Evidence for a coastal occupation time‐lag at Princess Charlotte Bay (North Queensland) and implications for coastal colonization and population growth theories for Aboriginal Australia

Beaton, J. M.

doi:10.1002/j.1834-4453.1985.tb00096.x

Cited by 180 publications

(156 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

149

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Beaton 1985). As demonstrated for the Wellesley Islands and other areas of northern Australia, resources established rapidly after initial coastal and/or island formation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation of offshore islands in northern Australia? A reassessment of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Rosendahl

Ulm

Sloss

et al. 2015

Quaternary International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Claims for mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation at the shell matrix site of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, are reassessed through an analysis of the excavated assemblage coupled with new surveys and an extensive dating program. Memmott et al. (2006, pp. 38, 39) reported basal ages of c.5000-5500 years from Wurdukanhan as 'the oldest date yet obtained for any archaeological site on the coast of the southern Gulf of Carpentaria' and used these dates to argue for 'a relatively lengthy occupation since at least the mid-Holocene'. If substantiated, with the exception of western Torres Strait, these claims make Mornington Island the only offshore island used across northern Australia in the mid-Holocene where it is conventionally thought that Aboriginal people only (re)colonised islands after sea-level maximum was achieved after the mid-Holocene. Our analysis of Wurdukanhan demonstrate high shellfish taxa diversity, high rates of natural shell predation and high densities of foraminifera throughout the deposit demonstrating a natural origin for the assemblage. Results are considered in the context of other dated shell matrix sites in the area and a geomorphological model for landscape development of the Sandalwood River catchment.2

show abstract

“…Beaton 1985). As demonstrated for the Wellesley Islands and other areas of northern Australia, resources established rapidly after initial coastal and/or island formation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation of offshore islands in northern Australia? A reassessment of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Rosendahl

Ulm

Sloss

et al. 2015

Quaternary International

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…is not uncommon in coastal investigations (e.g. Beaton 1985;Lilley er al. 1999;O'Connor and Sullivan 1994).…”

Section: Coastal Processes and Site Formationmentioning

confidence: 97%

Mort Creek Site Complex, Curtis Coast: Site Report

Carter

Lilley

Ulm

et al. 1999

QAR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reports the results of excavations conducted at the Mort Creek Site Complex, located in the Rodds Peninsula Section of Eurimbula National Park on the southern Curtis Coast, Central Queensland. Cultural and natural marine shell deposits were excavated and analysed as part of an investigation of natural and cultural site formation processes in the area. Analyses (including foraminifera studies) demonstrate a complex site formation history, with interfingering of cultural and natural shell deposits (cheniers) in some areas of the site. Radiocarbon dating indicates that Aboriginal occupation of the site was initiated before 2,000 cal BP, overlapping with dates obtained for natural chenier deposits.

show abstract

“…These include social intensification (Lourandos 1997:303, 305) and broad-spectrum resource use (Haberle and David 2004), population increase and ceremonial activities (Beaton 1983(Beaton , 1985(Beaton , 1990), large-scale climatic change (Morwood and Hobbs 1995:182) and highintensity El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity (Rowland 1999;Cosgrove 2005;Turney and Hobbs 2006;Cosgrove et al 2007). Unravelling the causes for an increase in the use of poisonous food plants is dependent on a capacity to build solid regional frameworks of archaeological and palaeoecological data that include an understanding of (i) substantial archaeological evidence of ancient plant remains, (ii) site formation and taphonomic processes, (iii) an identification of associated changes in other cultural remains with matching palaeoenvironmental signals, and (iv) commensurate regional site comparisons that have stratigraphically intact dated deposits.…”

Section: Aboriginal Exploitation Of Toxic Foodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aboriginal exploitation of toxic nuts as a late-Holocene subsistence strategy in Australia’s tropical rainforests

Ferrier¹,

Cosgrove²

2012

Peopled Landscapes: Archaeological and Biogeographic Approaches to Landscapes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evidence for a coastal occupation time‐lag at Princess Charlotte Bay (North Queensland) and implications for coastal colonization and population growth theories for Aboriginal Australia

Cited by 180 publications

References 39 publications

Mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation of offshore islands in northern Australia? A reassessment of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Mid-Holocene Aboriginal occupation of offshore islands in northern Australia? A reassessment of Wurdukanhan, Mornington Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

Mort Creek Site Complex, Curtis Coast: Site Report

Aboriginal exploitation of toxic nuts as a late-Holocene subsistence strategy in Australia’s tropical rainforests

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About