriginal occupation of the arid margin of Australia during the last 1700 years. The determinations show two phases of hearth construction separated by a period of at least 200 years, and possibly 400 years, when no hearths were constructed. Palaeoenvironmental and archaeological evidence is reviewed in an effort to account for the late Holocene dates from the hearths and the existence of the hiatus in hearth construction. Despite the close match between the hiatus and the so-called Medieval Warm Period, caution is required before extrapolating the results from an archaeological study of a small geographic region to the continent as a whole.
Pollen, plant and animal macrofossils recovered from nine Leporillus spp. (Muridae) middens found... more Pollen, plant and animal macrofossils recovered from nine Leporillus spp. (Muridae) middens found in the Gap and Coturaundee Ranges, western New South Wales were examined. By comparing current vegetation, pollen from modern surface samples and pollen from midden samples, general vegetation characteristics over the last 6500 years BP were reconstructed. Evidence shows that a greater shrub cover was apparent between 6500 and 5200 BP, while other aspects of the vegetation cover were similar to present. An increase in tree pollen, possibly indicating greater tree cover, occurred around 3400-2600 BP, while vegetation in the last 1300 years was similar to present. These interpretations, particularly from the older samples, are tentative due to spatial and temporal limitations. Animal macrofossils from the middens indicate that several mammal species now extinct or uncommon in western New South Wales have occurred in the area in the past 3000 years. This study also confirms that reconstruction of vegetation from Leporillus spp. midden evidence should be seen as separate 'snapshots', rather than continuous records over a stratigraphically defined timescale.
There is considerable variation in the Aboriginal archaeology of western New South Wales. This is... more There is considerable variation in the Aboriginal archaeology of western New South Wales. This is demonstrated by differences in the stone artefacts found on the open campsites that are common and distributed over all landscapes throughout western NSW. Other site types may occur in particular regions and show differences from one region to another. Eight archaeological regions are proposed. These are at the same scale as the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, and many of the boundaries are the same. The archaeological regions represent the accumulation of archaeological materials on the landscape and Aboriginal knowledge about how to cope in various situations. There is little relationship between the archaeological regional boundaries and the published tribal boundaries. The condition and preservation of the archaeology is closely related to the nature of landscape change since European arrival.
Studies with the full use of equipment and facilities. I would like to thank Jack Golson for his ... more Studies with the full use of equipment and facilities. I would like to thank Jack Golson for his support in the Department during my research. I also would like to thank Jeanette Hope for making available the vehicle from the National Parks Foundation for my field work. Thanks also go to Sharon Sullivan for coordinating my grant with the National Parks Foundation and for providing me with Service contacts in the field. My field work in the Tibooburra area was based at Sturt National Park and I would like to thank John Gerritsen and Rod Holmes for all that they did. I also want to thank Frank Nichols of 'Pindera Downs' for his help. I further greatly appreciate the efforts by Isabel McBryde to.provide me with students to take with me in the field as assistants. These were Helen Blaine, Colin Yates, Clair Sheppard and the late Peter May. Thank you for this help. In the laboratory I would like to thank Sally Brockwell and Prue Gaffey. I have had many useful discussions with my colleagues who have made helpful suggestions. These include
Recent erosion in arid regions of western NSW has exposed large areas that are scattered with sto... more Recent erosion in arid regions of western NSW has exposed large areas that are scattered with stone artefacts manufactured by Aboriginal people in prehistory. These exposures offer an opportunity for archaeologists to study the artefacts abandoned by Aboriginal people through time and to compare those artefacts that accumulate in different parts of the landscape. To reconstruct the nature of prehistoric behaviour in the rangelands, two approaches are needed. First, the geomorphological context of the artefacts needs to be considered since exposure of the artefacts is a function of landscape history. Second, large areas (measured in thousands of square metres) and large numbers of artefacts need to be considered if patterns reflecting long-term abandonment behaviour by Aboriginal people are to be identified. This paper reports on the Western New South Wales Archaeological Program (WNSWAP) which was initiated in 1995 to study surface archaeology in the rangelands. Geomorphological stu...
by MICHEL LENOIR Institut du Quaternaire, Universite de Bordeaux I, 33405 Talence Cedex, France. ... more by MICHEL LENOIR Institut du Quaternaire, Universite de Bordeaux I, 33405 Talence Cedex, France. 7 XI 84 Dibble's (CA 26:391-93) report approaches an aspect of variation in prehistoric lithic industries that is not usually treated: the combined influence of raw material and the geographic location of the site. This influence is seen especially in the morphological and morphometric haracteristics of the Levallois flakes of different Mousterian series, characteristics that are determined by the size of the flint nodules available and their abundance. Dibble's plot of the morphometric distribution of Levallois flakes from various levels of various sites demonstrates this relationship. The Mousterian of Corbiac, characterized by larger Levallois flakes than those of other sites, is clearly distinguishable, doubtless because, as Dibble judiciously suggests, of the location of this site in an area in which large flint nodules abound. It is harder to interpret he wide dispersion of the Pech de l'Aze sites on the plot despite the fact that they are geographically close and a priori have available the same raw materials. Dibble suggests that differences in the accessibility of flint in various periods of occupation of these different loci may be responsible for this, a suggestion that deserves to be corroborated by detailed quantitative study of the raw materials represented in the various levels of the Pech de l'Aze sites. Although Dibble clearly treats the problem of the influence of raw material, his study deals with only one of its aspects, and his approach is a little too "global." It does not take into account the diversity of raw material in each site and at each archaeological level. This diversity is quite apparent, especially at Combe Grenal, and can be linked to variations in the strategies of selection and supply (see Tavoso 1984, Geneste n.d.). Moreover, Dibble's approach does not seem to take the modalities linked to cultural choices sufficiently into account. Such modalities are clearly revealed in Pech de l'Aze IV as far as the Asinipodian is concerned (Bordes 1975, 1981). Nevertheless, he has opened up prospects for research that, while not entirely new, might be of great interest if multiple variables were included (accessibility and diversity of raw materials, conditions of the site, strategies of selection, methods of exploitation, and their mutual influences and contingencies).
Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press... more Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (1989), 124 pp. ISBN 0521253500 (hardcover). Price $95.00. Includes references.
Large oval flakes made from greywacke beach cobbles and their cores are conspicuous on the south ... more Large oval flakes made from greywacke beach cobbles and their cores are conspicuous on the south Canterbury coast. Replication trials show that the main method of flake production was to strike the cobble end-on against an anvil. This is an unusual technique and is termed here the ‘mass impact’ method. An archaeological site 4 km east of the Rakaia River mouth with greywacke assemblages was discovered during an archaeological assessment survey. It contained five artefact clusters where impact flakes had been transported and discarded. In addition there was found a workshop with cores and flakes (including conjoins) and anvils associated with an oven. These features were analysed using a reduction chart, which shows there were at least two distinct flake assemblage types as well as the workshop. The site has logistical and functional implications, although the landscape has been considerably altered by coastal cutting.
Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press... more Review(s) of: Time, Energy and Stone Tools, by by Robin Torrence (ed), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge (1989), 124 pp. ISBN 0521253500 (hardcover). Price $95.00. Includes references.
Surface scatters of stone artefacts are ubiquitous in the Australian landscape and form the basis... more Surface scatters of stone artefacts are ubiquitous in the Australian landscape and form the basis for the majority of archaeological conservation decisions. The research reported here proposes a distributional approach for analysing this record founded on the artefact as the minimal recording unit rather than the site. A method of assemblage definition is proposed to permit the study of assemblage composition across space. The method is applied to artefacts exposed on the surface as a result of recent erosion at TIB 13 (Sturt National Park, NSW). All stone artefacts greater than 20mm in maximum dimension were recorded by locating each artefact in three‐dimensional space and analysing it in place. The distribution of these artefacts was then compared to the nature of the landform on which they rested through the use of a GIS. Analysis of assemblage composition indicates significant differences across an area of approximately 30,000m2.
The Aboriginal songline or Dreaming track system may be examined from the point of view of an ada... more The Aboriginal songline or Dreaming track system may be examined from the point of view of an adaptive strategy for high mobility which makes it possible to map consumers on resources in a dominantly dry continent with highly variable weather patterns�� The Dreaming track adaptation operates on four main principles: acquisition of Dreaming track songs; complex social organisation; reciprocity; and information flow�� Such an adaptation may have been prompted by the intense aridity of the last glacial maximum of 18,000 years ago, or perhaps by about 6,000 years ago when the current climatic regime became established�� The archaeological evidence for its presence at these times is inconclusive�� However a strong case for the Dreaming track system being in place can be made by about 1500 years ago in western New South Wales and about 1200 years ago in the Northern Territory�� At a global scale, the Dreaming track system can be seen as a social and economic institution which provided an adequate supply of resources for Aboriginal people and was an alternative for the adoption of horticulture in Australia��
Records of the Australian Museum, Supplement, 1993
In 1987 a female adult skeleton with a small child was found near Dubbo, NSW, during the course o... more In 1987 a female adult skeleton with a small child was found near Dubbo, NSW, during the course of landscape gardening. Although the burials were disturbed by the landscaping work, artefacts found at the time can be associated with the burials. The presence of certain artefacts raises questions concerning the status of the female, and the cause of her death.
Analysis of 28 radiocarbon determinations obtained from the excavation of heat retainer hearths f... more Analysis of 28 radiocarbon determinations obtained from the excavation of heat retainer hearths from Sturt National Park in western New South Wales, indicates Aboriginal occupation of the arid margin of Australia during the last 1700 years. The determinations show two phases of hearth construction separated by a period of at least 200 years, and possibly 400 years, when no hearths were constructed. Palaeoenvironmental and archaeological evidence is reviewed in an effort to account for the late Holocene dates from the hearths and the existence of the hiatus in hearth construction. Despite the close match between the hiatus and the so-called Medieval Warm Period, caution is required before extrapolating the results from an archaeological study of a small geographic region to the continent as a whole.
Pollen, plant and animal macrofossils recovered from nine Leporillus spp. (Muridae) middens found... more Pollen, plant and animal macrofossils recovered from nine Leporillus spp. (Muridae) middens found in the Gap and Coturaundee Ranges, western New South Wales were examined. By comparing current vegetation, pollen from modern surface samples and pollen from midden samples, general vegetation characteristics over the last 6500 years BP were reconstructed. Evidence shows that a greater shrub cover was apparent between 6500 and 5200 BP, while other aspects of the vegetation cover were similar to present. An increase in tree pollen, possibly indicating greater tree cover, occurred around 3400-2600 BP, while vegetation in the last 1300 years was similar to present. These interpretations, particularly from the older samples, are tentative due to spatial and temporal limitations. Animal macrofossils from the middens indicate that several mammal species now extinct or uncommon in western New South Wales have occurred in the area in the past 3000 years. This study also confirms that reconstruction of vegetation from Leporillus spp. midden evidence should be seen as separate 'snapshots', rather than continuous records over a stratigraphically defined timescale.
There is considerable variation in the Aboriginal archaeology of western New South Wales. This is... more There is considerable variation in the Aboriginal archaeology of western New South Wales. This is demonstrated by differences in the stone artefacts found on the open campsites that are common and distributed over all landscapes throughout western NSW. Other site types may occur in particular regions and show differences from one region to another. Eight archaeological regions are proposed. These are at the same scale as the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, and many of the boundaries are the same. The archaeological regions represent the accumulation of archaeological materials on the landscape and Aboriginal knowledge about how to cope in various situations. There is little relationship between the archaeological regional boundaries and the published tribal boundaries. The condition and preservation of the archaeology is closely related to the nature of landscape change since European arrival.
Studies with the full use of equipment and facilities. I would like to thank Jack Golson for his ... more Studies with the full use of equipment and facilities. I would like to thank Jack Golson for his support in the Department during my research. I also would like to thank Jeanette Hope for making available the vehicle from the National Parks Foundation for my field work. Thanks also go to Sharon Sullivan for coordinating my grant with the National Parks Foundation and for providing me with Service contacts in the field. My field work in the Tibooburra area was based at Sturt National Park and I would like to thank John Gerritsen and Rod Holmes for all that they did. I also want to thank Frank Nichols of 'Pindera Downs' for his help. I further greatly appreciate the efforts by Isabel McBryde to.provide me with students to take with me in the field as assistants. These were Helen Blaine, Colin Yates, Clair Sheppard and the late Peter May. Thank you for this help. In the laboratory I would like to thank Sally Brockwell and Prue Gaffey. I have had many useful discussions with my colleagues who have made helpful suggestions. These include
Recent erosion in arid regions of western NSW has exposed large areas that are scattered with sto... more Recent erosion in arid regions of western NSW has exposed large areas that are scattered with stone artefacts manufactured by Aboriginal people in prehistory. These exposures offer an opportunity for archaeologists to study the artefacts abandoned by Aboriginal people through time and to compare those artefacts that accumulate in different parts of the landscape. To reconstruct the nature of prehistoric behaviour in the rangelands, two approaches are needed. First, the geomorphological context of the artefacts needs to be considered since exposure of the artefacts is a function of landscape history. Second, large areas (measured in thousands of square metres) and large numbers of artefacts need to be considered if patterns reflecting long-term abandonment behaviour by Aboriginal people are to be identified. This paper reports on the Western New South Wales Archaeological Program (WNSWAP) which was initiated in 1995 to study surface archaeology in the rangelands. Geomorphological stu...
by MICHEL LENOIR Institut du Quaternaire, Universite de Bordeaux I, 33405 Talence Cedex, France. ... more by MICHEL LENOIR Institut du Quaternaire, Universite de Bordeaux I, 33405 Talence Cedex, France. 7 XI 84 Dibble's (CA 26:391-93) report approaches an aspect of variation in prehistoric lithic industries that is not usually treated: the combined influence of raw material and the geographic location of the site. This influence is seen especially in the morphological and morphometric haracteristics of the Levallois flakes of different Mousterian series, characteristics that are determined by the size of the flint nodules available and their abundance. Dibble's plot of the morphometric distribution of Levallois flakes from various levels of various sites demonstrates this relationship. The Mousterian of Corbiac, characterized by larger Levallois flakes than those of other sites, is clearly distinguishable, doubtless because, as Dibble judiciously suggests, of the location of this site in an area in which large flint nodules abound. It is harder to interpret he wide dispersion of the Pech de l'Aze sites on the plot despite the fact that they are geographically close and a priori have available the same raw materials. Dibble suggests that differences in the accessibility of flint in various periods of occupation of these different loci may be responsible for this, a suggestion that deserves to be corroborated by detailed quantitative study of the raw materials represented in the various levels of the Pech de l'Aze sites. Although Dibble clearly treats the problem of the influence of raw material, his study deals with only one of its aspects, and his approach is a little too "global." It does not take into account the diversity of raw material in each site and at each archaeological level. This diversity is quite apparent, especially at Combe Grenal, and can be linked to variations in the strategies of selection and supply (see Tavoso 1984, Geneste n.d.). Moreover, Dibble's approach does not seem to take the modalities linked to cultural choices sufficiently into account. Such modalities are clearly revealed in Pech de l'Aze IV as far as the Asinipodian is concerned (Bordes 1975, 1981). Nevertheless, he has opened up prospects for research that, while not entirely new, might be of great interest if multiple variables were included (accessibility and diversity of raw materials, conditions of the site, strategies of selection, methods of exploitation, and their mutual influences and contingencies).
Uploads
Papers by Dan Witter