Archaeology & Palaeoanthropology

The Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA) is biologically diverse, including many unique and rare plants and animals as well as varied ecosystems. It also contains a large body of rock art -drawings, paintings, stencils, prints and engravings -in rock shelters and on rock platforms. Research since 2001 has revealed many previously unknown rock art sites with depictions of animals, especially in Wollemi National Park, as well as greater knowledge about contemporary animal distributions. In this paper archaeological and natural history studies are brought together with contemporary Aboriginal insight in an attempt to better understand the nature of past and present mammal distributions. Discussion includes the challenges of reconciling vastly different databases, changes in knowledge systems over time and the potential knowledge such reconciling could reveal. Threats to GBMWHA cultural and natural heritage are also discussed, with hot fires resulting from changes to burning regimes and climate change a particular threat to both mammals and rock art sites. . 2006. Estimating population size of endangered brushtailed rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) colonies using faecal DNA. Molecular Ecology 15 (1): 81-91.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a fine-grained analysis of variation in the macropod motif across the Sydney region demonstrates similar or different patterns when compared with previous stylistic studies of the area. Here we discuss the figurative representation of the macropod motif. We discuss the syntax of the rock art using concepts of conventions, language and symbols to interpret macropod stylistic representation. We show how a fine-grained assessment of both frequencies of design elements and measurements of shape complements previous regional stylistic studies by demonstrating how stylistic regions are multilayered and not definite. The paper suggests new stylistic zones that future work can test, and demonstrates that these zones do not correspond simply with one widely used reconstruction of language distributions.

Fish traps and fish weirs built by Indigenous people in the Barwon-Darling River system of the Murray Darling Basin (MDB), southeastern Australia, are an important component of their traditional social, spiritual and economic systems. The celebrated Brewarrina stone fish traps (Ngunnhu) on the Barwon River are the largest and best documented stone fish traps in the Basin. However, there has been minimal research on the many other stone fish traps in this system. This paper focusses on the in-stream stone fish traps downstream of Brewarrina along the Darling (Baaka) River, some still partly extant, remembered, or documented in historical material. Wooden and earthen bank fish traps and weirs, while not as enduring and archaeologically visible as stone fish traps, were frequently used on the Darling (Baaka) floodplain lakes, swamps and billabongs. Archaeological evidence, traditional cultural knowledge and historical materials are utilised to document the complex social processes and modification of landscapes associated with fish traps and weirs. By demonstrating that Barkandji were active and successful managers of the river and its ecology prior to colonisation, and that much of this cultural knowledge is retained by current generations, the authors make a case for them to renew their custodianship and a decision-making role in water management.

The Australian Archaeological Consultancy Monograph Series is a peer reviewed report series providing examples of best practice consultancy reports in archaeology and cultural heritage management. The series provides access to the results of investigations as part of the commitment of the Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. to the continued improvement of the profession. The scope of the series includes the full range of consultancy activity, such as site assessment, regional survey, remote sensing, excavation, management and public education. Projects that display successful liaison and collaborative research initiatives with Indigenous communities and other stakeholders are encouraged. The views expressed in this work are not necessarily those of the Editors or Publisher. Contributors are responsible for gaining appropriate clearances from Indigenous communities and other stakeholders, relevant institutions, agencies and clients before they submit reports for consideration.

We took on this project to describe the nature and distribution of the archaeological record at the Menindee Lakes to ensure that a detailed mapping and interpretation would be made available for negotiations between the Barkandji people whose heritage this is and government agencies making plans about water. The major aim of this Project was to develop a database of archaeological and sites information in the Menindee Lakes area as an aid to future decision making.
A predictive map was constructed from 6,695 sites or data points. This is a powerful tool for understanding the distribution of the archaeology around the Menindee Lakes – a road map if you will of how people made use of, and travelled around the Lakes over the course of days, seasons, generations and millennia.

This paper describes a collaboration between Wilyakali Indigenous Custodians and a group of archaeologists. This collaboration has generated a shared and integrated understanding of the cultural landscape, Ancestral Creation Histories, and archaeology of the Broken Hill region of western New South Wales. The Broken Hill landscape is ancient beyond imagination, and complex geological processes/Creation Histories have resulted in distinctive landscape features and resources including quartz suitable for stone artefact manufacture. Wilyakali stone knappers employed specialised and varied technological processes to overcome the diverse and sometimes intractable nature of the quartz material, resulting in efficient use of this local stone resource. Wilyakali interpret the Country through their knowledge of the travelling sacred Bronzewing Pigeon and its creation of landscape features and resources such as quartz and water. Empirical archaeological data complement traditional knowledge, with the two ways of knowing coming together to reconstruct a nuanced interpretation of the cultural landscape. This shared narrative has had ongoing and inter-generational benefits to the Wilyakali people, with knowledge communicated to younger generations by Elders, enabling them to interpret both the archaeology and Ancestral Creation Histories with confidence. This paper also highlights the inconsistent recognition of Indigenous ways of knowing and connection in Aboriginal cultural heritage assessments in the region.

While obsidian sourcing has long represented a powerful means of reconstructing past socio-economic interaction, the use of destructive techniques restricted most studies to analysing only a few artefacts per site. Non-destructive methods allow the characterization of much more material, thus providing more robust data upon which to base our archaeological interpretations. Here we report on one such study using EDXRF and SEM-EDS to analyse assemblages from Tell Aswad and Qdeir 1, two Syrian Neolithic sites. The study demonstrates for the first time that SEM-EDS can play an important role in discriminating Bingöl A and Nemrut Dag sources, while the rapidity of EDXRF permits the analysis of a more statistically valid number of artefacts, providing a better impression of the assemblage. It enabled us to chart diachronic patterns in raw material procurement at Tell Aswad and detailed raw materials not recorded in a previous smaller-scale analysis of obsidian from Qdeir 1.

The 622 obsidian samples of Renaghju phase I occupation (6 th millennium BC) have been previously sourced by their visual appearance and/or their elemental composition by PIXE and SEM-EDS (Bressy et al., 2008; Le Bourdonnec et al., in prep.). The aim of this new study, conducted by LA-ICP-MS at SOLARIS, Southern Cross GeoScience, is to bring provenance data on the phase III obsidians (5 th millenium BC). 111 artefacts were thus characterized virtually non-destructively (ablation line of 40μm wide on 0.6mm long). As for the phase I, the majority of obsidians were found to come from the three main sources of the nearby island of Sardinia (Monte Arci volcanic complex), however in di erent proportions. The results are presented here as a Cs/Zn vs. Ba/Cs binary graph, showing the clear distinction between all the Mediterranean sources and the clear attribution of the Renaghju phase III artefacts to the SA, SB2 and SC sources of the Monte Arci.

Early Neolithic coastal settlements are well known in Corsica as in other western Mediterranean areas, e.g. Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia and South of France. However evidence for mountainous settlements, in particular in the highest fringe of the island, remains sporadic. The on-going archaeological study of a rock-shelter located at 2140m asl, near Corte, indicates that the highest mountainous areas of Corsica have been occupied and exploited since the 6th millennia BC. The rock-shelter occupation can be strongly linked with the exploitation of volcanic rocks outcrops (mainly rhyolite) and an open air settlement located in a small wetland (“I Pozzi”, 2000m asl), where organic sediments have been retrieved.
A multi proxy study, combining archaeological and paleo-environmental techniques (archaeological excavation and survey; geological survey; artefacts typology and raw materials sourcing, e.g. ceramic, obsidian; charcoal identification; pollen and NPPs analyses; micromorphology; magnetic susceptibility and particle size analyses) supported by 14C-AMS dates, are being carried out. The aim is to gain a better understanding of Neolithic economy in mountainous territories. The first results show a significant potential for the reconstruction of anthropogenic and environmental interactions in a remote landscape.
The research questions are predominantly focused on (1) the nature of the activities carried out at this seasonal settlement, considering the local geomorphological context and available resources; (2) the possible resilience or variations of activities through the chronological period considered; (3) the dynamics of vegetation change (tree line variation and anthropogenic indicators) and soil formation process, in relation with climate change and the potential impact of the introduction of agro-pastoral activities; (4) the role of Pinus in the forest cover assemblage and the potential use of pine resin in the tool making process linked with the nearby outcrop; (5) the interactions at a local and regional scales, but also in a wider context by demonstrating the links with the western Mediterranean.
This study, combined with previous studies of highland west Mediterranean occupations, enhances our understanding of the Neolithisation process of Mediterranean marginal landscapes.

L’obsidienne est avec le silex un matériau de choix pour le façonnage des industries lithiques préhistoriques. En Méditerranée occidentale, les études de provenance de ces verres naturels volcaniques combinent aujourd’hui caractérisations visuelles et signatures géochimiques. Dans ce contexte, la méthode PIXE pratiquée en mode ‘faisceau extrait’ s’avère particulièrement séduisante ; non-destructive et sans réelle contrainte géométrique, elle permet de doser dans l’obsidienne une quinzaine d’élément majeurs et traces.

Dans le cadre du projet ‘Statues-menhirs, Menhirs et Mégalithisme en Corse’ coordonné par André D’Anna, nous présentons ici un travail réalisé sur les obsidiennes du site néolithique corse de Renaghju. Les analyses sous faisceau d’ions ont été exécutées avec AGLAÉ au Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF, Paris) et sur les installations de l’Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO, Sydney) . Plus de 700 artefacts du Néolithique Ancien (622) et Moyen (112) (respectivement 6e et 5e millénaire av. J.C.) ont été caractérisés, dont environ 50% par IBA. Nous montrons que la matière première provient presque exclusivement des sources du massif volcanique du Monte Arci, dans le SE de la Sardaigne.

Ces résultats, intégrés aux études typo-technologiques, permettront de mieux appréhender les modalités d’acquisition et de diffusion de l’obsidienne durant le Néolithique.

L’obsidienne était une matière première précieuse de l'industrie lithique néolithique. En Méditerranée occidentale, elle se trouve parfois dans les sites archéologiques très éloignés des quatre « îles-sources » de Lipari, Palmarola, Pantelleria et Sardaigne. Si entre ces sources l’analyse visuelle ne permet d’attribuer qu’entre 70 et 85% des artefacts d’un site à un gisement potentiel, il est en revanche presque toujours possible d'identifier l’origine ce matériau à partir de sa composition chimique. Comme il est nécessaire de traiter un nombre important d’objets archéologiques, la construction d’une stratégie analytique adaptée est aujourd’hui indispensable. Celle-ci combine l’approche visuelle aux caractérisations instrumentales par SEM-EDS, EDXRF, pXRF, PIXE et LA-ICP-MS. Des analyses exhaustives, réalisées sur plus de 6000 pièces (France continentale, Corse, Sardaigne, Tunisie), intégrées aux études typo-technologiques permettent de dessiner les modalités d’acquisition de cette ressource et d’étudier les chaînes opératoires afin de mener une discussion synchronique et diachronique sur la circulation de l’obsidienne au Néolithique.

La phase 1 du site d’I Stantari (plateau de Cauria, Sartène, Corse-du-Sud) datée du Néolithique Moyen (milieu du Ve millénaire) comporte une centaine d’artefacts en obsidienne, matériau allochtone uniquement accessible sur les îles-sources méditerranéennes de Lipari, Palmarola, Pantelleria et Sardaigne. Afin de reconstituer les schémas de consommation de cette roche, la totalité de l’assemblage a été analysée par LA-ICP-MS au sein du laboratoire SOLARIS (Southern Cross GeoScience, Southern Cross University, Australie). Les mesures obtenues pour une quinzaine d’éléments traces, suivant un protocole d’analyse nouvellement développé au sein de ce laboratoire, ont révélé que la matière première de cet assemblage lithique provenait exclusivement du massif volcanique sarde du Monte Arci. Puisque la provenance de la quasi-totalité de l'assemblage est déterminée (seulement 3 artefacts n’ont pu être attribués avec certitude), il nous est maintenant possible de discuter les proportions obtenues pour les sources de Sardaigne (groupes SA, SB2, SC) par rapport aux différents sites corses et sardes pour lesquelles des données comparables sont disponibles. Bien que nous ne disposions pour l’instant que de peu de séries étudiées pour cette période, ces données nous permettent de renforcer nos connaissances sur le "phénomène obsidienne" en Corse.

In order to successfully understand the complex evolution of prehistoric societies, archaeologists require absolute dating tools, which are not only accurate but also widely applicable. Thermoluminescence (TL) dating is one such approach that has been successfully used to establish a general chronological framework for prehistoric sites and is particularly suited for use on heated lithic artefacts. Experiments conducted in this study have clearly shown the applicability of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) isothermal modelling in combination with TL dating to constrain firing temperature. This expands the potential application for TL dating to include artefacts treated at low firing temperatures. The present study shows potential in terms of precision and accuracy for framing the "equivalent firing temperature". At the same time, the comparison of the TL signal with the lattice-defects and aluminium centres invigorate the use of ESR dating on heated flint, especially with samples that have received low thermal treatment. The presence of organic matter in large quantity raises concern on the pyrolysis effect on the luminescence signal; however, the use of ESR isothermal and isochronal modelling could potentially lead to the ability to overcome current interferences of the organic radicals within the dating signal of TL.

EASTERN ANATOLIA 200 km Bingöl A/B Sources Archaeological sites N INTRODUCTION Te l l A s w a d i s a P P N B s i t e i n s o u t h e r n S y r i a ( D a m a s c u s b a s i n ) , e x c a v a t e d b y t h e E l K o w m -M u r e y b e t p e r m a n e n t m i s s i o n o f t h e Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée (Lyon, France) since 1972. I n o r d e r t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e o b s i d i a n e c o n o m y o f t h e s i t e f o r t h e m i d d l e / l a t e P P N B p e r i o d ( 8 2 0 0 -7 5 0 0 c a l B C ) , w e c o n d u c t e d t w o s e t s o f n o n -d e s t r u c t i v e a n a l y s i s , b y S E M -E D S a t t h e C R P 2 A (Pessac, France) and by EDXRF at the MAX Lab (Hamilton, Canada).

In this study, we used two non-destructive techniques, scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS; [1]) and energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF; [2]), for the elemental characterisation of obsidian assemblages from Tell Aswad (middle/late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, PPNB; [3]) and Qdeir 1 (final PPNB; [4]), two Neolithic sites in Syria [5]. Firstly, we prove for the first time the efficiency of SEM-EDS in discriminating the eastern Anatolian peralkaline sources of Bingöl A and Nemrut Dağ, two of the most important sources in Near Eastern prehistory, often difficult to differentiate due to their geochemical similarity. Secondly, the rapidity of EDXRF [6 ; 7] allowed us to analyse the entire assemblages, revealing new data on the obsidian provenance of the two sites.

[1] Poupeau G. et al., 2010. The use of SEM-EDS, PIXE and EDXRF for obsidian provenance studies in the Near East : a case study from Neolithic Çatalhöyük (central Anatolia). Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, 2705-2720.
[2] Carter T. & Contreras D. A., 2012. The character and use of the Soros Hill Obsidian source, Antiparos (Greece). Comptes Rendus Palevol, in press.
[3] Stordeur D. & Jammous B., 2009. La Damascène et la révolution néolithique. Annales Archéologiques Arabes Syriennes, LI-LII, 7-16.
[4] Stordeur D. (Dir.), 2000. El Kowm 2. Une île dans le désert. La fin du Néolithique précéramique dans la steppe syrienne. Paléorient, CNRS Editions, 322 p.
[5] Orange M., 2012. L’obsidienne néolithique au Proche-Orient : analyse de provenance et étude technologique des séries syriennes de Tell Aswad (PPNB moyen/récent) et Qdeir 1 (PPNB final). Mémoire de Master 2, Université Bordeaux III, France, 100 p.
[6] Shackley M.S. (Ed.), 2011. X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) in Geoarcheology. Springer, New York, 231 pp.
[7] Carter T., 2012. Lithics (chipped stone and obsidian sourcing study). In Momigliano N. et al. Settlement history and material culture in southwest Turkey: report on the 2008–2010 survey at Çaltılar Höyük (northern Lycia), Anatolian Studies 61: 61-121 [109-112].