Papers by Rebekah Kurpiel
Australian archaeology, Jan 2, 2024
A perspective on cultural heritage management archaeology that highlights a deficiency in produci... more A perspective on cultural heritage management archaeology that highlights a deficiency in producing narratives and/or answering big picture questions despite an enormous investment of resources in such projects.
Australian Archaeology, 2024
A perspective on cultural heritage management archaeology that highlights a deficiency in produci... more A perspective on cultural heritage management archaeology that highlights a deficiency in producing narratives and/or answering big picture questions despite an enormous investment of resources in such projects.
Australian Journal of Earth Sciences
Evidence from bay floor channelling, seismic surveys and core dating has been used to suggest tha... more Evidence from bay floor channelling, seismic surveys and core dating has been used to suggest that Port Phillip Bay dried out for a period between about 2800 and 1000 cal. yr BP as sandbars blocked it off from the sea. This model is now supported by the examination of radiocarbon ages from archaeological excavations of Aboriginal shell middens on the shoreline of the Mornington Peninsula on Bunurong Country. This shows a near-continuous use of marine resources by Bunurong people over the last 6000 years for areas south of Rosebud, while those to the north are only of more recent date, following the refilling of the bay in the last millennium. This study provides an example of the integration of traditional, archaeological and geoscience evidence and the way in which local environmental changes impact on society. KEY POINTS 1. Radiocarbon dates from Aboriginal places support the argument that a sandbar blocked much of Port Phillip Bay from the sea between about 2800 and 1000 cal. yr BP. 2. Dates from Aboriginal places south of the sand bar show continuity since the bay formed following the post-Pleistocene rise in sea-levels. 3. Dates north of the sandbar indicate that Aboriginal people began exploiting marine resources in this area once the bay refilled about 1000 years ago.
Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 2023
Evidence from bay floor channelling, seismic surveys and core dating has been used to suggest tha... more Evidence from bay floor channelling, seismic surveys and core dating has been used to suggest that Port Phillip Bay dried out for a period between about 2800 and 1000 cal. yr BP as sandbars blocked it off from the sea. This model is now supported by the examination of radiocarbon ages from archaeological excavations of Aboriginal shell middens on the shoreline of the Mornington Peninsula on Bunurong Country. This shows a near-continuous use of marine resources by Bunurong people over the last 6000 years for areas south of Rosebud, while those to the north are only of more recent date, following the refilling of the bay in the last millennium. This study provides an example of the integration of traditional, archaeological and geoscience evidence and the way in which local environmental changes impact on society. KEY POINTS 1. Radiocarbon dates from Aboriginal places support the argument that a sandbar blocked much of Port Phillip Bay from the sea between about 2800 and 1000 cal. yr BP. 2. Dates from Aboriginal places south of the sand bar show continuity since the bay formed following the post-Pleistocene rise in sea-levels. 3. Dates north of the sandbar indicate that Aboriginal people began exploiting marine resources in this area once the bay refilled about 1000 years ago.
International Journal of Heritage Studies, 2021
ABSTRACT Cultural heritage management produces hundreds of archaeological assessments each year. ... more ABSTRACT Cultural heritage management produces hundreds of archaeological assessments each year. However, the level of input from Aboriginal people into the significance assessment of places uncovered during this commercial archaeological work is minimal at best. Assessment outcomes continue to privilege scientific archaeological concepts of significance. To address this, the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation has led the development of a tailored approach to significance assessment that is framed by the concept of Country. The criteria that have been developed integrate scientific archaeological approaches with Aboriginal cultural values and community perspectives in a balanced assessment methodology, which creates space for Aboriginal control of the assessment process and allows Aboriginal community perspectives to inform management/protection outcomes. Framing significance assessment within Traditional Owner perspectives of Country provides the opportunity for generating archaeological data that can address research questions and cultural significance at landscape or regional scales that are meaningful to the Traditional Owners, decolonising understandings of the past, and directly contributing to the protection of heritage places through improved and sustainable management outcomes.
This paper was included in the 10th issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Vict... more This paper was included in the 10th issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria and was presented at the annual Victorian Archaeology Colloquium (held on-line) between 1 and 4 February 2021.<br>
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2019
Silcrete was often used to make stone tools and the ubiquity of this material in the archaeologic... more Silcrete was often used to make stone tools and the ubiquity of this material in the archaeological record has sparked considerable interest in developing techniques that can be used to trace its geographic origin. However, the highly variable physical and chemical properties of silcrete means that artefacts made from this raw material have proved difficult to provenance. This paper describes the use of Pb isotope analysis to characterize and differentiate silcrete sources in the Willandra Lakes region, a UNESCO World Heritage listed site in southeastern Australia. The sample collection strategy employed in the field has allowed Pb isotope variation both within and between the silcrete sources to be described. Pb isotope variation within each silcrete source does not exhibit spatial patterning, but Pb isotope signatures differ between silcrete sources in the Willandra Lakes region, and clear separation between more distant sources, is demonstrated. This represents a first step in being able to use isotope analysis to investigate how silcrete from different sources was used and how it was moved around the landscape.
This dataset is a list of radiocarbon determinations obtained from Aboriginal places/archaeologic... more This dataset is a list of radiocarbon determinations obtained from Aboriginal places/archaeological sites in Victoria, Australia. The dataset contains information about each dated place, sample context, the inferred reliability of the age estimate and the information relevant to assessing reliability, derived from primary sources.<br>Access to the dataset is restricted under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006. The dataset is present on the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register. To apply for access, contact the Registrar at Aboriginal Victoria (E: [email protected]).<br><br>The list is updated periodically. Version 1 is current at June 2021.<br>For further information please contact the research team (authors).
This paper was included in the ninth issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Vic... more This paper was included in the ninth issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria and was presented at the annual Victorian Archaeology Colloquium held at La Trobe University on 1 February 2020.
This paper was included in the ninth issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Vic... more This paper was included in the ninth issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria and was presented at the annual Victorian Archaeology Colloquium held at La Trobe University on 1 February 2020.
Australian Archaeology, 2021
This paper was included in the 10th issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Vict... more This paper was included in the 10th issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria and was presented at the annual Victorian Archaeology Colloquium (held on-line) between 1 and 4 February 2021.
This paper was included in the ninth issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Vic... more This paper was included in the ninth issue of Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria and was presented at the annual Victorian Archaeology Colloquium held at La Trobe University on 1 February 2020.
Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria, 2021
Archaeology is in many ways a hands–on and materials–
based discipline, which presents specific c... more Archaeology is in many ways a hands–on and materials–
based discipline, which presents specific challenges for
online teaching and learning. Online and ‘blended’ teaching
modes have been available to archaeology students for
some time but, in March 2020, Australian universities were
required to switch all content to online delivery to reduce
COVID–19 transmission in our communities. Enormous
efforts were made by university teaching staff to swiftly
accommodate these changes. This paper presents student
perspectives on learning archaeology online in 2020 and
beyond. It outlines obstacles associated with learning
archaeology online, shares student feedback on the pros
and cons of undertaking different types of online activities
and considers the role that online learning may be able to
play in the longer–term. The differences between in–person
and online learning are pedagogical as well as practical. We
hope that sharing student experiences will help elucidate
what makes certain activities and resources effective for
learning archaeology online, and that this information can
be used to inform future online resource development.
Excavations, Surveys and Heritage Management in Victoria, 2019
Quartz is ubiquitous in the natural landscape and in human-made assemblages worldwide. It has pla... more Quartz is ubiquitous in the natural landscape and in human-made assemblages worldwide. It has played an important role in some of the earliest stone tool assemblages, the nineteenth century gold rush, and continues to have a myriad of uses today. However, the mechanical properties that are particular to this material complicate the distinction between naturally and culturally fractured quartz, and, in the case of the latter, the method of fracture. Here we review the quartz ‘problem’ that plagues the identification of these artefacts in archaeology and cultural heritage management, and existing approaches that seek to address it. We introduce the Quartz Archaeology Project, which is creating open-access datasets for quartz occurrences in a variety of cultural and natural contexts to improve our understanding of the significance of quartz in the deep and recent past.
Lithic Technology, 2021
Quartz artefacts are common components of flaked stone assemblages worldwide. However, flaked qua... more Quartz artefacts are common components of flaked stone assemblages worldwide. However, flaked quartz can appear similar to quartz fractured by natural and other (non-flaking) cultural processes. Despite attempts to address this “quartz problem”, the analysis and interpretation of flaked quartz assemblages remain problematic. Here we present a review of literature investigating the quartz problem, and a case study that examines an experimentally flaked assemblage – including the presence of “markers” widely reported to be diagnostic of knapped quartz. The results suggest that freehand knapping of a vein quartz block will produce mostly shatter and small, undiagnostic pieces with few artifacts exhibiting previously suggested markers. An integrated approach, considering physical features of individual quartz pieces, along with assemblage composition, characteristics and context more broadly, is therefore crucial. The dataset created for this study is freely available, providing the first example of an open-access dataset to aid study of flaked quartz assemblages worldwide.
Australian Archaeology, 2021
Archaeologists have long grappled with identifying quartz artefacts in the archaeological record.... more Archaeologists have long grappled with identifying quartz artefacts in the archaeological record. The particular fracture mechanics of quartz can complicate the distinction between knapped quartz, other types of deliberately broken quartz, and natural occurrences of this mineral. In Australia, the quartz 'problem' is compounded on goldfields, where quartz debris from knapping, gold mining and other processes has the potential to co-occur. This paper investigates whether quartz assemblages produced by Aboriginal knappers and post-contact gold prospectors each possess a unique 'signature'. It compares two quartz assemblages made experimentally using different but commonly used techniques with potential for creating artefacts with similar features: knapping with a hammerstone, and gold prospecting with a pick-axe. The results indicate that most artefacts in each 1
Drone technology provides a relatively quick and inexpensive method for capturing images and othe... more Drone technology provides a relatively quick and inexpensive method for capturing images and other data from the sky. With the help of dedicated software, the information captured with a drone can be applied to produce a range of outputs with the potential to contribute
to the identification, study and management of cultural heritage. This paper presents an overview of some of the approaches that can be employed and presents an example from some research currently underway on Bunurong Country in southeastern Australia. As part of a cultural heritage management project, a 3D model of part of
an inland dune system has been produced prior to the landscape being modified for agricultural development. Creating digital archives of this nature allows community members and researchers access to more detailed information about the context in which cultural heritage
has been identified than would otherwise be possible. This is a particularly important outcome when the landscape itself is unable to be preserved.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2019
Silcrete was often used to make stone tools and the ubiquity of this material in the archaeologic... more Silcrete was often used to make stone tools and the ubiquity of this material in the archaeological record has sparked considerable interest in developing techniques that can be used to trace its geographic origin. However, the highly variable physical and chemical properties of silcrete means that artefacts made from this raw material have proved difficult to provenance. This paper describes the use of Pb isotope analysis to characterize and differentiate silcrete sources in the Willandra Lakes region, a UNESCO World Heritage listed site in southeastern Australia. The sample collection strategy employed in the field has allowed Pb isotope variation both within and between the silcrete sources to be described. Pb isotope variation within each silcrete source does not exhibit spatial patterning, but Pb isotope signatures differ between silcrete sources in the Willandra Lakes region, and clear separation between more distant sources, is demonstrated. This represents a first step in being able to use isotope analysis to investigate how silcrete from different sources was used and how it was moved around the landscape.
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Papers by Rebekah Kurpiel
based discipline, which presents specific challenges for
online teaching and learning. Online and ‘blended’ teaching
modes have been available to archaeology students for
some time but, in March 2020, Australian universities were
required to switch all content to online delivery to reduce
COVID–19 transmission in our communities. Enormous
efforts were made by university teaching staff to swiftly
accommodate these changes. This paper presents student
perspectives on learning archaeology online in 2020 and
beyond. It outlines obstacles associated with learning
archaeology online, shares student feedback on the pros
and cons of undertaking different types of online activities
and considers the role that online learning may be able to
play in the longer–term. The differences between in–person
and online learning are pedagogical as well as practical. We
hope that sharing student experiences will help elucidate
what makes certain activities and resources effective for
learning archaeology online, and that this information can
be used to inform future online resource development.
to the identification, study and management of cultural heritage. This paper presents an overview of some of the approaches that can be employed and presents an example from some research currently underway on Bunurong Country in southeastern Australia. As part of a cultural heritage management project, a 3D model of part of
an inland dune system has been produced prior to the landscape being modified for agricultural development. Creating digital archives of this nature allows community members and researchers access to more detailed information about the context in which cultural heritage
has been identified than would otherwise be possible. This is a particularly important outcome when the landscape itself is unable to be preserved.
based discipline, which presents specific challenges for
online teaching and learning. Online and ‘blended’ teaching
modes have been available to archaeology students for
some time but, in March 2020, Australian universities were
required to switch all content to online delivery to reduce
COVID–19 transmission in our communities. Enormous
efforts were made by university teaching staff to swiftly
accommodate these changes. This paper presents student
perspectives on learning archaeology online in 2020 and
beyond. It outlines obstacles associated with learning
archaeology online, shares student feedback on the pros
and cons of undertaking different types of online activities
and considers the role that online learning may be able to
play in the longer–term. The differences between in–person
and online learning are pedagogical as well as practical. We
hope that sharing student experiences will help elucidate
what makes certain activities and resources effective for
learning archaeology online, and that this information can
be used to inform future online resource development.
to the identification, study and management of cultural heritage. This paper presents an overview of some of the approaches that can be employed and presents an example from some research currently underway on Bunurong Country in southeastern Australia. As part of a cultural heritage management project, a 3D model of part of
an inland dune system has been produced prior to the landscape being modified for agricultural development. Creating digital archives of this nature allows community members and researchers access to more detailed information about the context in which cultural heritage
has been identified than would otherwise be possible. This is a particularly important outcome when the landscape itself is unable to be preserved.