-
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF AUSTRALIA’S DESERTS
This is the first book-length study of the archaeology of
Australia’sdeserts, one of the world’s major habitats and the
largest block of drylandsin the Southern Hemisphere. Over the last
few decades, a wealth of newenvironmental and archaeological data
about this fascinating region hasbecome available. Drawing on a
wide range of sources, The Archaeologyof Australia’s Deserts
explores the late Pleistocene settlement of Australia’sdeserts, the
formation of distinctive desert societies and the origins
anddevelopment of the hunter-gatherer societies documented in the
classicnineteenth-century ethnographies of Spencer and Gillen.
Written byone of Australia’s leading desert archaeologists, the
book interweaves alively history of research with archaeological
data in a masterly survey ofthe field and a profoundly
interdisciplinary study that forces archaeologyinto conversations
with history and anthropology, economy and ecology,and geography
and earth sciences.
Mike Smith is the senior archaeologist at the National Museum
ofAustralia. For more than 30 years, he has worked extensively
across theAustralian arid zone, piecing together the archaeology of
this immensecontinental region of dunefields, sandy rivers, salt
lakes, and desertuplands. His previous appointments include field
archaeologist at theNorthern Territory Museum in Darwin and Alice
Springs, researchFellow in the Research School of Pacific and Asian
Studies at the Aus-tralian National University, and lecturer in
archaeology for the Depart-ment of Archaeology and Anthropology at
the Australian National Uni-versity. A Fellow of the Australian
Academy of the Humanities and ofthe Society of Antiquaries
(London), he was awarded the Rhys Jonesmedal by the Australian
Archaeological Association in 2006 for ‘out-standing contributions
to Australian Archaeology’. In 2010, he receivedthe Verco medal
from the Royal Society of South Australia for hisresearch.
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CAMBRIDGE WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY
series editorNORMAN YOFFEE, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
editorial boardSUSAN ALCOCK, Brown UniversityTOM DILLEHAY,
Vanderbilt UniversityTIM PAUKETAT, University of IllinoisSTEPHEN
SHENNAN, University College LondonCARLA SINOPOLI, University of
MichiganDAVID WENGROW, University College London
The Cambridge World Archaeology series is addressed to students
andprofessional archaeologists, and to academics in related
disciplines. Mostvolumes present a survey of the archaeology of a
region of the world,providing an up-to-date account of research and
integrating recent find-ings with new concerns of interpretation.
While the focus is on a spe-cific region, broader cultural trends
are discussed and the implicationsof regional findings for
cross-cultural interpretations considered. Theauthors also bring
anthropological and historical expertise to bear onarchaeological
problems and show how both new data and changingintellectual trends
in archaeology shape inferences about the past. Morerecently, the
series has expanded to include thematic volumes.
recent books in the series
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Asiachristopher pool, Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamericasamuel
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Siberia in the Bronze and Iron Agesdavid wengrow, The
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Micronesiapeter m. m. g. akkermansa and glenn m. schwartz, The
Archaeology of Syriatimothy insoll, The Archaeology of Islam in
Sub-Saharan Africa
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cambridge world archaeology
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
AUSTRALIA’S DESERTS
mike smithNational Museum of Australia
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cambridge university pressCambridge, New York, Melbourne,
Madrid, Cape Town,Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City
Cambridge University Press32 Avenue of the Americas, New York,
ny 10013-2473, usa
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C© Mike Smith 2013
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory
exceptionand to the provisions of relevant collective licensing
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writtenpermission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2013
Printed in the United States of America
A catalog record for this publication is available from the
British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Smith, M. A., author.The archaeology of Australia’s deserts /
Mike Smith, National Museum of Australia.
pages cm. – (Cambridge world archaeology)Includes
bibliographical references and index.isbn 978-0-521-40745-8
(hardback)1. Deserts – Australia. 2. Environmental archaeology –
Australia. 3. Archaeology –Australia. 4. Human ecology – Australia.
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Web sites referred to in this publication and does notguarantee
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For Ben,
Lost in the Strzelecki Desert as a 10-year-old
and tracked through the night.
And for Moshu,
born in Alice Springs
with hair the colour of red desert sands.
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CONTENTS
Figures and Tables page xi
Preface xvii
Acknowledgements xxi
Note on Calibration of Radiocarbon Dates xxv
1 The Archaeology of Deserts: Australia in Context . . . . . . .
. . . . . . 1
2 Deserts Past: A History of Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 17
3 The Empty Desert: Inland Environments Prior to People . . . .
. . . . 45
4 Foundations: Moving into the Deserts . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 70
5 Islands in the Interior: Last Glacial Aridity and Its
Aftermath . . . . 109
6 The ‘Desert Culture’ Revisited: Assembling a Cultural System .
. . 157
7 Rock Art and Place: Evolution of an Inscribed Landscape . . .
. . . 212
8 The Chain of Connection: Trade and Exchange across theInterior
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 266
9 The Last Millennium: Archaeology and the ClassicEthnographies
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . 302
Glossary of Technical Terms 343
References 349
Index 391
ix
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FIGURES AND TABLES
figures
1.1 The modern distribution of deserts. page 21.2 Australia is
the driest of the six inhabited continents. 21.3 Global spread of
modern humans into Australasia. 31.4 Map of the Australian arid
zone. 51.5 Influence of the Australian monsoon on Australia’s
deserts. 92.1 Baldwin Spencer with Arrernte elders, 1896. 192.2
‘Native village in the Northern Interior’, 1845. 212.3 Herbert
Basedow’s tracing of rock engravings, 1907. 252.4 Robert Keble’s
1947 map of climatic belts. 272.5 Jim Bowler’s 1971 map of the
Willandra Lakes. 333.1 The 1893 dig at Lake Mulligan. 463.2
Distribution of Diprotodon optatum and Genyornis newtoni. 473.3
Climatic variability over the last 350 ka showing marine
isotope
stages (MIS). 513.4 Bowler’s ‘hydrological threshold’ for
Australian lakes. 533.5 The Lake Eyre basin during the last
interglacial. 543.6 Lake-level curve for Lake Eyre. 553.7 Kocurek’s
model of aeolian system response to climate change. 593.8 The
distribution and diversity of late Quaternary megafauna. 624.1 Map
showing archaeological sites dating more than 30 ka. 734.2 Map of
the Willandra Lakes. 814.3 The excavation at Mungo B in 1976. 824.4
The Cuddie Springs bone bed. 854.5 Puritjarra rockshelter. 904.6
Excavations at Puritjarra rockshelter, 1988. 914.7 The Mungo 3
(WLH3) burial. 934.8 Artefacts from the 35 ka palaeosurface at
Puritjarra. 975.1 Map of the continent during the last glacial
maximum. 1115.2 Biotic and human responses during the last glacial
maximum. 1125.3 The location of glacial refugia. 1135.4 The impact
of peak glacial aridity upon land use. 123
xi
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xii Figures and Tables
5.5 Plot of radiocarbon dates, showing the impact of the last
glacialmaximum. 124
5.6 Different types of stratigraphic or occupation hiatus.
1315.7 Map of western Central Australia. 1345.8 Stratigraphic
section, Kulpi Mara excavations. 1355.9 Large flake implements from
the late Pleistocene unit at Puritjarra. 1375.10 Map of the
Pilbara. 1395.11 Temporal distribution of stone artefacts at
Djadjiling. 1405.12 Temporal distribution of stone artefacts at
Serpents Glen. 1475.13 The sinkhole at Koonalda Cave. 1515.14
Fossil human footprint dating to 23–19 ka, Willandra Lakes region.
1556.1 Excavations at Puntutjarpa rockshelter in 1969–70. 1596.2
Summed probability plot for all radiocarbon ages from
archaeological sites in Australian drylands. 1616.3 Summed
probability plot showing radiocarbon dates on Terebralia
and Anadara shell middens. 1716.4 Excavations at the Skew Valley
midden, 1975–76. 1736.5 Stratigraphy of the Skew Valley midden.
1736.6 Stratigraphic section for Allens Cave. 1776.7 Small-tool
phase artefacts from Puritjarra rockshelter. 1866.8 The spatial and
temporal distribution of geometric microliths. 1876.9 The
distribution of tula adzes, pirri points and millstones. 1906.10
Unifacial pirri points from the Lake Eyre basin. 1916.11
Seed-grinders from Central Australia. 1996.12 The distribution of
Australian language families. 2037.1 Panaramitee-style rock
engravings at Florina station, Olary region. 2137.2 The
distribution of graphic and religious systems across Australia.
2157.3 Denis Ebaterinja drawing the honey ant ‘dreaming’. 2187.4
Large striped totemic designs at Emily Gap, Central Australia.
2217.5 Desert-style provinces for mid-Holocene rock engravings.
2297.6 Panaramitee-style rock engravings at Puritjarra. 2307.7
Wanga East rockshelter, showing engraved rock slabs and location
of
dated samples. 2377.8 Excavation of engraved boulders at
Puritjarra. 2397.9 Early petroglyph assemblages in the
Dampier–Burrup area. 2427.10 The ‘climbing men’ motif. 2437.11
Archaic face engravings. 2457.12 The Burrup rock art sequence.
2497.13 The sequences of changes in Central Australian rock art.
2557.14 The long painted frieze at Puritjarra. 2567.15 Hand
stencils and hand prints. 2577.16 State-and-transition model
applied to Panaramitee-style rock art. 2658.1 The ethnographic
exchange system in relation to major pituri
groves and quarries for red ochre. millstones and stone axes.
2678.2 Map showing the southern sector of the Lake Eyre basin.
2688.3 Map showing major quarries and mines mentioned in the text.
2698.4 Pearl-shell pendant with interlocking key design. 275
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Figures and Tables xiii
8.5 The Wilgie Mia red ochre mine in about 1910. 2788.6 The
structure of the Wilgie Mia mine. 2798.7 Survey plan of Narcoonowie
grindstone quarry. 2858.8 Australian stone axe or hatchet, 1861.
2888.9 The chronological distribution of ground-edge axes. 2898.10
Hafted stone knife with Melaleuca ‘paperbark’ sheath. 2958.11 Model
showing number of exchange contacts available to
hunter-gatherer groups with increasing population density.
2978.12 Mound of kopi mourning caps on a grave, Eyre Creek,
central
Australia. 2999.1 A fire drive to hunt maala wallabies, Musgrave
Ranges, 1933. 3039.2 Time-series distribution of radiocarbon dates
over the last
5,000 years. 3119.3 Map of Central Australia. 3149.4 Schematic
diagram illustrating different site histories. 3159.5 Stratigraphic
profile for Tjungkupu 1, Central Australia. 3159.6 Stratigraphy in
Trench 1, Intirtekwerle rockshelter, Central
Australia. 3179.7 Principal components analyses of site
inventories in Central
Australia. 3199.8 Excavations at Glen Thirsty 1, Central
Australia, in 2004. 3219.9 Changing foraging patterns, comparing
the early and late Holocene. 3289.10 Geographic distribution of the
Western Desert language (Wati). 3359.11 Syd Coulthard at Glen
Thirsty, with rock paintings described
by E Giles in 1872 as ‘Roman numerals’. 337
tables
3.1 Lake Eyre, comparing the size of the last interglacial lake
and thelargest historical filling 55
3.2 List of taxa, Upper Katapiri fauna (MIS4–MIS6),
CooperCreek–Lake Eyre region 63
3.3 Comparison of middle Pleistocene herbivore dietary guilds
acrossAustralia 64
3.4 List of fossil fauna from Lake Callabonna 644.1
Archaeological sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating
30–50 ka (chronology and distribution) 794.2 Archaeological
sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating
30–50 ka (assemblages and site inventories) 954.3 Archaeological
sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating
30–50 ka (subsistence remains from levels >30 ka) 1005.1
Relative importance of dryland ranges and gorge systems as
biological refugia 1185.2 Archaeological sites in Australian
deserts and drylands dating
30–12 ka 125
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xiv Figures and Tables
5.3 Key archaeological sites where there is substantive evidence
for(a) a stratigraphic or occupational hiatus during the last
glacialmaximum, or (b) for continuing occupation in this period
132
5.4 Changes in intensity of occupation at Puritjarra 1385.5
Comparative data on the size and diversity of selected
assemblages,
dated to the last glacial maximum 1426.1 Archaeological sites in
Australian deserts and drylands dating
12–4 ka 1666.2 The Puntutjarpa sequence 1806.3 Comparative data
on the size and diversity of selected assemblages,
contrasting mid-Holocene (8–6 ka) and late Holocene levels(
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Figures and Tables xv
9.1 List of excavated late Holocene archaeological sites in
CentralAustralia 313
9.2 Excavated assemblages at Tjungkupu 1, comparing the major
lateHolocene occupation unit and underlying levels 316
9.3 Changes in number and distribution of rock art sites in
CentralAustralia 319
9.4 Habitat mosaic created under different fire regimes in the
WesternDesert, 2002 325
9.5 Types of plant food in Central Australia, showing the number
ofspecies promoted by fire 325
9.6 Index of fragmentation values (IOF) for faunal bone
assemblagesfrom archaeological sites in the Western Desert and
CentralAustralia 327
9.7 Changes in hunting patterns shown in faunal assemblages
atPuntutjarpa rockshelter, Western Desert 328
9.8 Excavated grindstone assemblage from Intirtekwerle (James
RangeEast), Central Australia 329
9.9 Diyari drought terminology 333
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PREFACE
Whatever else it may be, a desert landscape is a historical
document preservinga complex record of the interaction of past
climates, geomorphic processesand cultural systems. I like to think
of these landscapes as a palimpsest ofdifferent deserts. Stratified
in time, stacked one above another, each has its ownclimate,
physical landscapes and environments; each its own social
landscapesand people, places of association and belonging,
territories, resources anditineraries. Some features of earlier
deserts project through these layers tobecome part of the fabric
and cultural geography of later deserts. Structuralfeatures and
processes are held in common: wind and water shape landforms;the
basin and range topography provides the formwork of the
landscape.No one desert is erased entirely by succeeding deserts –
a fact that makesarchaeology possible. This monograph – the first
book-length archaeologicalstudy of Australia’s deserts – is an
attempt to map out these histories.
The past four decades of fieldwork in Australia’s deserts and
drylands hasbeen an intense period of discovery, and a synthetic
work that brings togetherthe results of this research is sorely
needed. This period has seen the duration ofhuman settlement
extended from 10,000 years to more than 40 millennia. Atthe same
time, there has been a quantum growth in our understanding of
theQuaternary history of arid Australia, fuelled in part by the
availability of newdating techniques – such as thermoluminescence
(TL), optically stimulatedluminescence (OSL), electron spin
resonance (ESR), amino acid racemisation(AAR), and accelerator mass
spectrometry radiocarbon dating methods (AMS14C) often in
conjunction with acid–base oxidation (ABOX) pretreatment.(For a
description of the various dating techniques, and an explanation
ofterminology and abbreviations, see the Glossary.) There has also
been anexponential increase in knowledge about the last 1–2
millennia of hunter-gatherer settlement and society; for the first
time, this has provided a solid basisfor examining the prehistory
of the classic desert hunter-gatherer societies,well known in the
nineteenth-century ethnographies of Baldwin Spencer andFJ
Gillen.
xvii
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xviii Preface
At the outset, I should explain that this book is primarily a
work of historicalreview and synthesis; it revisits basic questions
about the deep history ofAustralia’s deserts, their Ice Age
settlement and the development of Aboriginalsocieties in these
regions. For me, the ‘big picture’ still has an importantrole in
archaeological narrative. Theory and methodology are intrinsic
tothis book but are not my main concern here. I prefer, as
historian JohnFerry once said, ‘to be nudged by theory rather than
dominated by it’ (1999:14). In any case, methodological issues are
more properly part of the internaldialogue of the discipline, best
fought out in the journals. I draw on rangelandsecology,
hunter-gatherer theory and mathematical modelling where it helpsme
understand archaeological data and have taken into account
argumentsabout the structure and biases in the archaeological
record, without makingthese discussions ends in themselves.
However, a broad review – such as this –necessarily conflates vast
stretches of time, unavoidably glossing over someof the procedural
difficulties presented by the uncertainties of
radiocarboncalibration, questions of site formation processes and
issues of taphonomy. Norhave I structured this book as a catalogue
of old battles about specific modelsand hypotheses. I think it is
important (occasionally) to step back and ask howthe data might fit
together as a natural and cultural prehistory of
Australia’sdeserts. I will be delighted if this book gives impetus
to fresh research. Partof its job is to frame new questions about
desert prehistory that can be testedin the field, to point to
frustrating gaps in basic fieldwork, to identify targetsfor
critical application of theory or methodology and to encourage
others tocomplete the crucial excavation and site studies that make
up the buildingblocks of our field. I hope this book does all of
these things and (after a politeinterval) is dismantled by new
thinking and finer-grained data.
Any review is limited by the extent of previous work. I have
found thatfor some questions, the data simply do not exist (I would
have liked, forexample, to say more about the interactions between
desert people and thesocieties surrounding the arid zone). For
others, the data exist but are yet tobe collated (most regions have
abundant traces of late Holocene occupation,but fine-grained
regional reviews are few, limiting my ability to approach thedesert
as a mosaic of different histories). Where it seemed that loose
endscould be easily tidied up through new fieldwork or additional
radiocarbondates, I have gone and done this (for example, the
potential harvest ratesin the Mulligan River pituri groves and the
additional radiocarbon dates forKulpi Mara). Working through
excavation reports, I have been consciousof the need to stay as
close to the excavator’s interpretation of chronology,sedimentary
history and stratigraphy as I dare. But where I found basic
errors,I have run with my own interpretation. Some published
reports do not answerbasic questions about the character of an
occupation, artefact assemblages andsite inventories, or provide
workable site chronologies. In these cases, I mademy own assessment
(here, I am grateful for the generosity of colleagues who
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Preface xix
answered requests for unpublished field data). Many studies use
only basicage-depth plots to establish a chronological framework
for a site. I have stayedclose to the published version, unless I
felt the evidence contradicted it.
I need to add a word on the structure of this book. The chapters
representa chronological series, but their coverage in space and
time shrinks. LatePleistocene deserts were larger than those today
– and my review follows thecontracting drylands. It will be no
surprise to learn that we have a muchfiner-grained record of the
last millennium (Chapters 7–9) than we do for theimmense period
from 45 ka to 24 ka (Chapter 4), so later chapters necessarilydeal
with narrower time slices. Chapter 2 explores the various ways that
thepast of these desert landscapes and desert societies has been
interpreted sincecolonial explorers and scientists first
encountered them, and points to recurringthemes that are picked up
in later chapters. Individual chapters each explore amajor issue in
desert research: the changing nature of the desert environment,the
timing of initial human settlement, the impact of the last glacial
maximumon desert settlement, postglacial adaptations, rock art and
religion, prehistorictrade and exchange and the social history of
classic ethnographic societies. Eachchapter opens with a key moment
in desert research (such as the discovery ofthe Lake Callabonna
Diprotodon fossils); collectively, these vignettes build toprovide
a pen portrait of the region and its people. Each chapter also
beginswith a review of issues and ideas, presented as a framework
for exploring thearchaeological evidence.
Structure and agency are important concepts for me: throughout
the book,I focus on how changes in palaeoenvironment affected the
structure of thelandscape in which these hunter-gatherer groups
operated – and how humanactions in turn modified these
environments. I am drawn to the idea of landesquecapital, proposed
by economic historian HC Brookfield, because it forces usto think
about long-lived economic infrastructure, in this case, the
wells,soakages, plant transpositions, fire mosaics and also (in a
way) rock art thatimprove the amenity of a hunter-gatherer
landscape. One of my aims has beento explore as far as possible
changes in the political and social structure ofthese societies –
and this book goes some way towards describing a prehistorythat
contains more than just economy and environment. I am not
blindlycommitted to the idea that population growth is the primary
determinant ofall social change, but I do find the evidence to be
more consistent with theview that the structure of these
hunter-gatherer societies and their capacity tomobilise resources
and actors are emergent properties of their demography. Inthis
regard, I see economy as architecture and social life as
agency.
Throughout the book, I explicitly draw on ethnography,
linguistics andAboriginal history wherever they complement an
‘archaeology of place’. Pre-historic societies were not cast in an
ethnographic mould, but ‘tracking back’is one method that can help
establish when they took on something approach-ing their classic
forms. The wealth of ethnographic data deserves wider critical
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xx Preface
attention by archaeologists, and I think this can be done
without archaeol-ogy necessarily becoming ‘ethnography with a
shovel’. I deliberately threadan Aboriginal ‘voice’ throughout the
book. It is important, I think, to retaina feeling for the
contemporary cultural landscape that swirls around theseprehistoric
sites.
Finally, I must say that the idea for this book began on a bush
trip withClive Gamble to Puritjarra rockshelter in 2001. With his
wonderful book, ThePalaeolithic Societies of Europe (1999), rolled
up in my swag, I wondered thenwhether something similar might yet
be done in Australia.
Centre for Historical ResearchNational Museum of Australia,
CanberraFebruary 2012
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The National Museum of Australia is a remarkable institution, a
gem of aplace to work. I am grateful for the time and intellectual
space to tackle thisbook and the unobtrusive support of past and
present directors: Dawn Casey,Craddock Morton and Andrew Sayers. I
am fortunate to have a lively base inthe Museum’s Centre for
Historical Research (CHR). I thank CHR DirectorPeter Stanley for
his support and Libby Robin, who in many ways mentoredthis project.
An affiliation with the Fenner School of Environment and
Society(where I am adjunct professor) gave me crucial access to the
e-library resourcesof the Australian National University. Staff at
the Museum’s own library alsotracked down many obscure journal
articles – with characteristic élan andefficiency.
The process of writing this book was an adventure in step with
further fieldsurveys, excavations, 4WD expeditions and some
marvellous desert traverseswith a string of pack camels – all of
which helped plug gaps in individualchapters. Sitting in my study
in the expectant hours before dawn, when ideasseem to flow best, I
found it a revelation to re-read all the primary researchpapers,
student theses and consultancy reports. But ‘full immersion’ made
forslow writing, and this book took far longer than I had imagined.
And soI thank Norman Yoffee and Beatrice Rehl at Cambridge
University Pressfor their patience. Some sections of the text were
initially written for otherpublications. I use them here (in a
modified form) because they still best reflectmy thinking on an
issue.
Synthetic books always rely on the goodwill of colleagues. I
wish tothank my ‘republic of letters’, those who sent me
unpublished data; copiesof theses or hard-to-get publications; took
me to sites; gave me directions;shared the dust, flies and fatigue
of fieldwork; took aerial photographs forme; or simply answered
queries and shared ideas as this book took shape:Kim Akerman, Max
Aubert, Alex Baynes, Claire Bowern, Jim Bowler, DavidBrooks, Adam
Brumm, Brian Codding, Tim Cohen, Syd Coulthard, BrunoDavid, Iain
Davidson, Nick Evans, Pat Faulkner, Judith Field, Dick Gould,
xxi
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xxii Acknowledgements
Richard (Dizzy) Gillespie, RG (ben) Gunn, Giles Hamm, Luise
Hercus, PaulHesse, Peter Hiscock, Tiger Morris Japaljarri, Diana
James, Ken Johnson,Philip Jones, Luke Keogh, Dick Kimber, Roger
Luebbers, John Magee, BenMarwick, Isabel McBryde, Scott McConnell,
Pat McConvell, Jo McDonald,John McEntee, Gifford Miller, Mark
Moore, Kate Morse, Ken Mulvaney,Warren Murgatroyd, Gerald Nanson,
Lewis Kyle Napton, David Nash, ColinPardoe, Sheila van Holst
Pellekaan, Brad Pillans, Gavin Prideaux, RichardRobins, André
Rosenfeld, June Ross, Don Rowlands, Jen Silcock, MoyaSmith, Mark
Stafford Smith, David Taylor, Peter Thorley, Douglas
MultaTjakamarra, Sean Ulm, Peter Veth, Glenda Wardle, Alan
Watchman, EsmeeWebb, Steve Webb, Rod Wells, Bernhard Weninger,
Allan Whiting, John Wis-chusen, Alan Williams, Elizabeth Williams,
Martin Williams, Trevor Worthy,Boyd Wright and Andrew Harper and
the cameleers and travellers with Aus-tralian Desert Expeditions. I
especially thank Barry Cundy, June Ross, AlanWilliams and Manik
Datar for sharing the sheer adventure of the enterprise.
The grey literature contains a wealth of information, and the
followinggenerously made consultancy reports or student theses
available to me: Eliza-beth Bradshaw; ben Gunn; Fiona Hook; Phil
Hughes; Ken Mulvaney; RioTinto Australia; Birgitta Stephenson;
Lynda Strawbridge; the Department ofArchaeology and
Palaeoanthropology, University of New England; and theDepartment of
Archaeology, University of Western Australia. The
artefactdistribution maps in Chapter 6 are more detailed than usual
because they drawon field diaries from my 30 years as a field
archaeologist in the arid zone – andon Kim Akerman’s unparalleled
knowledge of these things.
I appreciate the help of colleagues who read and commented on
themanuscript: David Brooks, Sarah Dunlop, Guy Fitzhardinge, Marg
Friedel,Tom Griffiths, Paul Hesse, Dick Kimber, John Kinahan,
Isabel McBryde,Steve Morton, John Mulvaney, Jim O’Connell, and
Libby Robin and myfeisty, iconoclastic Manik – her love of the
craft of writing augmented my owninterest in words.
It takes a surprising amount of work to turn a manuscript into a
book.In Canberra, Robert Nichols expertly edited the manuscript and
DeniseSutherland created the index. Kay Dancey (ANU Cartography)
drew themajor base maps, and Alan Williams produced the time-series
radiocarbonplots. Most other figures are from my own hand. At the
National Museum,Anne Faris and Almaz Berhe helped clear copyright
in the photographs.For permission to reproduce photographs in this
book, I thank Peter Eve(Monsoon Studio), Museum Victoria (Spencer
and Gillen collection), theSouth Australian Museum (EC Stirling
collection), Wilfred Shawcross, RobertEdwards, Richard Robins, the
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander
Studies (BJ Wright collection), Michel Lorblanchet, June Ross,the
Western Australian Museum (Wilgie Mia collection) and the
Northern
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Acknowledgements xxiii
Territory Archives – Alice Springs (HH Finlayson collection).
Darwin pho-tographer, Peter Eve, graciously allowed me to use one
of his striking desertimages on the cover of this book.
Finally, I must thank Mike and Jan Sexton for their
‘philanthropy withoutstrings’; their generosity allowed me to chase
ideas rather than money.
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NOTE ON CALIBRATION OF
RADIOCARBON DATES
Almost all archaeological research in Australia’s deserts has
relied on anuncorrected radiocarbon chronology. However,
calibration of the radiocar-bon timescale is now unavoidable, if
archaeological records are to be fullyintegrated with
palaeoenvironmental and climate data, or with global marineisotope
stages (MIS). Few archaeologists today would be unaware that
fluxesin atmospheric 14C have distorted the radiocarbon timescale,
so that radio-carbon years are not calendar ages. However,
calibration programs to convertradiocarbon ages (years BP) to
sidereal years (years cal. BP) over the full spanof the last 50,000
years have only recently become available.
In this book, I have attempted to put everything on a common
timescaleby working primarily with calibrated ages (quoted as ‘ka’
or ‘years cal. BP’).Ages were calibrated using OxCal 4.1 and the
INTCAL09 dataset. Marine09has been used for shell dates, applying a
marine reservoir correction of 450 ±35 years, plus a regional
offset delta-R correction 70 ± 70 for samples youngerthan 8 ka. For
samples older than 8–7 ka, shifts in sea levels and currentsmay
have affected rates of mixing, so the delta-R correction is
effectivelyunknown. For these samples, I rely on the base
correction of 450 ± 35 years,widely used in reporting Pleistocene
shell dates from archaeological sites. TheSHCal04 data set and
calibration curve allows for a Southern Hemisphere offsetof 55–58
years back to 11,000 BP. A full listing of the original
radiocarbonages for Australian desert sites is available in the
AustArch1 database, at
http://palaeoworks.anu.edu.au/databases.html.
For most archaeological use, a centre-point age estimate is more
convenientthan the unwieldy, non-normalised, 2SD age ranges
routinely generated bycalibration programs (even if these are
technically more correct). FollowingTelford et al. (2004), I use
the median of the calibrated age-distribution (medianIntCal09 age ±
1SD), which is more robust than mode or intercept methodsand not as
sensitive to small changes in the calibration curve. Throughout
thisbook, calendar ages are quoted as ‘ka’ (thousands of years ago)
and roundedup, to avoid implying more chronological precision than
the context allows.
xxv
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