Archaeobotany in Australia and New Guinea: Practice, Potential and Prospects

Denham, Tim; Atchison, Jennifer; Austin, Jeremy J.; Bestel, Sheahan; Bowdery, Doreen; Crowther, Alison; Dolby, Nicolas James; Fairbairn, Andrew; Field, Judith; Kennedy, Amanda; Lentfer, Carol; Matheson, Carney; Nugent, Sue; Parr, J. F.; Prebble, Matthew; Robertson, Gail; Specht, Jim; Torrence, Robin; Barton, Huw; Fullagar, Richard; Haberle, Simon; Horrocks, Mark; Lewis, Tara; Matthews, Peter J.

doi:10.1080/03122417.2009.11681884

Cited by 32 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Anthracology, or the study of wood charcoal remains, is an emerging field of research within Australian archaeology (Denham et al . ; Dotte‐Sarout et al . ) which has not been previously applied to historic sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Island survival: The anthracological and archaeofaunal evidence for colonial‐era events on Barrow Island, north‐west Australia

Byrne

Dooley

Manne

et al. 2019

Archaeology in Oceania

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The establishment of north-west Australia's nineteenth-century pearlshell fisheries led to the first occupation of many arid offshore islands since the early mid-Holocene. The nature of this occupation, and how crews subsisted on such remote landscapes, remains poorly understood. We investigate a rare instance of an archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological record for this colonial-era activity at Bandicoot Bay, Barrow Island. Varied taxonomic representation suggests an atypical subsistence strategy for a maritime industry, involving broad exploitation of resources over several local landscapes and an absence of remains of provisioned food. Identified plant taxa largely conform to resources known ethnographically to have been exploited by north-west Aboriginal communities, and many relate to traditional food practices. The spatial patterning of charred wood and bone suggests multiple burning activities and areas of specific use. Conditions of wood fuel on the island may have prompted the augmentation of fuel, indicated by the presence of non-local wood charcoal and high proportions of calcined bone. These findings (i) are consistent with the hypothesis that the site's occupants originated from the north-west as part of coerced pearling labour and (ii) provide unique insight into the role offshore islands may have occupied in the management of this industry's labour forces. RÉSUMÉAu 19 e siècle, le développement d'une industrie de pêche des huitres perlières dans le nord-ouest de l'Australie entraina la première réoccupation de nombreusesîles arides de cette région, après celles datant du milieu de l'Holocène. La nature de ces occupations et la façon dont leséquipages purent subsister au sein de milieux si isolés demeurent mal comprises. Nous examinons ici un exemple rare d'assemblages archéozoologiques et archéobotaniques pour ce type d'activités de la période coloniale, dans la baie de Bandicoot, Barrow Island. La diversité des représentations taxonomiques de faune suggère une stratégie de subsistance atypique pour une industrie maritime, incluant un mode d'exploitation extensif des ressources issues de plusieurs environnements locaux, ainsi qu'une absence de restes provenant de nourriture approvisionnée. Les taxons botaniques identifiés correspondentà ceux exploités par les communautés aborigènes du nord-ouest du continent, selon les données ethnographiques, et beaucoup sont associés aux pratiques de subsistance traditionnelles. La répartition spatiale des restes anthracologiques et de faune suggère l'existence de plusieurs types de combustion et zones d'activités spécialisées. La disponibilité du bois de feu sur l'île a pu motiver la recherche de solutions pour augmenter les ressources en combustible, comme semble l'indiquer la présence de charbons de bois d'essence non locale et les proportions importantes d'os calcinés. Ces résultats (i) supportent l'hypothèse selon laquelle les occupants de ce siteétaient originaires du nord-ouest du continent et furent déplacés par le biais du système de travail forcé imposé ...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Island survival: The anthracological and archaeofaunal evidence for colonial‐era events on Barrow Island, north‐west Australia

Byrne

Dooley

Manne

et al. 2019

Archaeology in Oceania

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“…As Fairbairn (2005) and Denham et al (2009a;2009c) have already argued, however, this is only one of the components necessary for continued progress into the examination of subsistence systems within northern Sahul. It is also imperative that researchers implement the multi-proxy, archaeobotanically-focused studies often missing in the lowlands of New Guinea and Australia.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving past the ‘Neolithic problem’: The development and interaction of subsistence systems across northern Sahul

Florin

Carah

2018

Quaternary International

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The 'Neolithic problem' refers to forager/farmer interaction in northern Australia, where despite a shared environmental inheritance with their New Guinea neighbours, Indigenous Australians seemingly rejected both the domesticates and the practices of the Melanesian horticultural economy (White, 1971). This ethnographic example is often used to suggest that hunter-gatherers elsewhere may have chosen not to adopt agriculture. However, the premise of the 'Neolithic problem' has been criticised for its overreliance on the ethnographic record and on an anachronistic notion of cultural evolution, which exaggerates the dichotomy between New Guinean agriculturalists and Australian hunter-gatherers. In this paper we review the historical and theoretical treatment of the 'Neolithic problem' and the archaeological evidence for subsistence practices in northern Sahul spanning the past 50e60,000 years. Using niche construction theory (Rowley-Conwy and Layton, 2011) to reexamine the archaeological and ethnohistoric record, it is possible to observe the development and expansion of a variety of subsistence systems. Contrary to the premise of the 'Neolithic problem', the past 50e60,000 years of occupation in Sahul has seen the development of a varied array of food-producing subsistence practices in both New Guinea and Australia. However, the archaeological evidence for the expansion of horticultural practices and cultivars outside of highland New Guinea suggests a spatially and temporally narrow window for the adoption of agriculture by Indigenous populations in Cape York. Instead, the interaction between different subsistence systems in northern Sahul may have centred on the New Guinea lowlands and the Bismarck Archipelago, where, in the late Holocene, local communities interacted with other Melanesian and Austronesian populations. Whilst further archaeological investigation is required, it is clear that the image of culturally-static Indigenous Australian populations often implied in the consideration of forager/farmer interactions belongs to another era of archaeological thought.

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“…In contrast, systematic recovery and collection of botanical macro‐remains during excavations in Oceania still had to be called for a few years ago (see Denham et al . ; Fairbairn ) and is only just starting to become a reality. In addition, due to the lack of exposure to the discipline's principles, appropriate sampling strategies are not always applied.…”

Section: Wood Charcoal Analysis In Oceania: a Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These have complicated the application of a discipline that was first developed in regions demonstrating a long history of archaeological research, where archaeobotany is now well established, with a tradition of extensive excavations often associated with large teams and substantive logistics that allow for systematic archaeobotanical sampling. In contrast, systematic recovery and collection of botanical macro-remains during excavations in Oceania still had to be called for a few years ago (see Denham et al 2009;Fairbairn 2005a) and is only just starting to become a reality. In addition, due to the lack of exposure to the discipline's principles, appropriate sampling strategies are not always applied.…”

Section: The Regional Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2009, several Australia-based archaeobotanists called for better integration of archaeobotanical research within archaeological projects in Australia and New Guinea (Denham et al 2009). The authors demonstrated the high potential of this discipline to provide answers to key archaeological problems, while highlighting the low incidence of archaeobotanical studies in the region's research projects.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Not just carbon: assessment and prospects for the application of anthracology in Oceania

Dotte-Sarout

Carah

Byrne

2014

Archaeology in Oceania

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While archaeobotany is increasingly part of archaeological projects in Oceania, the specific sub‐discipline focusing on wood charcoal macro‐remains (anthracology) continues to be a much underdeveloped field of research in Australia and the Pacific. To initiate a regional framework for anthracology, we present here a review of studies based on wood charcoal analyses that have been implemented in Oceania, and we then present anthracological principles and methods developed in other parts of the world. We use three recent case studies, from New Caledonia, and tropical and semi‐arid Australia, to illustrate the application of anthracological methods in the region. Finally, we consider the potential for the discipline to be successfully developed in Oceania, discussing identified challenges and prospects for anthracology to address key archaeological questions in the region. We argue the discipline has the potential to throw light on both palaeoenvironmental conditions and palaeoethnobotanical practices at a site, and can also offer insights in relation to mobility patterns and resource management in the past.

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Archaeobotany in Australia and New Guinea: Practice, Potential and Prospects

Cited by 32 publications

References 72 publications

Island survival: The anthracological and archaeofaunal evidence for colonial‐era events on Barrow Island, north‐west Australia

Island survival: The anthracological and archaeofaunal evidence for colonial‐era events on Barrow Island, north‐west Australia

Moving past the ‘Neolithic problem’: The development and interaction of subsistence systems across northern Sahul

Not just carbon: assessment and prospects for the application of anthracology in Oceania

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