Archaeology of the western Lindsay Island Meander Scroll

Archaeology of the western Lindsay Island Meander Scroll report on a survey of burials, artefacts and sites in north-west Victoria for Sunraysia Aboriginal Co-op and The Victoria Archaeological Survey by Colin Pardoe [originally with the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, GPO Box 553, Canberra, ACT 2601] [May 1989] Lindsay Island Meander Scroll during an overbanking flood in 2022. Note that the whole dune system is above water, providing a secure burial area (to the north) and useful location for residence as the waters subsided into the main channels adjacent. (image from Google Earth) Preface Lindsay Island was one of those idyllic pieces of work. It went smoothly from start to finish. Except for the sinking of the tinnie on which the SBS TV crew was being ferried across by Mark Grist. Even that was a lot of fun, at least for Mark and I. Mark and I were documenting the site for Aboriginal Affairs Victoria (then Victoria Archaeological Survey). We focussed on the meander scroll of the western part of the island, on which was a cemetery that had been dug by George Murray Black in the 1930s and 1940s. At the south eastern end of the meander scroll was a small hill that turned out to be the source of a beautiful brown silcrete and the last eastern exposure of this sediment along the Murray River floodplain. This would become a focus for Mark’s studies at university. I was inordinately fond of this work. It brought together several strands of study that were, of course, intertwined in the lives of the people who created the archaeological record of Lindsay Island, and whose remains were buried in what became the Lindsay Island Cemetery. It turned out to be one of the sites where GM Black retrieved skeletal remains in the 1940s, and later was a focus of study by Museums Victoria. I had studied the biology of these remains and was now able to examine some of the archaeological record, including the cemetery itself. This study was one of the high points in my association with the Sunraysia Aboriginal Co-operative, and particularly its Cultural Officer, Mark Grist. We carried out the field study along with several friends, and then spent some time at the Co-op writing a pamphlet for the local community. Our discovery of the Berribee silcrete source was a major find that fuelled Mark’s interest in further study, culminating in his 1995 BA Honours thesis from the Australian National University, entitled ‘An archaeological investigation in to the “No Stone Saga” of far north-west Victoria’. This was an important study that demonstrated the practical working arrangement possible between Aboriginal people and Archaeologists. The study focussed on skeletal remains at the request and interest of the local community. Conservation and future planning were important for this locality because of its importance and fragility. The concerns and interests of all parties - Aboriginal, local, archaeological, conservation - were accommodated and proved complementary. I had thought this report would be published in the AAV occasional publication series, so I did not seek to publish it in an archaeological journal. Conservation efforts continued in the area. This document, approved at the time by the Sunraysia Aboriginal Co-operative and Traditional Owners, is edited slightly for clarity. Colin Pardoe [email protected] 16 Hackett Gardens, Turner ACT 2612 August 2024 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 Landform Description ................................................................................................ 2 Erosion .................................................................................................................. 5 Site Definition ........................................................................................................ 5 Site descriptions ........................................................................................................ 6 Burial archaeology................................................................................................... 14 Number of burials ................................................................................................ 15 Age and Sex ........................................................................................................ 15 Burial Orientation ................................................................................................. 17 Position of the body in the grave .......................................................................... 20 Cemetery Criteria................................................................................................. 22 Cemetery Behaviour ............................................................................................ 23 Stone tools .............................................................................................................. 23 Density ................................................................................................................ 23 Raw Materials ...................................................................................................... 24 Sources ............................................................................................................... 24 Other Features ........................................................................................................ 25 Ovens .................................................................................................................. 25 Shell middens and dinner camps ......................................................................... 25 Summary................................................................................................................. 26 Management recommendations .............................................................................. 26 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 28 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 29 Appendix I Burial data. ............................................................................................ 32 Introduction The meander scroll and surrounds on the western part of Lindsay Island encapsulate a wide range of archaeological remains that allow for a coherent view of people’s lives over the past few thousand years. A large part of these remains are the people themselves, buried here in their hundreds. I will deal in detail with this aspect of the archaeology, but will also place it in a regional perspective, in the counterpoint of life and death. The evidence for death is everywhere. There are burials and cremations, whole skeletons and scatters of tiny, bleached fragmented bones. But amongst these are the evidences of life in the social act of burial, in the occupational materials and information gathered from the bones directly. The region of the central Murray may be defined biologically (Pardoe 1984, 1988c) as encompassing the river tract from Lindsay Island and Lake Victoria as far upstream as Mallee Cliffs. Later Holocene populations from this area exhibit extreme morphological (and by implication, genetic) diversification. This regional difference is tempered by longer range affiliations with populations of the River Murray in a pattern of clinal variation. This linear form of variation supports a model of gene flow between populations on the river, to the exclusion of hinterland groups. Archaeological manifestations of similarity and difference are predicated on a riverine/non-riverine dichotomy of food and stone materials (Witter 1984). Burial patterns are clearly different (Pardoe 1988a, c) and I will pursue this as one of the facets most important in determining significance within a regional context. Job requirements The survey of the Lindsay Island meander scroll was a five week temporary job for the Victorian Archaeological Survey meant to document Aboriginal archaeology and to present management options for the Survey and for the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands. The stated objectives are: • To locate and document the Aboriginal archaeology of the study area. • To assess the threats to the sites, in particular erosion, rabbits, domestic stock and public visitation. • To define landscape units or site complexes which may be treated as discrete units for the purposes of site management. • To assign priorities for the implementation of management recommendations for each of the units as defined above. Specific tasks were set out for the survey and assessment. These are: • • • • • • • To consult with the Sunraysia and District Aboriginal Corporation. To consult with officers in the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands. To devise a survey and documentation strategy for the study area. To carry out the above strategy, documenting the archaeological sites found, the area surveyed and the ground surface visibility. To identify areas which may be treated as units for management purposes. To assess the threats to each of the above units. To determine priorities for implementing management works. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 1 Research Framework The aim of this survey is primarily management oriented. Background study, community communication, survey and reporting were carried out by the author and Mark Grist, Cultural Heritage Officer, northwest Victoria. The current report is the responsibility of the author and is paired with a report to the local community authored by the two of us. We brought shared interests to this study - burial archaeology and the association of burial to living area as seen by the evidence of cultural material. Given the very limited time available to complete the survey (13 days) and to write the reports (12 days), we decided to concentrate on description and mapping of burials and other features, with less emphasis on stone tools, sources and technology. This was in keeping with interests and concerns in the local Mildura community and Sunraysia Co-operative. Mark Grist wanted archaeological and Aboriginal views of site significance. Work Diary I travelled to Mildura on 26th February. Monday, the 27th Mark Grist, James Blair and myself travelled to Lindsay Island and set up camp. We were joined by David Clark and Charmaine Clark for two days. A film crew from SBS joined us to film our work on the site on 3 March. The boat carrying them across the river tipped over, sinking a massive amount of film gear and I was able to introduce myself to them in the middle of the Lindsay, but that's another story. James left on the same day and on the 4th of March we were joined by Mark's brother, Rodi Grist, who assisted us for the next week. We finished up on the 9th, with a large rainstorm coming in. Mark, Ricky Mullet (Cultural Heritage Officer, Bairnsdale, Victoria) and myself returned to the site for one day to finish a few details, clean up stakes on the site and to examine some of the surrounds for a stone source that we felt must be nearby. From the 10th to 16th March Mark and I worked in the Co-op office on the community report and writing up notes and maps. Landform Description The survey consisted of mapping and examining burials, artefacts and other features on a series of source bordering sand dunes that are part of a meander scroll of the Lindsay River (Figure 1). This scroll is situated on the eastern bank of the river on the western most part of Lindsay Island. The locality is defined by a landform. Meander scrolls are sand dunes formed on the inside of river loops as the loop expands outward. The reason for this is the difference in water speeds on a curve; the inside moves more slowly than the outside and so is liable to dump its sand load. During periods of low water this sand is exposed and blown up on the bank, creating the source bordering dunes. On the Lindsay, this has resulted in a long, crescentic dune (not a lunette) on the eastern side of the river, with the modern channel moving to the west. At the northern end of the scroll, the river has cut back and is eroding part of the dune. At the southern end the river has maintained its position. Gill (1973:21-22, 45-49) describes the surface floodplain and associated source bordering dunes as Holocene in age, the Coonambidgal Formation. This formation of coarse yellow sand to gravel overlain by gray sandy clay shows increasing oxidation from bottom to top. The sand is highly sorted and is very low in soil carbonate. Gill has suggested that the sand is a single unit lying directly on the grey clay of the floodplain. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 2 The base of the Coonambidgal Formation was dated from preserved wood with a range of 3,160 years spanning 7,200±140 BP to 4,040±100 BP (Gill 1973, Gak 2513). This ancient forested land surface was then quickly covered, preserving the wood. The sands appear to be homogenous throughout judging from exposures in blowouts. From the cutting on Riverside north, the sand appears to be finely bedded. The blowout in Cemetery Dune, where Simpson excavated (site 19b, see below), is deep and may extend into an extremely weakly developed palaeosol, with a very pale reddish cast to it. Close examination did not reveal any difference between this and the upper sand. Whether this represents a state of soil development within the last 4,000 years (Coonambidgal) or is the mid Holocene soil surface of the underlying Monoman Formation will be determined by soil analysis. However, the lack of soil differentiation noted suggests that the dune is all one unit. These lower burials and the palaeosol may date to a short time of stability in dune formation within the last 4,000 years, rather than to the period 4,000 to 7,000 years ago or beyond. Figure 1. Location of the Lindsay Island meander scroll. Some dunes, such as at Snaggy Bend (Clark and Hope 1985), exhibit a different core of coarser sand. This denotes different river flow and sedimentary regimes. Such is not the case at Lindsay Island. This evidence supports a later Holocene origin to the dunes, of about 4,000 years. Dune building may have been quick, with perhaps two major phases. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 3 The meander scroll is not continuous, but cut into a number of discrete dunes (Figure 2). Between these the floodplain floor of gray silty clay is exposed, providing floodways from older channels and billabongs to the east. The original dune has either been cut by erosion and flooding or was never a complete linear formation. A number of discrete dunes stand on the floodplain. Figure 2. Aerial photo of the Lindsay Island meander scroll and named dunes. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 4 The dunes are vegetated with grasses, paper daisies, Hopwood, tea-tree, and Cypress Pines. They are bordered by Black Box, as are the areas between the dunes. River Red Gum is the other dominant tree species here, although it is more common on the river banks and other low-lying areas. Erosion Considerable changes to the dune surfaces have come about from tree cutting, stock grazing and rabbits. The erosion is variable along the series of dunes, from complete deflation to completely undisturbed. The discrete dunes may have been eroded from a single meander feature, although it is perhaps more likely that they were built up in this manner. One of the dunes (Riverside north) is being cut by the Lindsay River on its western side. Other erosion is directly attributable to the first mentioned sources. Rates of erosion are possible to estimate from Cemetery Dune, where Blackwood and Simpson (1973) excavated between 1967 and 1969. The erosion is described more fully below in the site descriptions. Site Definition Site definition has proven difficult, given the normal nature of feature and artefact distribution in this part of the country. The survey was defined by and restricted to a particular landform, and so is incomplete with respect to the surrounding area. Conversely, it is all too easy to define a site as a dune and all its contents. The spatial distribution of artefacts, features and burials is not 'site' oriented in the western regions of NSW and Victoria. Some features fit into a notion of site. These include workshops, shell middens and cemeteries. Most of the archaeological material does not exhibit contiguity. Hearths, stone and burials are often not stratigraphically related, their proximity in space belied by a distribution over many hundreds or thousands of years. Given this, there are a few options for site definition that will fit with the cataloguing functions of the VAS. Each find can be given its own site status, which works alright with burials, but is unwieldy in numbers and breaks down with artefact concentrations. Landform definition is a better visible criterion, but subsumes non-associated material into one site. This demands the assumption that each event is a sample of occupation through time. The sum result is that archaeological evidence is a long-term collection of human behaviour that is culturally related. An intermediate definition of sites may be to define these as denser aggregations rising above a background noise. There is some capability of chronological control and the relation of these larger aggregations to the surrounding sampling events is possible. The Lindsay Island meander scroll should probably be a locality, with denser and definable features in it. However, I have considered each dune a site for the sake of the VAS recording system. This is probably more efficient for managing large numbers of scattered remains. In either case, Lindsay Island displays a breadth and variety of occupation that can be interpreted as a unit. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 5 Site descriptions Riverside dune north The most northerly dune is large and well vegetated with grasses and paper daisies. Erosion appears minimal and visibility is low. Not only does the vegetation obscure over 50% of the soil surface, but the surface has probably been aggrading over the last decades. Site 19a of Blackwood and Simpson (1973) in the Chowilla Project is probably a separate dune to the north of this one. Simpson excavated three skeletons from that dune (Blackwood and Simpson 1973:120). All were adult and all oriented in roughly the same direction (NMV X72832, female, supine flexed, 220°; X72833, female, supine extended, 220°; X72834, male, supine extended, 230°). On Riverside north, four locations of human bone were found, but all were isolated fragments of cranium, humerus or unidentified long bone. None could be related to Simpson's work. Stone material is varied on this dune, as it is over most of the meander scroll. The raw materials include red, brown and yellow silcrete, 'chalky' chert, porcellanite, chalcedony and red chert. The red silcrete is slightly more common. I will return to the raw materials and sources in a later section. The flaked stone is generally small (<2 cm.) and no piece showed obvious retouch, nor were any tools identified. Four fragments of grindstone were scattered on the dune. Three of these were of indurated sandstone, while the fourth was of a coarse quartz conglomerate. Artefact density is << 1 per m2. There were two concentrations of shell on the western side of the dune, nearest the river. One of these is a thin midden with darker, ashy soil defining it and is mostly in situ. There were also three hearths visible on the surface, all in situ. There are two hearths to the north and one to the south on the clay floodplain surrounding the dune. Riverside dune south This dune is separated from the previous one by a floodway about 10m. wide. It is cut by the Lindsay River on the west. In this section the dune clearly lies overtop the clay floodplain and the sand is about two metres high. There is no evidence of ancient soil horizons in this section, although it is at the edge of the dune and so might not expose other sedimentary layers. The exposed sand is finely bedded. Vegetation is much the same as the northern dune and is surrounded by Black Box to the north, south and east with Red Gum and Melaleuca to the west. Visibility is low from vegetation cover and scattered, sterile sand blown over. Stone materials noted include red silcrete, yellow/brown chert and porcellanite. A scatter of shell and two burials are also visible. Camptrack dune The main features of this dune are the extensive layer of shell and the paucity of burials. The shell extends along the ridge of the dune from the northwest corner to the southern end of the vehicle track (at the edge of the dune). The only evidence for human remains were a tooth and some small bone fragments which were all disturbed. A core (alias Mark's fish scaler) of coarse grained silcrete with bifacial retouch was found on the surface. An area of 79.5 m2 (5m radius) yielded 20 flakes of red and brown fine grained silcrete, one flake of white quartz and one silcrete core. Surface density of stone is 30 artefact/100 m2. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 6 Cemetery dune The main feature of this dune is the 65 burials (Figure 3). The dune is severely eroded, with a large, flat expanse on the western side (see Figure 4 for cross sections). Most of the skeletons are on this surface. A smaller and deeper blowout lies to the east and is separated from the larger area by a sinuous crest of reworked dune sand. The eastern margin of this blowout has also been covered by recent sand. From Simpson's description, it would appear that erosion has deflated the entire western side of the dune in the space of 18 years. Figure 3. Plan of the burials on Cemetery Dune. A C D B Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 7 If I am right in interpreting Simpson's work on this area (Blackwood and Simpson 1973:102), this dune is the location of his site 19b. He noted that a high ridge runs the full length of the dune. The W. side of the ridge is grassed, but the E. side is a sand blow. The excavation site was approximately midway along the ridge immediately under the crest in the sand-blown area. Six closely spaced skeletons (nos. 37-42) were excavated in loose yellow sand. Many of the skeletons and individual bones lie on small residuals of sand, typically less than 5 cm. in height. The surface of the dune has a harder, silty cap which breaks up readily underfoot and reconsolidates after rain. As mentioned previously, the dune appears to be a single stratigraphic unit. There is some evidence of a red palaeosol above the level of the burials in the eastern part (burials B53 to B61 and see Figure 4). This consists of a small exposure of very pale pink sand. There is no obvious stratigraphic separation of the units and the issue would need to be resolved with a section cut. The ages of burials in this dune are unlikely to be great. The lower burials in the eastern blowout need not necessarily be assigned greater antiquity on the basis of this preliminary inspection. The burials may be contemporaneous with the western ones and may have been placed in a lower area where the dune was already being reworked. Most of the skeletons were neither mineralised nor carbonate coated. The remains that had been exposed to the elements for some time were bleached, sand worn and broken up into small fragments. There were however, a few skeletons on the western side of the dune which were coated with a thin layer of carbonate. These are B33, B34, B35 and B38. From the site plan of the cemetery (Figure 3) it is clear that these lie in a circumscribed area. There was no evidence from the soil surface that these graves may have been subject to carbonate precipitation for purely physical reasons and so it may very well be that these four individuals mark the earlier phase of site use, perhaps unexposed elsewhere on the dune. As an aside, it is interesting that of these four individuals, two are children (one buried face down). The other two are adults buried roughly with the same orientations (about 140° for B34 and 170° for B35). I will return to burial variation in a later section. Disturbance to the burials has been going on for some time. Three individuals show evidence of animal gnawing of the bones (B19, B31 and B40a). This may happen when a burrowing animal comes across a bone in the ground, or less likely, when the bones are exposed. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 8 Figure 4. Cross sections across Cemetery Dune. Refer to Figure 3 for locations. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 9 We recorded stone material and density over Cemetery Dune (Table 1, Figure 3). Each 1 m2 grid was brushed and sieved, giving a greater amount of debitage than at other sampling areas. Average density of stone from these samples is 19 pieces/100 m2. The average weight of stone is very low, with the exception of one quartzite flake in square 3. Virtually all the rest of the flaked stone is debitage, with an average weight of 0.62 gm. All this material would be subject to wind movement and has been deflated down to some degree. Table 1. Stone, shell and oven heat retainers in sampling areas across Cemetery Dune. square silcrete chert quartzite 1 3 0 0 8 0 0 0 9 1 0 0 10 2 0 0 totals 16 2 1 total flaked stone 6 total stone wt 2.7 average stone wt 0.45 0 2 4 1 0 3 0 30.4 2.6 3.7 15.2 0.65 1.23 0 0 - 1 2 1.5 0.75 19 41 2.2 ironstone shell fragments oven stones 1 3 21 6 0 0 0 3 21 2 0 0 0 3 4 0 1 1 0 3 10 3 1 0 0 0 5 5 1 0 0 1 1 19 6 0 0 0 2 1 1 7 0 6 14 0 1 3 3 0 10 0 0 3 7 Fenced in dune There are two blowouts in this dune. The southern one includes burials B1-B8, the northern one, surrounded by cypress pines, includes B9-B15. Visibility is generally good in the blowouts, with reworked drift sand around the margins. There is a thin skin of loose blown sand on the surface covering variably 30-60% and there is no plant cover. This skin of sand would only cover small finds, such as debitage, while bones and larger objects are easily seen. B1 has a light silica sheen on the internal surface of the cranial fragments. The other human remains are generally bleached and eroded, with no mineralisation. Partial cremations (B4, B8) make up 13% of the burials on this dune. There is one shell 'dinner camp', most of which has deflated and fragmented to an area of about 1 m. diameter from an original diameter of about 30 cm. Two ovens are present. H2 is on a largish residual of about 10 cm. The deflation of these and perhaps others has led to a scatter of ovenstones over the blowout. Flaked stone materials were sparse on this dune and represented by fine silcrete with variable colouring (from gray to yellow, brown and red), coarse silcrete, quartzite, porcellanite, chalky silcrete and one piece of clear quartz. This latter flake measures 16 x 17 x 8 mm (LWT). A roughly flaked core of red quartzite lay 3m. from oven H2. A small fragment of indurated gray quartzite grinding stone was noted. The fragment measures 95 x 38 x 21 mm (LWT). The variation in stone material was measured in a sample from the blowout to the south of datum (Table 2). The results are tabulated below: In a 3 m. radius (28.3 m2.) of Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 10 burials B9, B13 and B14 there were 9 flakes of fine grained yellow silcrete and coarse brown quartzite. This yields a density of 32 artefacts/ m2. Table 2. Stone items on Fenced-in dune. stone material fine grained silcrete ➢ grey ➢ yellow/brown ➢ red coarse silcrete chalky yellow silcrete porcelainite red quartzite clear white quartz total n % 11 44 2 8 8 32 1 4 2 8 4 16 4 16 3 12 1 4 25 100 Hopwood 1 dune Hopwood Flat consists of a long flat blowout covering most of the dune. The bare sand is ringed by Black Box and Ti tree and Hopwood has invaded the open area. Visibility is excellent over most of the blowout, with the usual hard silty surface and a thin skin of windblown sand. This does not interfere with any larger objects. Deflation and disturbance have affected the distribution of oven stones, which are scattered over much of the dune. The features in situ are generally on residuals about 10 cm. high. Only three ovens are visible, although more have presumably deflated down from higher levels. Eight burials (of a likely 17) are in situ, suggesting that the deflation has proceeded from the original late Holocene surface down the level of the burials. It is difficult to estimate, but from the amount of sand to leeward, it is unlikely that burials here were more than 30 to 50 cm deep. Stone is rare on this dune, with only two artefacts noted and a sparse distribution of flakes. A1 is a red fractured quartzite block measuring 58 x 45 x 36 (LWT). A2 is a dark brown quartzite (?) flake from a cobble. Two pieces of flaked stone, gray quartzite and white quartz are in the scatter of bone fragments of B16. It is impossible to tell if these are associated as grave goods. A coarse white/yellow silcrete blade core lay on the surface between B8 and B9. It measures 44 x 42 x 26 (LWT). One of the ovens, H2, is in a small hollow which yielded 1 piece of flaked quartz and 7 pieces of yellow/brown silcrete from an area 18 m in diameter. The curve of the blowout makes a density estimate difficult, but is in the order of 3 artefacts/100m2. There are 17 burials exposed on this dune. Of these, three (B4, B17 and B19) have a thin carbonate 'wash' on some of the uneroded bones. None of the burials showed any evidence of cremation. Hopwood 2 dune Hopwood 2 is a small dune separated from the larger dune by a small flood channel. The top of the dune has a dark brown soil, typical of area, with an underlying brown windblown sand. The surface is generally disturbed, loose sand. The only exposure is a small blowout at the north end with three shell 'dinner camps' and one oven around the periphery. Near these are a small yellow/brown silcrete core fragment (18mm max Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 11 length), a gray quartzite flake and a coarse red/brown silcrete discoid scraper measuring 26 x 25 x 12 (LWT). There are no burials visible. Main dune This is the largest of the dunes in the meander scroll and most of it is bare sand. On the western side the dune is grassed with about 80% exposure. The eastern side is a continuous series of deflation blowouts interspersed with areas of drift sand. The stone visible on the Main dune includes yellow/brown and red fine grained silcrete, coarse brown silcrete, gray indurated sandstone, worn ironstone and gray quartzite. Stone is more common in the central portion of the dune than at either end, although there is almost no flaked stone at the southern end. From H3 and H4 (two hearths in situ) I have counted the density of stone. Within a 2 m radius of H3 are 22 debitage flakes of fine grained brown silcrete. In the same area (12.6 m2) at H4 are 30 flakes of mostly the same material, except for two of flaked white quartz. These values yield respective densities of 175 and 238 artefacts/100 m2). an isolated core of brown silcrete 9m south of H4 measures 133 x 101 x 82. I do not know if this is the source of the flakes around H4. A silcrete workshop (feature A1) on the northeast edge of a blowout consists of a smashed gray to white chert block with some cortex. None of the eight pieces are in situ and there is no debitage visible. The largest flaked piece measures 51 x 42 x 33 (LWT). 'A2' is a piece of cement from Simpson's survey of the dune, and I think his site '19C' is just to the south. 'A3' is a single block of chert which belongs with A1 and demonstrates the distance that things can move on these surface exposures. This piece has not been flaked. 'A4' is a large broken, yellow, fine grained silcrete flake. It is eroded and decomposed with flake scars on the dorsal surface, but no retouch or usewear. It measures 55 x 54 x 21 (LWT). 'A5' is a workshop of yellow/white chert debitage and flakes as well as one small flake of white quartz and a larger flake of quartzite. Around oven H10 are two small (4 cm) river worn unworked quartz pebbles and a reduced coarse brown silcrete core measuring 35 x 33 x 25 (LWH). Ovens are abundant on this dune, with 24 mapped in. Many more have deflated out to provide a thin scatter of oven stones over all the blowouts. Of the in-situ ovens, their association with stone or other features is variable. H3, H4 have concentrations of flaking debris around them, while others such as H5-7 and H20-23 have no visible stone in the immediate area. Shell is rare, although other fragments of emu shell, turtle and a concentration of 13 yabby 'eyes' (feature F1) record faunal remains that are lacking over other dunes. 15 burials are exposed on the Main dune. B6 to B10 are probably burials from site 19c, excavated by Simpson (Blackwood and Simpson 1973). He apparently excavated 16 skeletons from this site (p. 124-131) and dated a sample of bone from six individuals to 3,580 ±370 (ANU-420D). This date comes from a lower group of the six individuals which are all adult. Overlying these were two other burials, which may have been at the level of most of the others in the group recorded in the present survey. One individual, B7, is partly mineralised and covered with a thin carbonate wash. It is impossible to tell if this may be of the same age as the dated ones above, but it is Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 12 probably the oldest in the locality. Only one cremation (B1) was noted. Although fragmentary, it appears that the burning was restricted to only a small part of the body. Woodcutter's grave dune This dune was so named for the wooden structure on the top, presumably built by the woodcutters who worked this area. The western side of the dune has eroded quite far and a deposit of reworked sand forms the central crest. Just to the east of this is a small blowout, while further east the dune is stable and vegetated. The wooden structure has been noted before, by David Clark, who suggested it might be a bed. It is a rectangular shape with four corner posts and planking on the edges. On the ground are a series of planks laid lengthways, suggestive of bed supports that had fallen. However, we were taken with the fact that there seems to be no support for these planks on the frame, nor does their position suggest a decaying structure falling into disrepair. It seems credible that this is a grave. Aboriginal remains are only exposed in the blowout. These consist of one or perhaps two individuals and a thin scatter of flaked stone on the order of < 1 flake/m2. Materials include dark chert, yellow and brown fine grained silcrete, brown coarse grained silcrete and one flake of white quartz. Wasp's nest dune This is a large, northerly trending dune with a north-south neck separating a higher, more eroded dune to the east. The dune has three cypress pines on the northwest end and a large amount of Hopwood. It is fairly flat with small, low blowouts. Sheet sand on top covers the original surface to a considerable depth, while the blowouts have only a thin skin of sand. There is almost no shell here (compare to Shell midden dune directly south), and there is very little flaked stone. 'A1' is an isolated core 10m north of oven H2. It is yellow silcrete with three large flake scars. The core has been shattered (not flaked), perhaps by heat, stock or people. The five pieces re-fit to form the core which measures 88 x 84 x 61 (LWT). One of the ovens (H2) is a deflated scatter which includes a small amount of wasp nest, baked and broken. This would appear to be an uncommon practice, but probably made use of the dried clay as heat retainers and also the grubs may have been eaten? Two burials are visible, both totally deflated. Associated with B1 are some smaller fragments of calcined bone. This may be another burial or burned animal bones, I was not able to identify them in the field. Shell midden dune The top of this small dune is covered by a dense layer of shell in a richly organic and ashy soil. The midden measures 10m x 2m and extends along the ridge of the dune. The surface has been heavily churned by stock, although the site itself is still intact. Immediately to the south of the midden is a small billabong of the Lindsay and clearly this site grew in response to large numbers of mussels there. Like many shell middens there are many other objects mixed in. Without excavating, we were able to see a few oven stones, a small piece of sandstone, a chert flake with use wear, a fractured quartzite pebble, a small fragment of ochre and a few bones of a child. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 13 Shell midden dune east This is a low dune with a darker soil covering that was probably the original soil over most of the meander scroll. Visibility is variable, with the vegetated parts at about 60% to 80%, while the two blowouts have greater visibility, with the usual skin of blown sand. A lot of shell is scattered about on the surface with some indications of in situ material representing an extensive midden. There are numerous stone tools here, with 3 grinding stone fragments and a number of cores and waste material. The three grinding stones are of different materials. A1 is a coarse brown silcrete, usually reserved for flaking, but in this case the source is nearby. It is ground through at one edge with a convex grinding surface and two flakes struck off the bottom edge. A2 is a quartzite fragment worn on both sides, one convex and one concave, with a total thickness of 20 mm. Like A1, it is worn through. A3 is a piece of ironstone measuring 60 x 80 x 20 mm which exhibits no obvious smoothing nor flaking. The flat surface makes it possible that this is also from a grinding stone, although rasps of this material have been noted in the region. Silcretes from both nearby stone sources are found here, with the brown silcrete slightly more abundant. Stone density apart from the grinding stones is low, with only one chert flake in a 1 m. radius (= 3.1 m2) of B2 and no stone in a 2 m. radius (= 12.6 m2) of H1. These give densities of 32 and 0 artefacts/100 m2 or a total of 6 artefacts/100 m2. There are probably only four burials exposed. B1, although eroded and deflated, has small fragments of ochre in the immediate vicinity. B3 is a partial cremation. B4 to B7 are probably only one individual, a young adult, with skeletal elements eroding around a small blowout. Rectangular Dune A large and deflated flat dune, there are large expanses of oven stone on the southwest portion as well as three burials. The northeast part has six burials and fewer oven stone scatters. Flaked stone is very sparse with chert, yellow and coarse brown silcretes and the chalky white silcrete from the source on the Murray. This last is common in larger pieces. There are five reduced cores. A coarse brown silcrete core measures 78 x 69 x 42 mm (LWH), with a slight varnish on it. Jewel dune This dune was named for a single piece of ornamentation from B1. It is a small, hollow cylindrical 'bead' found in the thorax area. It is a piece of ironstone root cast (pers. comm. Peter Clark), which does not occur locally. Only five burials were exposed on the surface, three in situ. Widely scattered oven stones are also present. Last dune Last dune is another flat eroded dune, to the east of the main line of dunes in the meander scroll. Five burials are exposed, with only one completely deflated. Burial archaeology Burials at Lindsay Island are the main priority of this study. The information provided (maps, descriptions and summary information) allows the community to consider conservation measures. Burials are an integral part of Australian archaeology, both culturally (Meehan 1971, Pardoe 1988a) and biologically (Pardoe 1984). The single most common feature on the Lindsay Island locality is burials. Human remains are Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 14 abundant over the whole dune system, and in the surrounding area. There is also a cemetery located on one of the dunes. In the description of the burials and skeletal remains I will focus on social (age and sex) and on cultural (density, feature associations, distribution and orientation) aspects of burial. Biological information will be necessarily brief and applied to determination of sex of the individual. Management for the site will also centre on the burials. Number of burials A total of 141 burials were recorded during this study (Table 3). The burials occur throughout the larger meander scroll sand body. Although the number of burials in each isolated dune reflects the size of dune and blow-out exposure, most remains (98) occur in an 800m stretch consisting of Cemetery, Fenced-in and Hopwood dunes in the northerly half of the meander scroll. Table 3. Number of burials by dune exposure (refer to Figure 2). dune exposure Cemetery dune Canoe Tree Fenced-in dune Hopwood Flat Jewel dune Main dune Rectangular dune Wasp's Nest dune Woodcutters grave Shell Midden dune Shell Midden East Last dune total number of burials 65 1 14 19 5 13 9 2 1 2 5 5 141 Virtually all burials are of single interments, where it has been possible to determine from exposure. No excavation was carried out. Burials 49 and 49a, an adult and child, appear to have been buried together. Orientation is similar and the grave infill soil is consistent, although it is possible that these were two separately dug graves. Age and Sex I am often asked how old a burial might be. I am also asked who this person might be – man or woman, child or adult. I am continually reminded through such questions and discussion that such information is a central part of personal interests and therefore of the study. Descendants wish to place their ancestors in time and in a social framework. This is relevant to their aims for conservation and care for their ancestors. One category of social differentiation in many societies is sex of the individual. Determination of sex from the skeleton is amenable to anatomical and archaeological investigation (Pardoe 1984 and references within). Results are fairly accurate, although not 100%. I determined sex of 22 individuals in the field. From measurements and subsequent analysis of morphological data I was able to determine a further 20, giving a total of 42. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 15 Accuracy of determining sex of an individual from skeletal remains hovers around 85% to 90% from various criteria. Given the preservation and field restrictions, the accuracy of sex determination for Lindsay Island is probably in the vicinity of 85%. Sex ratios for the two parts of the meander scroll appear below (Table 4). Proportions are similar in both areas, the cemetery and the rest of the dunes. I will return to these ratios below in the discussion of cemetery versus non-cemetery behaviour. Table 4. Sex ratios for the two Lindsay Island components (this study) and for Roonka (Prokopec 1979). Site males females total Lindsay cemetery n 13 7 20 Lindsay noncemetery % 65 35 100 n 16 7 23 % 70 30 100 Roonka cemetery n 53 37 90 % 59 41 100 The total ratio favours males by 2:1. This proportion is significantly different from cemeteries of the River Murray to the east of the Darling (Pardoe 1985, 1988a), where there are generally more females. The proportion is similar to the ratio at Roonka, an ancient cemetery downstream in South Australia. Proportional differences are not significant between pairs of samples or over the three samples, while the differences between sexes are. Determination of age of the individual is fairly accurate for sub-adults, and much less so for adults. I use 3 crude age categories for adults; younger, mid and older (Pardoe 1984). Most remains could be ascertained only to ‘adult’ rather than ‘juvenile’, as preservation affects what might be observed, with the skull and teeth being important for determination. The numbers for the 3 age grades only show a rather larger number of young adults than expected (Table 5). Children are rarely buried outside the cemetery; (2/53 =) 4% compared with (9/65 =) 20% within the cemetery. It could be that certain people needed to be buried in the cemetery, regardless of personal age, if eligibility were based on lineage or clan membership. Table 5. Age categories at Lindsay Island. age categories child young adult mid adult old adult adult totals Lindsay Island cemetery 10 1 2 2 35 50 noncemetery 2 5 1 0 45 53 Colin Pardoe 1989 total burials 12 6 3 2 80 103 page 16 Burial Orientation The survey from Lindsay Meander Scroll has provided some of the best information available on the orientation of graves in the Southeast. Analysing such data has proven difficult because of the impossibility of interpreting religious beliefs in the past. Ucko (1969) takes up this point in his discussion of inferring meaning to method of burial. Variation in burial method (and here specifically orientation) may come about for a number of reasons such as the age and sex of the individual as well as other social attributes which we can never know. At this site it is possible to investigate, if not the meaning, perhaps the normative or most common behaviour of burial customs. This will prove useful in the study of cemetery versus non-cemetery behaviour and perhaps more importantly in describing some of the ancient practices for local Aboriginal people. Other work on burial orientation in the wider region has been done across the Chowilla region, Roonka further downstream near Blanchetown, and at Lake Victoria and parts upstream (Blackwood and Simpson 1973, Prokopec 1979 and Pardoe 1985). I will integrate this information with the present study. The orientation of 56 burials was recorded out of the total of 141 graves. Measurement of orientation followed the trunk axis of the skeleton, from foot to head. Thus a measurement of 250° means that the body axis was viewed with the head at 250°. In a few cases I was able to also take the direction in which the deceased faced. This is completely different to the body axis and was only recorded where I was confident that the remains were in situ. Age and sex of the individual was identified either in the field or later in comparison of measurements. The results for the total area of the meander scroll show a decided inclination to bury the person with their head in a westerly direction (Figure 5), although there were burials oriented to all points of the compass. Figure 5. Orientation of all burials on the Lindsay Island meander scroll, including both cemetery and non-cemetery. Categories are in 45° segments. 40 % of total burials 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 NNE ENE ESE SSE SSW WSW WNW NNW More detailed inspection may be made by comparing men and women, and those in the cemetery versus others in the rest of the dunes. I should point out that the numbers of observations are small and should not be over-interpreted. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 17 The comparison of the cemetery burials with those ranging over the length of the dune system (Figure 6) is also enlightening. None of the numbers are large, and so a pointby-point comparison does not lead to questions of statistical significance, however, the overall distributions are somewhat different. Burials in the cemetery are mainly in a westerly direction, with a number trending ENE. Variation of the non-cemetery burials was considerably less, with most being WSW, even though there were cases in many other directions. At the risk of over-interpreting the results, it appears that normative orientations of all burials were to the southwest and secondarily to east-northeast. The relatively greater variation in orientation among cemetery burials compared to those outside the cemetery may be a consequence of relatedness among those interred, or different age and sex distributions. For example, there are considerably more children represented in the cemetery. This is not likely to be the result of differing preservation and exposure. Figure 6. Orientation of all burials on the Lindsay Island meander scroll, separating cemetery and non-cemetery locations. Categories are in 45° segments. 70 % of burials 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 NNE ENE ESE SSE SSW cemetery % WSW WNW NNW rest % Men would appear to have been buried almost exclusively heading to the south and west (n=8), while women were buried in a variety of directions (n=7), though still favouring the south and west (Figure 7). There is little more data on orientation by sex. Figure 7. Orientation of burial for women and men at Lindsay Island, including cemetery and non-cemetery. Categories are in 45° segments. number of burials 6 4 2 0 NNE ENE ESE SSE men Lindsay Island SSW WSW WNW NNW women Colin Pardoe 1989 page 18 The placement of graves of children was clearly important. Unfortunately, there is too little information on orientation to be of much assistance to descendants (Figure 8). Figure 8. Orientation of burial for adults and children at Lindsay Island, including cemetery and non-cemetery. Categories are in 45° segments. 18 16 number of burials 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 NNE ENE ESE SSE children SSW WSW WNW NNW all adult These 'normative' behaviours of orientation, burial position, age and sex patterns would have been affected by other factors. In Cemetery dune, there are 9 individuals buried roughly north and east (that is, opposite to the main number) Of these, three are children, three are facing down and one is semi-flexed on the left side. Only three of the nine are supine extended, as is the norm (see appendix I). Compare this with the 16 burials that are oriented between 195° and 245°. This is the greatest grouping of similar orientations and 7 are male, 2 female, no children and all were buried in a supine extended position. Orientation of burials at Cemetery dune, Roonka and other locations along the central Murray River provide a view of similarities and differences among groups over considerable time periods, several hundred years at least (Prokopec 1979, Blackwood and Simpson 1973, this study). The percentage of burials (calculated from the number of individuals by site) oriented toward a particular arc of the compass (30° segments) is smoothed by calculating a running average. This procedure essentially gets rid of peaks and troughs and is a good indicator of a distribution uncluttered by random variation introduced by small numbers. Each value is averaged with the value on either side, so that the percentage of burials from the Cemetery Dune oriented between 0° and 30° is an average of the percentage of burials in the three segments 330°-360°, 0°30° and 30°-60° The distributions are broadly similar (Figure 9). Roonka and Lindsay Island are hundreds of kilometres apart. Furthermore, the time depth involved in all sites, although roughly contemporaneous, is on the order of two or more thousand years. Each sample describes a similar distribution. There are two modes, or most common compass directions. The major mode is to the west, more pronounced in Roonka and in the noncemetery sample of Lindsay Island. The two Lindsay Island samples are similar in outline, although the non-cemetery sample has a greater peak, or less variability in Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 19 orientation. The sample from Roonka is offset to the north from both Lindsay Island groups, begging the question of whether this a heliocentric, or sun centred burial pattern or whether other environmental features or social values are responsible. It may well be random variation, although I tend to view the displacement of the minor mode as evidence contrary to this. Figure 9. The pattern of orientation from Lindsay Island is broadly similar to Lake Victoria across the Murray River, and Wallpolla Creek just upstream. The data are smoothed percentages, giving a better idea of the frequency distribution. 25 Wallpolla sm% Lake Victoria sm% 20 Lindsay sm% smoothed % 15 10 5 0 nne ne ene ese se sse ssw sw orientation wsw wnw nw nnw The minor mode is to the northeast. It is far more pronounced in the Cemetery Dune, and as mentioned, is displaced to the east at Roonka. Very few burials are oriented in this direction in the non-cemetery sample. Burial to the east-southeast and to the north are extremely rare. Age and sex are two factors affecting the orientation of burial. Unfortunately, the data are scant. It is often not possible to determine age, sex and orientation jointly. Position of the body in the grave The manner in which people were buried would be controlled by custom and tradition. While an archaeological investigation might find patterns with respect to age or sex of the individual, this would not tell us about the meanings. This summary provides what information might be gleaned. Position describes the relationship of the segments of the body to each other. Examples of this are extended, flexed, semi-flexed etc. individual body parts may be described individually. Supine extended. The body is laid out on his or her back, with the arms generally along the sides or on top of the hip bones. This is the most common form. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 20 Flexed. The body is usually lying on the side [note which side] with the legs drawn up and the arms around the shins. Bundle. The body is left to decompose and the bones are later collected and wrapped in a bundle. These bundles look distinctive because the long bones are all lined up, the head may be beside or above the bundle and smaller bones are usually missing. Cremation. The bone is characteristically burned and invariably smashed up. The cremation may be in a bundle. Scatter. If the burial is mostly eroded, you will only see fragments lying about. Remember that there are many fragments that go together to make up one individual, so if you see a scatter over a wide area (say 5 meters diameter) it could easily be a single burial. If you can’t decide whether the bones are in situ, record it as a scatter. The two most common forms of burial in the region are supine extended and flexed (Table 6). Cremations are more common than one might expect (16%) and more of these are from outside the cemetery. Table 6. Position of burial at Lindsay Island. form of burial cremation supine extended knees flexed, supine left side down right side down face down deflating scattered not known number total % 8 29 2 3 6 3 37 53 16 57 4 6 12 6 141 100 Position of burial does not appear to relate to orientation, although numbers are small (Table 7). One detail does stand out – burials which were face down – a very rare occurrence in Australia – tended to burial with heads to the north. Could this be a nod to the direction from which these people came? It is not for us to know such matters. Numbers are too small to discern any pattern with regard to sex or age of the individual and form of burial. Table 7. Forms of burial do not appear to be patterned by orientation. form of burial cremation face down knees flexed, supine semi flexed, left side down semi flexed, right side down supine extended totals Lindsay Island ENE ESE 1 1 1 SSW WNW WSW totals 1 1 3 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 4 2 14 24 3 2 3 2 2 NNE 1 1 1 SSE Colin Pardoe 1989 6 3 14 33 page 21 Cemetery Criteria I defined cemeteries along the River Murray (Pardoe 1988a) on four criteria: numbers, density, boundedness and exclusivity of use. Also in that paper I suggested that site 19c of Blackwood and Simpson (1973) might have been a cemetery. This survey has provided detailed information on distribution of burials and it is possible to examine the criteria for cemeteries in relation to Simpson's site 19c (Main Dune) and Cemetery Dune. The number of burials in each of these sites exceeds the number in the surrounding dunes by an order of magnitude. Cemetery Dune has 65 individuals exposed plus 6 excavated by Simpson (if this is site 19b). A ridge of reworked dune sand cuts across the dune from north to south and this no doubt covers more graves. There is also the possibility that graves underlie those exposed on the surface, as Simpson noted for site 19c (Main Dune). Simpson excavated 16 burials from site 19c and I recorded 5 others in the same location. I have made a preliminary estimate of density of burials of roughly 20 square metres per grave (or 5 graves/100m2. This estimate is for the smaller area to the west with 56 individuals over an area of about 1,160 m2. Density here is less than at other cemeteries that I identified (Pardoe 1988a), and this criterion may need further examination. Cemetery Dune is a bounded sand formation, with a distinct ring of trees and scrub. This would have been the case in antiquity as well. The burials themselves are also bounded. The density of burial drops off quickly at the edges. There is no environmental reason that this should be necessary, such as the hardness of soil for digging. I conclude that the cemetery would have been bounded by some features marking it off within the dune. These might have been cypress pines, a brush fence, a pathway or some combination. No evidence for this boundary exists now except for the distribution of burials. Simpson's site 19c on the Main Dune is more difficult to delineate. Most of the burials probably came from a blowout and more may be covered by the reworked ridges surrounding the site. At this stage it is impossible to delineate these burials on the basis of density distribution. I was not able to determine feature associations on site 19c, given the state of material and the soil movement. The erosion of the Cemetery Dune on the other hand proved an ideal place to examine where there was indeed exclusivity of site use. Exposed features appear to have slowed down erosion to a small extent, such that they lie on small residuals slightly raised above the lag surface. There were three shell dinner camps and one hearth on the dune. Oven stones were present scattered over the burials, but in small numbers (see Table 1). The only in situ oven occurs on the southeast edge of the cemetery proper. The three dinner camps range near the southern margin of the cemetery. These are small concentrations of shell, with a darker organic stained soil associated. I have no qualms accepting these as features intimately associated with burial ritual: votive offerings, or a last ritual meal with the deceased. They certainly do not indicate 'living occupation', given the large areas of shell just to the north and further to the south. This dune is near the river and a shallow lagoon, so sources of shell are close at hand and abundant. The amount of shell and its distribution on the dune is not evidence of occupation. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 22 Cemetery Behaviour Very few of the graves appear to have been disturbed by other graves. I found one instance of this, although it must be admitted that the preservation of the site precludes a detailed assessment. Given that it may have been marked as a cemetery, the likelihood of intruding on another grave would increase as time went by, unless all graves were marked. This would suggest that the cemetery was used for a short time, perhaps hundreds rather than thousands of years. In an earlier analysis of cemeteries on the River Murray, I suggested that graveyards might be expected not simply as an outcome of general environmental, populational and economic patterns found in this region, but also in response to particular factors. I suggested that cemeteries might be found near stone sources or fish traps, to take a couple of obvious possibilities for the river region. I think it is highly significant that the Cemetery lies between two stone sources; the chalky, carbonated silcrete of Devil's Elbow and Lindsay Rocks on the Murray and the brown silcrete on the southern shore of Lindsay River, on Berribee Station. Stone tools Stone is relatively uncommon on the meander scroll. There are very few tools showing retouch or use wear. Most flakes are very small and are almost all debitage flakes. The lack of tools is very likely due to collection by people visiting the site, although there are indications that many forms may be absent (Gill 1973, Casey 1973). Furthermore, the site has not been extensively visited during the last 20 years since Simpson's survey and collection, during which time there has been extensive deflation of parts of the dunes. A brief description of stone artefacts was made by Casey (1973) and it appears that the collections made by Simpson and others are lodged at the Museum of Victoria. There are cores of both coarse brown silcrete and the chalky, carbonated silcrete as well as a few of other materials. Some of the cores have been shattered, reflecting either the poor quality of the raw material or exposure to the elements. Debitage is common over much of the locality. It appears to be wind-blown, since there are few workshops in place. Density The density of stone on riverine sites is variable, but there are places with much higher density than often seen in the wider region (Table 8). This is directly due to the availability of raw materials. Lindsay Island has a number of sources for stone (see below) and so the amount of stone is greater. Given that much of the larger material is missing from the site, the density estimates are skewed to smaller flakes and debitage. I was not able to adequately record information on stone size, although it should be noted that the estimates for Cemetery Dune include all flaked stone including debitage, while the rest are estimates of flakes over 2 cm. Collections at Museums Victoria would prove useful in the study of stone tool type and variation. The debitage seen here, however, is indicative of stone usage, since debitage is unlikely to have been intensively collected over the last 150 years. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 23 Table 8. Stone artefact density on Lindsay Island. Note that density is calculated as number of items per 100 m2. The Cemetery Dune total includes all debitage, while the rest are samples of stone >2 cm. dune Riverside Camptrack Cemetery (total) Cemetery Fenced in Hopwood Flat 1 Main (H3) Main (H4) Woodcutter's Shell Midden E. totals area (m2) density [artefacts/100m2] n 80 10 10 28 254 13 13 25 19 2 9 8 22 30 16 1 <<5 31 190 20 32 3 175 238 <100 6 412 97 24 Density generally increases from north to south, as does the proportion of brown silcrete. Cemetery dune has a low density of stone when debitage is excluded, although it is not the lowest density. Site sampling is difficult in open area surveys where unknown amounts of sand have been eroded. Furthermore, wind-blown movement of stone flakes makes it difficult to determine relation of stone to other features. For these reasons the densities should be taken as rough estimates only. These estimates do give an idea of the amount of stone overall, with a total density of 24 items/100 m2. Raw Materials Many types of raw material are found on the meander scroll. The most common are a coarse brown silcrete and a chalky, yellow/white silcrete which would appear to be on a boundary between siliceous and carbonate rich sediments. This material is probably the stone referred to as white opaque opal (Segnit et al. 1973). It is characterised as "a very fine-grained, intimate mixture of a carbonate mineral and opaline silica" (p.188). This silcrete is friable and porous, giving it a very light weight. It fractures easily and large waste pieces are to be found over parts of the site. These two have probable sources and are discussed below. Other materials include chert, fine grained silcretes ranging from yellow to brown to red, porcelainite, chalcedony, white and clear quartz, and quartzite. Grinding stone materials include indurated sandstone (most common), coarse quartz conglomerate, gray quartzite, and coarse brown silcrete. Sources Part of the significance of the Lindsay Island meander scroll is the proximity of sources of stone for raw material in flaking. Sources of the chalky silcrete occur at Lindsay Rocks and at Devil's Elbow, both on the north shore of the River Murray and within a couple of hours walk or a short canoe ride. There are probably not large amounts of raw material at these sources and at Devil's Elbow the source is underwater some of the time. This stone is not strong and does not Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 24 hold an edge very well. It flakes but is prone to fracturing. Nodules of the material are generally small, with large amounts of cortex. The brown silcrete occurs in a sand dune isolated from the Mallee sand plain in the middle of the riverine plain. The dune is on the south side of the Lindsay River about 10 km from the southern part of the Meander scroll. The river has cut the dune exposing the silcrete, which erodes naturally down the slope. Extensive quarrying has followed the vein and digging in the overburden of red sand is quite easy. Primary working on the site has left large flakes. Large slabs were readily available and at least one of these was used as a grinding slab on Shell Midden Dune East. Unfortunately, we discovered this site after the rest of the survey. This site, the meander scroll and surrounding sites would offer a good opportunity to examine stone dispersal on the riverine system. The white quartz probably comes from river worn pebbles such as were found on the Main Dune and at Shell Midden Dune. These may measure around 40 mm in diameter. Ochre is likely to find its source to the east near Lake Walla Walla. Mark Grist has recorded a burial with large amounts of ochre, attesting to local availability. Other Features Ovens Ovens are common over much of the dunes and down onto the floodplain. Their distribution does not appear to overlap with shell middens or dinner camps or surface hearths, but they are interspersed with burials. The density of each of these features is quite low, however and no association is implied. Oven stones, or heat retainers, are almost exclusively made up of baked clay, typical of the region. In situ examples are small piles of 30 to 90 cm diameter. Many ovens have deflated onto the lag surface and the oven stones have been spread over large areas of the flat dunes. Shell middens and dinner camps Shell is common over most of the dunes, although numbers are not great except in a few spots. The most common occurrence of shell is in small dinner camps; a discrete pile of shell, densely packed, sometimes in 'rows' within the pile. These do not seem to have any particular association with surrounding hearths, keeping in mind vertical as well as horizontal exposure on many surfaces. These dinner camps are common over much of the western region, within a day’s walk of suitable water sources. Back from the water, these form random piles across the sand plain, conforming to an expectation that these would be the refuse from a dillybag of mussels carried on an expedition away from water: portable food and potable water. Shell Midden dune, at the southern end of the scroll, is adjacent to a billabong to the southwest. This dune is topped by a midden, an extensive layer of shell that measures 10 by 2 m. The midden was clearly used for other refuse, as there is some stone in it and a distinct associated soil horizon. This soil is dark brown/black, ashy and organic. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 25 Summary Although the bulk of this report is descriptive and the aims of the study concern management of the area, the importance of the site warrants an overview and detailed study. Mark Grist and I have set out this overview in a separate document. The meander scroll is a discrete landform with considerable archaeological deposit. The age of the source bordering dunes is probably four thousand years. By far the most common and visible are the burials, however there are ovens, shell middens and dinner camps and a wide variety of stone materials. A range of activities are documented at this locality. Ritual and social information comes from the graves and an analysis of the cemetery. Orientation and position of burial, age and sex of the individual and distribution are necessary data for the interpretation of not only the prehistory, but the significance of the locality. It is possible that a formal cemetery encompassed the northerly three dunes (Cemetery, Fenced-in and Hopwood). In any case, the locality was used for living mainly to the south. Economic information comes from stone material and food remnants consisting of shell and bone. Food is predictably tied to the river, with mussel shell being the most common of remains, although some yabby and turtle was found. Plant sources can be inferred from the grinding fragments and even if most of the dishes have disappeared, the number of worn-out fragments would suggest heavy reliance on them. Although stone is rare on the River Murray generally, two or three sources of different materials are close at hand. Stone was transported to the site in larger blocks with cortex. Some preparation of larger flakes and slabs is evident at the Berribee Station quarry. Erosion has obscured much of the stone tool distribution and only a couple of workshops were found, even though there is debitage all over the site. Formal tools were rare. This locality would be an ideal place to examine stone tool transport, technology and use. Because the stratigraphy and preliminary geomorphology indicate quick accumulation of sediments, I would expect that the dunes would have very sparse densities of artefacts in total, but that stable surfaces might be found throughout. The research potential of this locality is great for burial and stone tool studies and more importantly, for a varied and coherent view of central River Murray prehistory. Management recommendations Lindsay Island may become part of a very large National Park that is currently in planning stages: the "Murray-Sunset Park". The Victoria Archaeological Survey should be aware of this as it has implications for the management of archaeological remains. The VAS should become involved in the planning for this park and should incorporate some of the results of this study in a larger regional context for management purposes. I have set out management recommendations in light of the possibility of the locality becoming part of a National Park. Clearly, if this plan does go ahead, a coherent view of the archaeology in regions such as the Mallee (Ross 1981) and the River Murray Corridor must be sought so that management within the park can be part of an overall strategy in its formation. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 26 When the planning for a Park is further down the track and VAS is part of the planning organisation, it would be worthwhile to then place studies such as the present one in a broader, regional framework. The meander scroll dunes are potentially affected by wind erosion, stock grazing, rabbits and tourism. The latter would involve destruction by vehicles or theft of artefacts and skeletons. Development does not appear to be a problem, given the distance and difficulty of approach to the site. Erosion has not progressed at a very fast rate until the last 100 and especially the last 20 years (see section on Landform description). The features now exposed are liable to destruction. This is especially the case for the skeletal remains, where the elements will take their toll, reducing the bones to bleached fragments and finally to dust. Tourism has not been a problem in the destruction of dune surfaces to date, and only one vehicle track crosses the dunes. On the other hand, it is very likely that artefacts, especially stone tools and skulls, have been taken over the years. There are a number of well-preserved skeletons with no cranial elements and the dunes are singularly lacking in identifiable stone artefacts. Placement of this area in a National Park would change the tourism situation and it could be expected that more people would come here to camp and use off-road recreational vehicles, to the detriment of the sand bodies. My view of site protection is that current processes are not endangering the archaeology to a significant degree and that planning should take into account the future probability of site impact by increasing numbers of visitors. There are a number of possibilities for the preservation of the meander scroll and significant archaeological features in it: Leave it alone. This would be sufficient now and for the immediate future. Revegetate the dunes, with no specific site protection. Overall, this would preserve more of the archaeology and the current landform than any other practice. The possibilities for revegetation range from fencing whole dunes to planting Cypress and Murray Pines and seeding mobile sand drifts. Ground stabilisation should be undertaken in the simplest manner, which has had good effect in other places like Snaggy Bend (near Wentworth). Exclude stock and rabbits. A very expensive proposition with unclear future ramifications. This would entail fencing areas, which works well enough now. I don't know how the invasion of hopbush into fenced areas might work and this is something that CF&L might consider. The main problem with fencing is that it makes people nosy. They want to know what's in the fenced area. If fencing does take place (and I will describe two spots where it probably should) it might be worthwhile having signs to the effect that they are areas of plant regeneration, rather than important archaeological sites. Selectively cover sites. Mallee branches covering sites act to trap sand and large stock is more likely to avoid such areas. Naturally, rabbits might find this environment to their liking. Two or three of the more important sites might be fenced to exclude rabbits as well. These are the Cemetery site, the shell midden and the 'woodcutter's grave'. The dunes themselves will continue to erode and expose more sites and burials without stabilisation. I would suggest that a tree planting program might be most effective. Each seedling could be Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 27 protected by its own small enclosure, and many of these could be planted along the meander scroll. This will also contribute to site destruction, since the tree roots will affect material below ground level, but that's another problem. In summary; Cemetery Dune, the shell midden and the Woodcutter's grave should all be fenced to exclude stock and rabbits. Mallee and scrub branches should be placed over and to windward of in situ skeletons. This will most quickly recover them without further disturbance to the surrounding sand. Disturbed burials could be collected and reburied, but this would be time consuming and should probably remain a low priority given the other works needed. A tree planting program should be started. I would suggest that individual seedlings be planted with their own small enclosures to exclude rabbits. The Cypress Pine and perhaps Murray Pine would be most suitable. Such a program might be given high priority following the large amount of rain so far this year. The canoe tree would probably be safest if ignored. Reburial is an ongoing concern for Aboriginal people. Although I do not agree with reburying ancient human remains, and I think that the information we could provide from them is valuable for Aboriginal communities, I accept the right of Aboriginal people to make these decisions. Mark Grist has talked with me about the remains excavated by Simpson between 1967 and 1969 and deposited in the Victorian Museum. His concern to rebury these skeletons prompts me to list what I think are the locations of some of those remains held in the Museum. As I have said, I think that Simpson's site 19b comes from the middle of the Cemetery Dune in the eastern blowout, below the central reworked sand ridge. This would be in the area of B53 to B56. Remains held in the museum from this site are catalogued as NMV X72835 to NMV X72840. Simpson's site 19c almost certainly is in the area of B6 to B10 on the Main Dune. The remains held in the Museum from this site are catalogued as NMV X72841 to NMV X72856 We were not able to locate the site 19a, although I suspect it is separate from the meander scroll and a short way (less than one km.) to the north and east. VAS might wish to discuss with the Museums Victoria the possibility of organising a display or loan of stone artefacts from the Lindsay Island locality. This would be of immediate benefit to the community through the efforts of Mark Grist in teaching and demonstrating at local schools. A display would complement the current and planned offices of the Sunraysia and District Co-op, where facilities for display are available. Acknowledgements Mark Grist assisted in the fieldwork and later with writing the community report. He produced the map in Figures 2 and 3. The Sunraysia and District Aboriginal Cooperative were, as their name implies, very cooperative and helpful. James Blair and Rodi Grist assisted during the survey and that help is greatly appreciated. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies provided extra materials and support that were necessary to the completion of the study. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 28 Bibliography Blackwood, R. and K.N.G. Simpson. 1973. Attitudes of aboriginal skeletons excavated in the Murray Valley region between Mildura and Renmark, Australia. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 34:99-150. Casey, D.A. 1973. Aboriginal stone artifacts from the Murray River region between Mildura and Renmark, Australia. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 34:209-213. Clark, Peter and Jeannette Hope. 1985. Aboriginal burials and shell middens at Snaggy Bend and other sites on the central Murray River. Australian Archaeology 20:68-89. Davidson, D.S. 1949. Mourning caps of the Australian Aborigine. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 93:57-69. Etheridge, R. 1899. The 'Widow's Cap' of the Australian Aborigines. Linnean Soc. NSW. 24:333345. Gallus, A. and E.D. Gill. 1973. Aboriginal bone fish-hooks with skeletons at Wallpolla Creek, west of Mildura, Victoria, Australia. Mem. Nat. Museum of Victoria 34:215-216. Gill, E.D. 1966. Aboriginal sitting burial near Swan Reach, Victoria. Victorian Naturalist 83:48. Gill, E.D. 1973. Geology and geomorphology of the Murray River region between Mildura and Renmark, Australia. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 34:1-98. Goddard, R.H. 1936. Kopi: funerary skull caps. Mankind 2:25-27. Kefous, K.C. 1983. Riverain. Water availability and Aboriginal prehistory of the Murray River, Lake Victoria area, western NSW. MA thesis, ANU. Meehan, B. 1971. The form, distribution and antiquity of Australian Aboriginal mortuary practices. Unpublished MA thesis, University of Sydney. Pardoe, C. 1984 Prehistoric Human Morphological Variation in Australia. unpublished PhD thesis, the Australian National University, Canberra. Pardoe, C. 1985. Variation in Mortuary Patterning along the Darling River, Unpublished report to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. Pardoe, C. 1987. The Mallee Cliffs Burial: Report on the study of the skeletal remains from a later prehistoric burial. community report series. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. Pardoe, C. 1988a The cemetery as symbol. The distribution of Aboriginal burial grounds in southeastern Australia. Archaeology in Oceania 23:1-16. Pardoe, C. 1988b Prehistoric Aboriginal cemeteries of the River Murray. community report series. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. Pardoe, C. 1988c. The Mallee Cliffs burial (central River Murray) and population based archaeology. Australian Archaeology. vol. 27. Pretty, G.L. 1971. Excavations at Roonka Station, lower River Murray, South Australia - 196870. J. Anthrop. Soc. S. Aust. 9(9) supplement:6-15. Pretty, G.L. 1977 The cultural chronology of the Roonka Flat. A preliminary consideration. in: Stone Tools as Cultural Markers, edited by R.V.S. Wright. pp. 288-331. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. Prokopec, M. 1975. Anthropology of the past population at Roonka. J. Anthrop. Soc. S. Aust. 13(3):3-12. Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 29 Prokopec, M. 1979. Demographical and morphological aspects of the Roonka population. Archaeology and Physical Anthropology in Oceania 14:11-26. Ross, Annie. 1981. Holocene environments and prehistoric site patterning in the Victorian Mallee. Australian Archaeology 16:145-155. Segnit, E.R., J.B. Jones and C.A. Anderson. 1973. Opaline silica from the Murray River region W. of Wentworth, N.S.W., Australia. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria 34:187193. Sunderland, S. and L.J. Ray. 1959. A note on the Murray Black collection of Australian Aboriginal skeletons. Proc. Roy. Soc. Victoria 71:45-48. Tindale, N.B. 1974. Aboriginal Tribes of Australia, Australian National University Press, Canberra. Ucko, P. 1969. Ethnography and archaeological interpretation of funerary remains. World Archaeology 1:262-280. Witter, D. 1984. Providing a regional context for management archaeology. In, S. Sullivan and S. Bowdler (eds), Site Surveys and Significance Assessment in Australian Archaeology, pp. 48-54. Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra. Colin and Mark at Cemetery Dune, Lindsay Island Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 30 Appendices I Burial data. This table lists information on burials by dune, burial number (tied to maps), sex, age, orientation, method of inhumation and presence of biological data. In the sex category, an asterisk indicates where I have applied measurements to determine sex. II Osteological measurements. A very few osteological measurements were taken in the field. The very poor preservation and the restriction on excavation meant that measurements were only possible on bone that was not in situ. However, these data are useful for determining sex of some individuals and for future reference. III Survey plans of the dunes at Lindsay Island Lindsay Island Colin Pardoe 1989 page 31 Appendix I dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Lindsay Island burial 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 sex M age adult adult adult young adult adult orientation facing 230 215 210 M patella, tibia patella patella deflating scattered adult mid adult mid adult child adult old adult child child adult M data femur, clavicle cremation supine extended 195 200 60 deflating scattered deflating scattered extended face down 20 210 old adult child adult adult adult adult adult adult adult skull humerus, femur skull tibia teeth skull 0 245 semi flexed, left side down supine extended 80 M inhumation supine extended 210 adult M F Burial data. 200 50 225 125 240 Colin Pardoe 1989 right side 60 not in situ supine extended deflating scattered cremation supine extended knees flexed, supine supine extended deflating scattered femur 10-15 yrs radius arm, leg, skull femur skull radius, femur page 32 Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Cemetery dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Lindsay Island 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 39a 40 40a 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 47a 48 49 49a 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 1 2 child adult F F M 330 50 170 95 adult child child child adult adult adult adult adult adult adult adult adult adult adult 50 310 semi flexed, right side down supine extended supine extended deflating scattered face down radius, patella, teeth <5 yrs teeth 6-12 yrs redeposited 225 320 290 65 230 50 285 290 adult child 85 70 right side down face down supine extended knees flexed, supine deflating scattered not in situ supine extended deflating scattered supine extended femur teeth buried with 49 deflating scattered child adult adult <12 yrs F 225 deflating scattered supine extended supine extended deflating scattered adult adult 210 230 supine extended supine extended adult adult adult mid adult 270 285 supine extended supine extended Colin Pardoe 1989 page 33 Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Fenced-in dune Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopwood Flat Hopbush 2 Canoe Tree Lindsay Island 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 adult 0 cremation M? M F adult adult adult adult belongs with 3 adult adult adult adult adult adult adult 255 240 supine extended supine extended 240 supine extended deflating scattered semi flexed, left side down deflating scattered supine extended 225 235 also cremation cranium humerus, foot part of 5 adult young adult adult adult deflating scattered teeth 275 250 adult adult deflating scattered adult supine extended deflating scattered supine extended deflating scattered skull, tibia adult 245 adult 260 mineralised deflating scattered no burials 1 adult deflating scattered Colin Pardoe 1989 page 34 Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Main dune Woodcutters grave Shell Midden dune Shell Midden dune Wasp's Nest dune Wasp's Nest dune Shell Midden East Shell Midden East Shell Midden East Shell Midden East Shell Midden East Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Rectangular dune Last dune Last dune Lindsay Island 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 1 1a 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 2 young adult cremation calcined; teeth not burial deflating scattered 240 F? M? adult adult adult adult adult young adult deflating scattered deflating scattered CO3, mineralised; femur 270 50 supine extended deflating scattered deflating scattered semi flexed, left side down deflating scattered deflating scattered deflating scattered adult 210 young adult M child adult adult adult adult adult young adult adult adult adult adult adult M F M F 0 10 deflating scattered deflating scattered deflating scattered deflating scattered cremation deflating scattered deflating scattered supine extended supine extended right side down, extended supine extended right side down, extended skull, arm teeth teeth arm ochre 1 and 1a buried together 1 and 1a buried together cremation M adult child adult adult 245 245 Colin Pardoe 1989 7-12 yrs patella supine extended page 35 Last dune Last dune Last dune Jewel dune Jewel dune Jewel dune Jewel dune Jewel dune Lindsay Island 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 M M adult adult adult adult 250 240 cremation deflating scattered supine extended adult 175 215 semi flexed, right side down cremation Colin Pardoe 1989 skull page 36