Determinants of earth circle site location in the Moreton Region, southeast Queensland

Satterthwait, Leonn; Heather, Andrew

doi:10.25120/qar.4.1987.171

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…To determine the orientations of bora ceremonial sites, we obtained data for 63 such sites from the following published literature: Mathews (1894Mathews ( , 1896aMathews ( , 1896bMathews ( , 1897aMathews ( , 1907Mathews ( , 1917, Hopkins (1901), Towle (1942), Bartholomai andBreeden (1961), Anon. (1973), McBryde (1974), Steele (1984), Satterthwait andHeather (1987), andBowdler (2001). We also obtained 1107 archaeological site cards from the NSW Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS) related to stone arrangements and ceremonial grounds.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astronomical orientations of BORA ceremonial grounds in southeast Australia

Fuller

Hamacher

Norris

2013

Australian Archaeology

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Ethnographic evidence indicates that bora (initiation) ceremonial sites in southeast Australia, which typically comprise a pair of circles connected by a pathway, are symbolically reflected in the Milky Way as the 'Sky Bora'. This evidence also indicates that the position of the Sky Bora signifies the time of the year when initiation ceremonies are held. We use archaeological data to test the hypothesis that southeast Australian bora grounds have a preferred orientation to the position of the Milky Way in the night sky in August, when the plane of the galaxy from Crux to Sagittarius is roughly vertical in the evening sky to the south-southwest. We accomplish this by measuring the orientations of 68 bora grounds using a combination of data from the archaeological literature and site cards in the New South Wales Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System database. We find that bora grounds have a preferred orientation to the south and southwest, consistent with the Sky Bora hypothesis. Monte Carlo statistics show that these preferences were not the result of chance alignments, but were deliberate. Notice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ReadersThis paper discusses bora ceremonies and contains the names of people who have passed away. The exact locations of these sites are concealed in order to protect them. The coordinates provided are within 10 km of the site and are used only to demonstrate the general distribution of the known bora grounds in southeast Australia.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astronomical orientations of BORA ceremonial grounds in southeast Australia

Fuller

Hamacher

Norris

2013

Australian Archaeology

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“…The separation of ceremonial grounds from associated camping areas is a key element in the spatial configuration of Aboriginal ceremonial locations (e.g. Satterthwait and Heather 1987). Often the local topography would be used to effect a visual barrier, such as at the Double Bore Crossing stone arrangement in Yulluna country, which was positioned so that it could not be seen from any surrounding camp sites (Beck 2016).…”

Section: Stone Arrangementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Huts and stone arrangements at Hilary Creek, western Queensland: Recent fieldwork at an Australian Aboriginal site complex

Wallis

Barker

Burke

et al. 2021

QAR

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This paper reports on an Aboriginal site complex, incorporating hut structures, ceremonial stone arrangements, an extensive surface artefact assemblage of lithics and mussel shell, and a silcrete quarry, located along Hilary Creek, a tributary of the Georgina River in western Queensland, Australia. At least two phases of occupation are indicated. The most recent huts have their collapsed organic superstructure still present, while those of a presumably earlier phase are distinguished as bare, circular patches of earth which are conspicuous amongst the ubiquitous gibber, with or without stone bases, and lacking any collapsed superstructure. Immediately adjacent to the huts and also a few hundred metres away are clusters of small stone arrangements, and about 2 km to the southwest, along the same creekline, is another series of larger, more substantial stone arrangements; these features speak to the importance of the general Hilary Creek area for ceremonial purposes. Radiocarbon dating reveals use of the Hilary Creek complex dates to at least 300 years ago; the absence of any European materials suggests it was likely not used, or only used very sporadically, after the 1870s when pastoralists arrived in the area, and when traditional lifeways were devastated by colonial violence.

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“…Over 70 Aboriginal cultural sites have been recorded along the eastern margin of Tin Can Inlet. These include ceremonial bora rings (associated with intergroup gatherings and initiations -see Satterthwait and Heather 1987), and middens, stone artefact scatters, and a scarred tree (McNiven 1984(McNiven :85, 1985(McNiven :14, 1990a(McNiven :188, 1991a. Two bora rings are reputed to exist in the southeast sections of Tin Can Inlet while a large and well-preserved bora ring is located within Pipeclay National Park located in the southwest corner of the inlet (Steele 1983:186).…”

Section: Aboriginal Cultural Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboriginal marine subsistence foraging flexibility in a dynamic estuarine environment: The late development of Tin Can Inlet (southeast Queensland) middens revisited

Smith

McNiven

2019

QAR

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<p>Although the sea arrived in southeast Queensland around 8000 years ago, most estuarine middens date to the past 1000 years. An example is midden deposits dating to the past 400 years forming the upper levels of Sites 62 and 75b from Tin Can Inlet located immediately south of the Fraser Island (K’gari) World Heritage Area. Both sites were excavated and analysed in the 1980s. This paper revisits these results following a detailed re-analysis of midden materials and new insights on regional sea level changes. Taking an historical ecology approach, species-specific habitat requirements and associated substrate sediment dynamics help explain similarities and differences between the two midden shell assemblages. Environmental factors and the location of both sites on landforms that formed following sea level fall over the past 2000 years help explain why the basal levels of both sites are probably <1000–1500 years old. Documenting pre-2000-year-old Aboriginal use of Tin Can Inlet will need to target more elevated inland dune deposits (>5m ASL) fronting the mid-Holocene sea level highstand palaeoshoreline.</p>

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Determinants of earth circle site location in the Moreton Region, southeast Queensland

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Astronomical orientations of BORA ceremonial grounds in southeast Australia

Astronomical orientations of BORA ceremonial grounds in southeast Australia

Huts and stone arrangements at Hilary Creek, western Queensland: Recent fieldwork at an Australian Aboriginal site complex

Aboriginal marine subsistence foraging flexibility in a dynamic estuarine environment: The late development of Tin Can Inlet (southeast Queensland) middens revisited

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