Mobility concerns the ways and logics of movement from place to place. Understanding hunter-gathe... more Mobility concerns the ways and logics of movement from place to place. Understanding hunter-gatherer mobility across the landscape is always located in the ontology of the observer, and must therefore take into account the perspectives from which we try to make sense of past mobility. This article explores and critiques past and current approaches to landscapes of mobility, and present future directions, reflecting on implications for how we have come to construct very particular understandings of the past. It concludes by discussing how archaeological modelling constructs its own myths based on ontological pre-understandings, and the role that the archaeology of landscapes of hunter-gatherer mobility has played in this.
Recent excavations at Nawarla Gabarnmang in Jawoyn Country, southwest Arnhem Land have produced a... more Recent excavations at Nawarla Gabarnmang in Jawoyn Country, southwest Arnhem Land have produced a long sequence of AMS radiocarbon determinations on individual pieces of charcoal reliably associated with stone artefacts dating back to 45,180±910 cal BP. It represents one of the earliest radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites in Australia. Here we report on initial results
The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia, 2017
Surviving fragments of the skull suggest a globular cranium with a short, heavily constructed bea... more Surviving fragments of the skull suggest a globular cranium with a short, heavily constructed beak (Murray and Megirian 1998). Although the massive beak has been interpreted by some as a sign of a carnivorous diet, other evidence, including gizzard stones in association with some skeletons, and the structure of the beak and feet all favour a herbivorous diet (Murray and Vickers-Rich 2004; Rich 1979). Recent interpretations of both the distribution of Genyornis and of the timing of its extinction rest heavily on the attribution to this species (most likely erroneously, see below) of a distinctive and sometimes very abundant kind of fossil eggshell. This association was first made by Williams (1981), who distinguished two morphological kinds of eggshell from sites of late Pleistocene age in South Australia. Both kinds of eggshell were from eggs about the same size as those laid by the living emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), but while some fragments had features consistent to those of modern emu, others showed differences in surface ornamentation and the arrangement of pores (Williams 1981). When eggshell of this 'Genyornis' type was mapped together with skeletal remains, the species appeared to be widely distributed across the Murray-Darling system of southeast Australia, the internally draining Lake Eyre and Lake Frome Basins of south-central Australia, and in the southwest corner of Western Australia. No skeletal remains or eggshell of the 'Genyornis' type has been reported from anywhere in northern Australia. However, it is worth noting that there are still relatively few Pleistocene fossil sites in this area and even fewer that have yielded remains of megafauna. The few sites that might have been expected to produce remains of Genyornis (but in each case have not) include the Quanbun site in the south Kimberley (Flannery 1984) and the alluvial terraces along the Leichhardt and Gregory rivers in the Gulf region of Queensland (Archer et al. 2006). Eggshell, by virtue of its crystalline structure and organic content, is an ideal material for amino acid racimisation, radiometric dating and also for chemical analysis of dietary preferences. For these reasons, the ancient eggshell record from northern South Australia and surrounding regions was targeted for detailed studies by Miller and his co-researchers. Their studies showed that the two kinds of eggshell were deposited in the many sand dunes and beaches, more or less continuously from around 140,000 years ago until around 45,000-50,000 years ago, after which the Dromaius kind alone was deposited (Miller et al. 1999). Miller et al. (2005) took their investigations one step further through dietary analysis of eggshell samples. The results indicated that the regional emu population had a less restricted dietary range than contemporaneous populations of the second, extinct species. Whereas the emu samples show highly variable chemical signatures that indicate a capacity to feed on a wide variety of plant foods including shrubs and trees as well as all kinds of grasses, the extinct species showed a narrower diet with a likely reliance on more nutritious grasses.
Study of red pigments from the “Genyornis” panel, Arnhem Land, Australia: what are the origins of... more Study of red pigments from the “Genyornis” panel, Arnhem Land, Australia: what are the origins of the haematite? Western Arnhem Land’s rock art is world famous yet very poorly dated. Understanding its history over tens of thousands of years has major implications for understanding Aboriginal cultural history in Australia. In particular, very little is known about the composition of paints and the techniques used to make Rock Art. Here we investigate the pigments and rock surfaces of an undated rock painting that has been argued in the literature to represent the extinct megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni, thought to have become extinct across Australia 40-45 000 years ago. Small flakes of pigmented and unpigmented rock were sampled from the so-called Genyornis panel in order to address three major questions concerning: i) the constituents of the pigments used and their modes of preparation (mixing with extender(s) or binder(s); grinding; heat treatment); (ii) the geological formation...
Cet article presente les derniers resultats issus respectivement de l’etude de pigments preleves ... more Cet article presente les derniers resultats issus respectivement de l’etude de pigments preleves sur un panneau rupestre et de pigments excaves de deux sites majeurs d’art rupestre dans le nord de l’Australie : le site de ‘Genyornis’, et Nawarla Gabarnmang. Il a ete avance dans la litterature archeologique que le premier site abriterait la peinture de Genyornis newtoni, dont l’extinction est estimee a 40-45000 ans sur le continent australien. Le second site, Nawarla Gabarnmang, se caracterise quant a lui par un vaste ensemble archeologique dont les plafonds et les piliers sont recouverts de plusieurs generations de peintures ; les fouilles archeologiques ont permis de mettre au jour une importante collection de blocs colores (dont certains ont ete identifies comme etant des crayons d’ocre). Afin de determiner pour le site de ‘Genyornis’, les constituants des pigments utilises, leur mode de preparation, leur origine geographique et la chronologie des peintures, des micro-echantillons...
Bien que l’on ait souvent prétendu avoir la preuve que l’Australie possède certaines œuvres d’art... more Bien que l’on ait souvent prétendu avoir la preuve que l’Australie possède certaines œuvres d’art rupestre les plus anciennes du monde et figure au premier plan des études sur cet art, très peu sont en fait bien datées. Récemment, fut signalée la première date pléistocène pour du pigment (peinture, dessin, imprimé ou en négatif) en Terre d’Arnhem, représentant l’un des exemples les plus anciens bien datés d’un art rupestre enfoui (voir Aubert 2012 et David et al. 2013a pour des études récentes sur les datations d’art rupestre australiennes).
Western Arnhem Land’s rock art is world famous yet very poorly dated. Understanding its history o... more Western Arnhem Land’s rock art is world famous yet very poorly dated. Understanding its history over tens of thousands of years has major implications for understanding Aboriginal cultural history in Australia. In particular, very little is known about the composition of paints and the techniques used to make Rock Art. Here we investigate the pigments and rock surfaces of an undated rock painting that has been argued in the literature to represent the extinct megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni, thought to have become extinct across Australia 40-45 000 years ago. Small flakes of pigmented and unpigmented rock were sampled from the so-called ‘Genyornis’ panel in order to address three major questions concerning: i) the constituents of the pigments used and their modes of preparation (mixing with extender(s) or binder(s); grinding; heat treatment); (ii) the geological formations which provided such pigments; and (iii) the antiquity of paintings on the rock walls. Following macroscopic o...
Mobility concerns the ways and logics of movement from place to place. Understanding hunter-gathe... more Mobility concerns the ways and logics of movement from place to place. Understanding hunter-gatherer mobility across the landscape is always located in the ontology of the observer, and must therefore take into account the perspectives from which we try to make sense of past mobility. This article explores and critiques past and current approaches to landscapes of mobility, and present future directions, reflecting on implications for how we have come to construct very particular understandings of the past. It concludes by discussing how archaeological modelling constructs its own myths based on ontological pre-understandings, and the role that the archaeology of landscapes of hunter-gatherer mobility has played in this.
Recent excavations at Nawarla Gabarnmang in Jawoyn Country, southwest Arnhem Land have produced a... more Recent excavations at Nawarla Gabarnmang in Jawoyn Country, southwest Arnhem Land have produced a long sequence of AMS radiocarbon determinations on individual pieces of charcoal reliably associated with stone artefacts dating back to 45,180±910 cal BP. It represents one of the earliest radiocarbon-dated archaeological sites in Australia. Here we report on initial results
The Archaeology of Rock Art in Western Arnhem Land, Australia, 2017
Surviving fragments of the skull suggest a globular cranium with a short, heavily constructed bea... more Surviving fragments of the skull suggest a globular cranium with a short, heavily constructed beak (Murray and Megirian 1998). Although the massive beak has been interpreted by some as a sign of a carnivorous diet, other evidence, including gizzard stones in association with some skeletons, and the structure of the beak and feet all favour a herbivorous diet (Murray and Vickers-Rich 2004; Rich 1979). Recent interpretations of both the distribution of Genyornis and of the timing of its extinction rest heavily on the attribution to this species (most likely erroneously, see below) of a distinctive and sometimes very abundant kind of fossil eggshell. This association was first made by Williams (1981), who distinguished two morphological kinds of eggshell from sites of late Pleistocene age in South Australia. Both kinds of eggshell were from eggs about the same size as those laid by the living emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), but while some fragments had features consistent to those of modern emu, others showed differences in surface ornamentation and the arrangement of pores (Williams 1981). When eggshell of this 'Genyornis' type was mapped together with skeletal remains, the species appeared to be widely distributed across the Murray-Darling system of southeast Australia, the internally draining Lake Eyre and Lake Frome Basins of south-central Australia, and in the southwest corner of Western Australia. No skeletal remains or eggshell of the 'Genyornis' type has been reported from anywhere in northern Australia. However, it is worth noting that there are still relatively few Pleistocene fossil sites in this area and even fewer that have yielded remains of megafauna. The few sites that might have been expected to produce remains of Genyornis (but in each case have not) include the Quanbun site in the south Kimberley (Flannery 1984) and the alluvial terraces along the Leichhardt and Gregory rivers in the Gulf region of Queensland (Archer et al. 2006). Eggshell, by virtue of its crystalline structure and organic content, is an ideal material for amino acid racimisation, radiometric dating and also for chemical analysis of dietary preferences. For these reasons, the ancient eggshell record from northern South Australia and surrounding regions was targeted for detailed studies by Miller and his co-researchers. Their studies showed that the two kinds of eggshell were deposited in the many sand dunes and beaches, more or less continuously from around 140,000 years ago until around 45,000-50,000 years ago, after which the Dromaius kind alone was deposited (Miller et al. 1999). Miller et al. (2005) took their investigations one step further through dietary analysis of eggshell samples. The results indicated that the regional emu population had a less restricted dietary range than contemporaneous populations of the second, extinct species. Whereas the emu samples show highly variable chemical signatures that indicate a capacity to feed on a wide variety of plant foods including shrubs and trees as well as all kinds of grasses, the extinct species showed a narrower diet with a likely reliance on more nutritious grasses.
Study of red pigments from the “Genyornis” panel, Arnhem Land, Australia: what are the origins of... more Study of red pigments from the “Genyornis” panel, Arnhem Land, Australia: what are the origins of the haematite? Western Arnhem Land’s rock art is world famous yet very poorly dated. Understanding its history over tens of thousands of years has major implications for understanding Aboriginal cultural history in Australia. In particular, very little is known about the composition of paints and the techniques used to make Rock Art. Here we investigate the pigments and rock surfaces of an undated rock painting that has been argued in the literature to represent the extinct megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni, thought to have become extinct across Australia 40-45 000 years ago. Small flakes of pigmented and unpigmented rock were sampled from the so-called Genyornis panel in order to address three major questions concerning: i) the constituents of the pigments used and their modes of preparation (mixing with extender(s) or binder(s); grinding; heat treatment); (ii) the geological formation...
Cet article presente les derniers resultats issus respectivement de l’etude de pigments preleves ... more Cet article presente les derniers resultats issus respectivement de l’etude de pigments preleves sur un panneau rupestre et de pigments excaves de deux sites majeurs d’art rupestre dans le nord de l’Australie : le site de ‘Genyornis’, et Nawarla Gabarnmang. Il a ete avance dans la litterature archeologique que le premier site abriterait la peinture de Genyornis newtoni, dont l’extinction est estimee a 40-45000 ans sur le continent australien. Le second site, Nawarla Gabarnmang, se caracterise quant a lui par un vaste ensemble archeologique dont les plafonds et les piliers sont recouverts de plusieurs generations de peintures ; les fouilles archeologiques ont permis de mettre au jour une importante collection de blocs colores (dont certains ont ete identifies comme etant des crayons d’ocre). Afin de determiner pour le site de ‘Genyornis’, les constituants des pigments utilises, leur mode de preparation, leur origine geographique et la chronologie des peintures, des micro-echantillons...
Bien que l’on ait souvent prétendu avoir la preuve que l’Australie possède certaines œuvres d’art... more Bien que l’on ait souvent prétendu avoir la preuve que l’Australie possède certaines œuvres d’art rupestre les plus anciennes du monde et figure au premier plan des études sur cet art, très peu sont en fait bien datées. Récemment, fut signalée la première date pléistocène pour du pigment (peinture, dessin, imprimé ou en négatif) en Terre d’Arnhem, représentant l’un des exemples les plus anciens bien datés d’un art rupestre enfoui (voir Aubert 2012 et David et al. 2013a pour des études récentes sur les datations d’art rupestre australiennes).
Western Arnhem Land’s rock art is world famous yet very poorly dated. Understanding its history o... more Western Arnhem Land’s rock art is world famous yet very poorly dated. Understanding its history over tens of thousands of years has major implications for understanding Aboriginal cultural history in Australia. In particular, very little is known about the composition of paints and the techniques used to make Rock Art. Here we investigate the pigments and rock surfaces of an undated rock painting that has been argued in the literature to represent the extinct megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni, thought to have become extinct across Australia 40-45 000 years ago. Small flakes of pigmented and unpigmented rock were sampled from the so-called ‘Genyornis’ panel in order to address three major questions concerning: i) the constituents of the pigments used and their modes of preparation (mixing with extender(s) or binder(s); grinding; heat treatment); (ii) the geological formations which provided such pigments; and (iii) the antiquity of paintings on the rock walls. Following macroscopic o...
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