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Fiona Hook

The University of Western Australia, Archaeology, Graduate Student

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Supervisors: Professor Peter Veth, Dr Joe Dortch, and Professor Sean Ulm
Phone: +61 418901740
Address: School of Social Sciences
The University of Western Australia (M257)
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley, Perth
Western Australia 6009

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Kathryn Przywolnik

The University of Western Australia

Jane Skippington

Queensland Museum

University of the Philippines Diliman

Flinders University of South Australia

Sarah Robertson

The Australian National University

South Australian Research & Development Institute

The University of Western Australia

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Papers by Fiona Hook

A comparative study of early shell knife production using archaeological, experimental and ethnographic datasets: 46,000 years of Melo (Gastropoda: Volutidae) shell knife manufacture in northern Australia

by Fiona Hook and Sean Ulm

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2024

We investigate archaeological evidence for the early production of Melo (or commonly named ‘baler... more We investigate archaeological evidence for the early production of Melo (or commonly named ‘baler’) shell knives recovered from Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene deposits in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island. The site is in
the Country of Thalanyji people in northwestern Western Australia. The oldest shell knife fragments were recovered from units dated to 46.2–42.6 ka, making this one of the oldest Homo sapiens sapiens shell tool technologies currently described. We situate this early and ongoing tradition of shell tool manufacture within recent discussions of the early development of shell industries from both Island Southeast Asia and globally. Although shell knives have been previously reported from Pilbara and Gulf of Carpentaria surface middens in northern Australia, systematic analysis of the manufacturing process and associated debris, and specially from pre-Holocene contexts, has not been previously conducted. This research explores the shell knife chaîne operatoire through the integration of three data sets derived from archaeology, ethnography, and experimental archaeology. This study highlights the significance of shell tool industries in the northwest of Australia, and globally, from the Pleistocene and into the Late Holocene in areas with limited access to hard rock geology where shell reduction represents a unique technological strategy.

Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. (AACAI)

Springer eBooks, 2020

Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. (AACAI)

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014

The Archaeology of Trade & Exchange: Program and Abstracts of the 2005 Australian Archaeological Association (AAA) and Australasian Institute for …

A note on radiocarbon dates

A Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in Northamptonshire: Volume 1, 2013

Persistent Places and Places of Memory: Archaeological Markers of Long-Term Connections to Country in the Inland Pilbara, Western Australia

Cover illustration: Noisy Scrub-bird

Management (CALM) publishes Wildlife Management Programs to provide detailed information and mana... more Management (CALM) publishes Wildlife Management Programs to provide detailed information and management actions for the conservation of threatened or exploited species of flora and fauna. Wildlife Management Program No. 2, The Noisy Scrub Bird, was published in 1986 (Burbidge et al. 1986) and much of the information and recovery actions provided here are taken from that document. This Recovery Plan provides up to date and more detailed descriptions of actions and accurate costing of them. Recovery Plans delineate, justify and schedule management actions necessary to support the recovery of an endangered or vulnerable species or ecological community. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds is subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Recovery Plans do not necessarily represent the views nor the official positions of any individuals or agencies represented on the

Time and Efficiency in Data Recovery: An Experiment Comparing Wet and Dry Sieving in Pilbara Rockshelter Excavations

There has been considerable discussion in archaeology about the benefits of sieving in terms of r... more There has been considerable discussion in archaeology about the benefits of sieving in terms of recovery of particular classes of archaeological material. Less attention has been paid to questions of efficiency and cost effectiveness in the context of consulting archaeology. An experiment was conducted on excavated assemblages from inland Pilbara rockshelters comparing the results of wet and dry sieving in terms of time expended. The results suggest that the additional time spent in wet sieving can be largely offset by greater efficiency in recording and analysis. This, together with the undoubted benefit of improved recovery of archaeological material, confirms the value of wet sieving for reliably assessing sites.

Understanding Pleistocene and Early Holocene faunal exploitation at Barrow Island, North-west Australia

Archaeology in the age of alternative facts: archaeological investigations and Roe 8

Salvage Excavation of Six Sites along Caddies, Seconds Ponds, Smalls and Cattai Creeks in the Rouse Hill Development Area, NSW [Book Review]

Australian Archaeology, 2008

Review(s) of: Salvage Excavation of Six Sites along Caddies, Seconds Ponds, Smalls and Cattai Cre... more Review(s) of: Salvage Excavation of Six Sites along Caddies, Seconds Ponds, Smalls and Cattai Creeks in the Rouse Hill Development Area, NSW, by Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management Pty Ltd, Australian Archaeological Consultancy Monograph Series 1, Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc., St Lucia, 2005, Xxx+488pp, ISBN 0 9590310 1 4.

Coastal occupation before the “Big Swamp”: Results from excavations at John Wayne Country Rockshelter on Barrow Island

Archaeology in Oceania, 2018

This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has... more This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/arco.5164.

50,000 years of archaeological site stratigraphy and micromorphology in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island, Western Australia

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017

This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron mi... more This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron microscopy mineralogical analysis to characterise lithological boundaries and site formation history from an archaeological cave site on Barrow Island, northwestern Australia. The high-resolution characterisation is used to document the changing depositional context within Boodie Cave from the earliest period of occupation around 50 ky BP through to when transgressing seas isolated the island around 7 ky BP. Comparisons are made between excavations at the front of the cavewhere stratigraphic integrity is high and a thicker, more comprehensive early Holocene sequence is preserved, with excavations inside the cavewhere stratigraphic integrity is lower but an older Pleistocene record is preserved. The combination of these depositional scenarios provides a complete stratigraphic sequence for Boodie Cave, with depositional contacts defined at macro-, meso-and microscale levels. These contacts include erosive surfaces and trampled (ground) surfaces, such as the upper interface of SU5 and SU4. Based on the mineralogical and textural variations (microfacies) preserved within each unit, the vertical mixing zone is estimated to be between 1 and 5 cm. This reworking has not affected the general sequence of sedimentological (including grain size and mineralogy) and macro-cultural changes, which record an increasingly marine-dominated assemblage as the coastline encroaches. The integration of microscopic observations with anthracological, archaeomalacological, zooarchaeological and lithic analyses provides a more dynamic and comprehensive dialogue for interpreting the formation history of Boodie Cave and likely other early occupation sites from northern Australia.

Early human occupation of a maritime desert, Barrow Island, North-West Australia

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2017

Archaeological deposits from Boodie Cave on Barrow Island, northwest Australia reveal some of the... more Archaeological deposits from Boodie Cave on Barrow Island, northwest Australia reveal some of the earliest evidence for Aboriginal occupation of Australia, along with demonstrating early systematic use of marine resources by modern peoples outside of Africa. Barrow Island is a large (202 km 2) limestone continental island located on the NorthWest Shelf of Australia, optimally located to sample past use of both the Pleistocene coastline and extensive arid coastal plains. An interdisciplinary team forming the Barrow Island Archaeology Project (BIAP) has addressed questions focusing on the antiquity of occupation of coastal deserts by hunter-gatherers; the use and distribution of marine resources from the coast to the interior; and the productivity of the marine zone with changing sea levels. Boodie Cave is the largest of 20 stratified deposits identified on Barrow Island with 20 m 3 of cultural deposits excavated between 2013 and 2015. In this first major synthesis we focus on the dating and sedimentology of Boodie Cave to establish the framework for ongoing analysis of cultural materials. We present new data on these cultural assemblages-including charcoal, faunal remains and lithics-integrated with micromorphology, sedimentary history and dating by four independent laboratories. First occupation occurs between 51.1 and 46.2 ka, overlapping with the earliest dates for occupation of Australia. Marine resources are incorporated into dietary assemblages by 42.5 ka and continue to be transported to the cave through all periods of occupation, despite fluctuating sea levels and dramatic extensions of the coastal plain. The changing quantities of marine fauna through time reflect the varying distance of the cave from the contemporaneous shoreline. The dietary breadth of both arid zone terrestrial fauna and marine species increases after the Last Glacial Maximum and significantly so by the mid-Holocene. The cave is abandoned by 6.8 ka when the island becomes increasingly distant from the mainland coast.

Maritime deserts of the Australian northwest

Australian Archaeology, 2014

This paper reports on the first season of work on the Barrow Island Archaeology Project. It conte... more This paper reports on the first season of work on the Barrow Island Archaeology Project. It contextualises new findings within a review of what is now known of the archaeology of the Carnarvon bioregion. A reliance on coastal resources for over 42,000 years is indicated from excavations and open sites from Cape Range, the Montebello Islands, the Onslow coastline and Barrow Island. The continuous use of marine resources, blended with largely arid zone terrestrial assemblages, from 17,000 cal. BP until the modern era, attests to a deep chronology for hybrid maritime desert societies in the Australian northwest.

The assessment of archaeological sites on Barrow Island and the Dampier Archipelago, Pilbara, Western Australia: a collaborative approach

Barrow Island and the Dampier Archipelago off the coast of the Pilbara were the setting for a ran... more Barrow Island and the Dampier Archipelago off the coast of the Pilbara were the setting for a range of activities for Indigenous groups preceding European exploration, and the scene of various economic ventures following European settlement (1860s onwards) of the North- West of Western Australia. A limited number of cultural heritage assessments on these islands, both Indigenous (Vinnicombe, 1987; Veth, 1994; Quartermaine, 1994, 1997) and post-contact (MacIlroy, 1979), have been carried out but in all cases addressing only one cultural group and/or type of occupation. In 2004, as a result of two specific consultancies, consultant archaeologists Archae-Aus Pty Ltd, the Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, and the Centre for Archaeology, University of Western Australia, undertook a collaborative approach. As a result of that work we argue that the identification and assessment of Indigenous, historical and maritime sites is fundamental in the production of comprehensive management strategies for these islands.

50,000 years of archaeological site stratigraphy and micromorphology in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island, Western Australia

by Lauren Prossor and Fiona Hook

This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron mi... more This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron microscopy mineralogical analysis to characterise lithological boundaries and site formation history from an archaeological cave site on Barrow Island, northwestern Australia. The high-resolution characterisation is used to document the changing depositional context within Boodie Cave from the earliest period of occupation around 50 ky BP through to when transgressing seas isolated the island around 7 ky BP. Comparisons are made between excavations at the front of the cave — where stratigraphic integrity is high and a thicker, more comprehensive early Holocene sequence is preserved, with excavations inside the cave — where stratigraphic integrity is lower but an older Pleistocene record is preserved. The combination of these depositional scenarios provides a complete stratigraphic sequence for Boodie Cave, with depositional contacts defined at macro-, meso- and micro-scale levels. These co...

A comment on Ward et al.’s ‘Insights into the procurement and distribution of fossiliferous chert artefacts across Southern Australia from the archival record’

Australian Archaeology

Reflections on CB08-500

Hunter Gatherer Research

this paper reflects on two narratives about CB08-500, a rock shelter in the inland Pilbara region... more this paper reflects on two narratives about CB08-500, a rock shelter in the inland Pilbara region of Western Australia. the conventional archaeological account emphasises the recent date of the site and its similarity to other sites in the region. the alternative account was developed for inclusion in a community book about sites in Nyiyaparli country. this imagines a vignette of past activity at the site and speculates about its connection to recent historical events. Use of the shelter is not remembered today, but Nyiyaparli generally view archaeological sites as indicating their connection to country and providing information about the lives of their ancestors. the alternative accounts raise issues about how archaeological sites are assessed during the compliance process and how they are interpreted for clients and the wider public. Archaeological investigation in the Pilbara region over the last 30 years has overwhelmingly occurred in the context of mining development, and there is a strong emphasis on site documentation. the Aboriginal heritage Act 1972, as currently interpreted, requires sites to meet a relatively high threshold of significance. Archaeological significance assessment tends to privilege overarching narratives relating to the colonisation of the continent and the impact of environmental change. however, most sites in the region cannot be connected to these. our alternative narrative highlights site preservation and connection with recent history and suggests how archaeologists might more effectively engage with clients and the wider community to address questions of significance assessment.

A Note on Radiocarbon Dates from the Paraburdoo, Mount Brockman and Yandicoogina Areas of the Hamersley Plateau, Pilbara, Western Australia

Australian Archaeology, 2005

A comparative study of early shell knife production using archaeological, experimental and ethnographic datasets: 46,000 years of Melo (Gastropoda: Volutidae) shell knife manufacture in northern Australia

by Fiona Hook and Sean Ulm

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2024

We investigate archaeological evidence for the early production of Melo (or commonly named ‘baler... more We investigate archaeological evidence for the early production of Melo (or commonly named ‘baler’) shell knives recovered from Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene deposits in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island. The site is in
the Country of Thalanyji people in northwestern Western Australia. The oldest shell knife fragments were recovered from units dated to 46.2–42.6 ka, making this one of the oldest Homo sapiens sapiens shell tool technologies currently described. We situate this early and ongoing tradition of shell tool manufacture within recent discussions of the early development of shell industries from both Island Southeast Asia and globally. Although shell knives have been previously reported from Pilbara and Gulf of Carpentaria surface middens in northern Australia, systematic analysis of the manufacturing process and associated debris, and specially from pre-Holocene contexts, has not been previously conducted. This research explores the shell knife chaîne operatoire through the integration of three data sets derived from archaeology, ethnography, and experimental archaeology. This study highlights the significance of shell tool industries in the northwest of Australia, and globally, from the Pleistocene and into the Late Holocene in areas with limited access to hard rock geology where shell reduction represents a unique technological strategy.

Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. (AACAI)

Springer eBooks, 2020

Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. (AACAI)

Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014

The Archaeology of Trade & Exchange: Program and Abstracts of the 2005 Australian Archaeological Association (AAA) and Australasian Institute for …

A note on radiocarbon dates

A Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in Northamptonshire: Volume 1, 2013

Persistent Places and Places of Memory: Archaeological Markers of Long-Term Connections to Country in the Inland Pilbara, Western Australia

Cover illustration: Noisy Scrub-bird

Management (CALM) publishes Wildlife Management Programs to provide detailed information and mana... more Management (CALM) publishes Wildlife Management Programs to provide detailed information and management actions for the conservation of threatened or exploited species of flora and fauna. Wildlife Management Program No. 2, The Noisy Scrub Bird, was published in 1986 (Burbidge et al. 1986) and much of the information and recovery actions provided here are taken from that document. This Recovery Plan provides up to date and more detailed descriptions of actions and accurate costing of them. Recovery Plans delineate, justify and schedule management actions necessary to support the recovery of an endangered or vulnerable species or ecological community. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds is subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Recovery Plans do not necessarily represent the views nor the official positions of any individuals or agencies represented on the

Time and Efficiency in Data Recovery: An Experiment Comparing Wet and Dry Sieving in Pilbara Rockshelter Excavations

There has been considerable discussion in archaeology about the benefits of sieving in terms of r... more There has been considerable discussion in archaeology about the benefits of sieving in terms of recovery of particular classes of archaeological material. Less attention has been paid to questions of efficiency and cost effectiveness in the context of consulting archaeology. An experiment was conducted on excavated assemblages from inland Pilbara rockshelters comparing the results of wet and dry sieving in terms of time expended. The results suggest that the additional time spent in wet sieving can be largely offset by greater efficiency in recording and analysis. This, together with the undoubted benefit of improved recovery of archaeological material, confirms the value of wet sieving for reliably assessing sites.

Understanding Pleistocene and Early Holocene faunal exploitation at Barrow Island, North-west Australia

Archaeology in the age of alternative facts: archaeological investigations and Roe 8

Salvage Excavation of Six Sites along Caddies, Seconds Ponds, Smalls and Cattai Creeks in the Rouse Hill Development Area, NSW [Book Review]

Australian Archaeology, 2008

Review(s) of: Salvage Excavation of Six Sites along Caddies, Seconds Ponds, Smalls and Cattai Cre... more Review(s) of: Salvage Excavation of Six Sites along Caddies, Seconds Ponds, Smalls and Cattai Creeks in the Rouse Hill Development Area, NSW, by Jo McDonald Cultural Heritage Management Pty Ltd, Australian Archaeological Consultancy Monograph Series 1, Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc., St Lucia, 2005, Xxx+488pp, ISBN 0 9590310 1 4.

Coastal occupation before the “Big Swamp”: Results from excavations at John Wayne Country Rockshelter on Barrow Island

Archaeology in Oceania, 2018

This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has... more This is the author manuscript accepted for publication and has undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/arco.5164.

50,000 years of archaeological site stratigraphy and micromorphology in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island, Western Australia

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2017

This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron mi... more This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron microscopy mineralogical analysis to characterise lithological boundaries and site formation history from an archaeological cave site on Barrow Island, northwestern Australia. The high-resolution characterisation is used to document the changing depositional context within Boodie Cave from the earliest period of occupation around 50 ky BP through to when transgressing seas isolated the island around 7 ky BP. Comparisons are made between excavations at the front of the cavewhere stratigraphic integrity is high and a thicker, more comprehensive early Holocene sequence is preserved, with excavations inside the cavewhere stratigraphic integrity is lower but an older Pleistocene record is preserved. The combination of these depositional scenarios provides a complete stratigraphic sequence for Boodie Cave, with depositional contacts defined at macro-, meso-and microscale levels. These contacts include erosive surfaces and trampled (ground) surfaces, such as the upper interface of SU5 and SU4. Based on the mineralogical and textural variations (microfacies) preserved within each unit, the vertical mixing zone is estimated to be between 1 and 5 cm. This reworking has not affected the general sequence of sedimentological (including grain size and mineralogy) and macro-cultural changes, which record an increasingly marine-dominated assemblage as the coastline encroaches. The integration of microscopic observations with anthracological, archaeomalacological, zooarchaeological and lithic analyses provides a more dynamic and comprehensive dialogue for interpreting the formation history of Boodie Cave and likely other early occupation sites from northern Australia.

Early human occupation of a maritime desert, Barrow Island, North-West Australia

Quaternary Science Reviews, 2017

Archaeological deposits from Boodie Cave on Barrow Island, northwest Australia reveal some of the... more Archaeological deposits from Boodie Cave on Barrow Island, northwest Australia reveal some of the earliest evidence for Aboriginal occupation of Australia, along with demonstrating early systematic use of marine resources by modern peoples outside of Africa. Barrow Island is a large (202 km 2) limestone continental island located on the NorthWest Shelf of Australia, optimally located to sample past use of both the Pleistocene coastline and extensive arid coastal plains. An interdisciplinary team forming the Barrow Island Archaeology Project (BIAP) has addressed questions focusing on the antiquity of occupation of coastal deserts by hunter-gatherers; the use and distribution of marine resources from the coast to the interior; and the productivity of the marine zone with changing sea levels. Boodie Cave is the largest of 20 stratified deposits identified on Barrow Island with 20 m 3 of cultural deposits excavated between 2013 and 2015. In this first major synthesis we focus on the dating and sedimentology of Boodie Cave to establish the framework for ongoing analysis of cultural materials. We present new data on these cultural assemblages-including charcoal, faunal remains and lithics-integrated with micromorphology, sedimentary history and dating by four independent laboratories. First occupation occurs between 51.1 and 46.2 ka, overlapping with the earliest dates for occupation of Australia. Marine resources are incorporated into dietary assemblages by 42.5 ka and continue to be transported to the cave through all periods of occupation, despite fluctuating sea levels and dramatic extensions of the coastal plain. The changing quantities of marine fauna through time reflect the varying distance of the cave from the contemporaneous shoreline. The dietary breadth of both arid zone terrestrial fauna and marine species increases after the Last Glacial Maximum and significantly so by the mid-Holocene. The cave is abandoned by 6.8 ka when the island becomes increasingly distant from the mainland coast.

Maritime deserts of the Australian northwest

Australian Archaeology, 2014

This paper reports on the first season of work on the Barrow Island Archaeology Project. It conte... more This paper reports on the first season of work on the Barrow Island Archaeology Project. It contextualises new findings within a review of what is now known of the archaeology of the Carnarvon bioregion. A reliance on coastal resources for over 42,000 years is indicated from excavations and open sites from Cape Range, the Montebello Islands, the Onslow coastline and Barrow Island. The continuous use of marine resources, blended with largely arid zone terrestrial assemblages, from 17,000 cal. BP until the modern era, attests to a deep chronology for hybrid maritime desert societies in the Australian northwest.

The assessment of archaeological sites on Barrow Island and the Dampier Archipelago, Pilbara, Western Australia: a collaborative approach

Barrow Island and the Dampier Archipelago off the coast of the Pilbara were the setting for a ran... more Barrow Island and the Dampier Archipelago off the coast of the Pilbara were the setting for a range of activities for Indigenous groups preceding European exploration, and the scene of various economic ventures following European settlement (1860s onwards) of the North- West of Western Australia. A limited number of cultural heritage assessments on these islands, both Indigenous (Vinnicombe, 1987; Veth, 1994; Quartermaine, 1994, 1997) and post-contact (MacIlroy, 1979), have been carried out but in all cases addressing only one cultural group and/or type of occupation. In 2004, as a result of two specific consultancies, consultant archaeologists Archae-Aus Pty Ltd, the Department of Maritime Archaeology, Western Australian Museum, and the Centre for Archaeology, University of Western Australia, undertook a collaborative approach. As a result of that work we argue that the identification and assessment of Indigenous, historical and maritime sites is fundamental in the production of comprehensive management strategies for these islands.

50,000 years of archaeological site stratigraphy and micromorphology in Boodie Cave, Barrow Island, Western Australia

by Lauren Prossor and Fiona Hook

This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron mi... more This study explores the application of soil micromorphological and automated scanning electron microscopy mineralogical analysis to characterise lithological boundaries and site formation history from an archaeological cave site on Barrow Island, northwestern Australia. The high-resolution characterisation is used to document the changing depositional context within Boodie Cave from the earliest period of occupation around 50 ky BP through to when transgressing seas isolated the island around 7 ky BP. Comparisons are made between excavations at the front of the cave — where stratigraphic integrity is high and a thicker, more comprehensive early Holocene sequence is preserved, with excavations inside the cave — where stratigraphic integrity is lower but an older Pleistocene record is preserved. The combination of these depositional scenarios provides a complete stratigraphic sequence for Boodie Cave, with depositional contacts defined at macro-, meso- and micro-scale levels. These co...

A comment on Ward et al.’s ‘Insights into the procurement and distribution of fossiliferous chert artefacts across Southern Australia from the archival record’

Australian Archaeology

Reflections on CB08-500

Hunter Gatherer Research

this paper reflects on two narratives about CB08-500, a rock shelter in the inland Pilbara region... more this paper reflects on two narratives about CB08-500, a rock shelter in the inland Pilbara region of Western Australia. the conventional archaeological account emphasises the recent date of the site and its similarity to other sites in the region. the alternative account was developed for inclusion in a community book about sites in Nyiyaparli country. this imagines a vignette of past activity at the site and speculates about its connection to recent historical events. Use of the shelter is not remembered today, but Nyiyaparli generally view archaeological sites as indicating their connection to country and providing information about the lives of their ancestors. the alternative accounts raise issues about how archaeological sites are assessed during the compliance process and how they are interpreted for clients and the wider public. Archaeological investigation in the Pilbara region over the last 30 years has overwhelmingly occurred in the context of mining development, and there is a strong emphasis on site documentation. the Aboriginal heritage Act 1972, as currently interpreted, requires sites to meet a relatively high threshold of significance. Archaeological significance assessment tends to privilege overarching narratives relating to the colonisation of the continent and the impact of environmental change. however, most sites in the region cannot be connected to these. our alternative narrative highlights site preservation and connection with recent history and suggests how archaeologists might more effectively engage with clients and the wider community to address questions of significance assessment.

A Note on Radiocarbon Dates from the Paraburdoo, Mount Brockman and Yandicoogina Areas of the Hamersley Plateau, Pilbara, Western Australia

Australian Archaeology, 2005

Lived and living landscapes in the eastern Chichester Range—understanding a Nyiyaparli taskscape. Paper presented at Australian Archaeological Association annual conference, Terrigal, NSW, 6-8 December 2016.

by Caroline Bird, Fiona Hook, and James Rhoads

Hunter-gatherers do not occupy sites, they inhabit landscapes. The landscape is not a passive bac... more Hunter-gatherers do not occupy sites, they inhabit landscapes. The landscape is not a passive backdrop to Aboriginal activity but shaped by ongoing natural and cultural processes that create a 'taskscape'. The surface archaeological record is a palimpsest formed as the result of numerous individual events in combination with natural processes that serve to reveal, conceal or alter the record. In this paper we reinterpret archaeological data, collected as part of place based consultancy methodology as dictated by the Western Australian Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972, as part of a Nyiyaparli taskscape. The idea of the taskscape focuses on how landscapes are perceived and experienced not as backdrops or scenery, but in terms of the collection of activities carried out there (Ingold, 1993). Ingold (2007, p. 100) suggests that the lives of hunter-gatherers can be portrayed in terms of the sum of their journeys traced on the ground. The sum of the lives of many individuals is a 'meshwork'. Places then are the knots in the meshwork, connected and formed by the threads of individual journeys. Nyiyaparli country is filled with the marks of these past journeys both from the Kukutpa and from generations of ancestors. Individual archaeological 'sites' in Nyiyaparli country sit within a wider locality where activities frequently occurred, or where natural processes reveal or preserve evidence of past activity, or where an activity that happened to involve durable material such as stone occurred. Some evidence at sites is a by-product of activity—'just rubbish'—such as stone flaking, quarrying stone. Other evidence comprises the remains from deliberate actions—fires, shelters. Still other evidence represents deliberate constructive actions—producing art, leaving cores or grindstones at places to be used again, stone arrangements for ceremonies, fish traps, walled niches and the like. All are evidence of the taskscape—the lived and living landscape at the intersection between nature and culture. Understanding the taskscape calls for a shift in focus from individual 'sites' to an 'archaeology of place'.

Persistent places in a landscape: a case study of rock shelters in Nyiyaparli country. Paper presented at Australian Archaeological Association annual conference, Terrigal, NSW, 6-8 December 2016.

by Caroline Bird, Fiona Hook, and James Rhoads

Rock shelters commonly attract interest from archaeologists in relation to their excavation poten... more Rock shelters commonly attract interest from archaeologists in relation to their excavation potential and their contribution to building chronological sequences. In the Pilbara, rock shelter use is often interpreted as an ephemeral aspect of Aboriginal settlement patterns. Small rock shelters with shallow deposits are commonly not thought to warrant further investigation and these sites are quite poorly understood. This paper discusses a suite of more than 40 rock shelters in Nyiyaparli country in the eastern Chichester Range and the diverse range of archaeological material associated with them both in terms of their structural characteristics and landscape context. Individual shelters vary markedly in terms of characteristics and associated cultural debris, but commonly occur as components of site complexes or 'places in the landscape'. The inferred functions of spatially associated rock shelters appear complementary. Surface assemblages associated with shelters are also distinctive and indicate provisioning of these places with raw material. Although most shelters have only shallow occupation deposits, or none, these places were clearly regularly and repeatedly used for a range of tasks and formed a network of planned visitation within a socialised landscape. No doubt the visibility and permanence of rock shelters in the landscape made them foci of attention, charged with meaning as markers of 'persistent places' and places of memory. Current practice in compliance archaeology in the Pilbara means that individual components of these complexes are recorded and assessed as separate 'sites', which in turn has implications for assigning significance and the nature of archaeological investigation deemed appropriate. We argue that a consideration of the relationships between individual archaeological components and their landscape context should be paramount in interpreting such site complexes as well as more in keeping with Nyiyaparli understanding of places.

Hook 2012 Gurdadaguji stone arrangements: artefacts of dynamic ceremonial and ritual behaviours during the last 500 years

This paper discusses the nature and distribution of a concentration of stone arrangements recorde... more This paper discusses the nature and distribution of a concentration of stone arrangements recorded from the Packsaddle region of the Pilbara, northwest Western Australia. The Gurdadaguji stone arrangements will be shown to have been constructed during the last 500 years: a period which has been characterised as demonstrating increasing population levels and social dynamism. This recent phase has been characterised by a number of researchers from different parts of the Australian arid zone as demostrating increasing social boundedness which may be a consequence of the formation of new group identities and territories. It has been argued that within such a dynamic scenario the need to articulate and negotiate broad-scale alliance and subsistence networks would have been paramount. It is in this context that Gurdadaguji stone arrangements and the landscape in which they sit and the very action of their construction are viewed as part of a wider graphic system which was used to control and promote information exchange. In short - these sites are seen to be an artefact of dynamic ceremonial and ritual behaviours.

Book Review: Salvage Excavation of Six Sites along Caddies, Seconds Ponds, Smalls and Cattai Creeks in the Rouse Hill Development Area, NSW

Australian Archaeology 66

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF TRADE & EXCHANGE: Program and Abstracts of the 2005 Australian Archaeological Association (AAA) and Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology (AIMA) Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia (27-30 November 2005)

DIGGING UP HISTORY: How WA’s mining sector has uncovered the State’s greatest secrets

Cultural Heritage Approvals: Exploring the practical realities

Provisioning places in Nyiyaparli country: the nature and use of rock shelters in the eastern Chichester Range. Poster presented at AAA Annual Conference, Terrigal, NSW, 6-8 December 2016

by Caroline Bird, Fiona Hook, and James Rhoads

Issues of scale and resolution in interpreting surface artefact scatters in the inland Pilbara. Poster presented at AAA Annual Conference, Terrigal, NSW, 6-8 December 2016

by Caroline Bird, Fiona Hook, and James Rhoads

Kakutungutanta to Warrie Outcamp: multi-audiences and the communication of archaeology. Poster presented at AAA Annual Conference, Fremantle, Western Australia, 2-4 December 2015

by Fiona Hook and Caroline Bird

As part of a Fortescue Metals Group funded research project, Archae-aus developed a book with the... more As part of a Fortescue Metals Group funded research project, Archae-aus developed a book with the Nyiyaparli community that communicates the cultural and archaeological riches of the Chichester Ranges. The aim was to explain information from consulting archaeology and anthropology to multiple audiences. The Nyiyaparli were the primary audience, closely followed by primary school age children and tourists. This raised the problem of how to transform scientific information for a non-technical audience.