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This paper identifies a significant interpretive issue for prehistoric archaeology: distinguishing adult ritual actions from the activities of children in the archaeological record. Through examining ethnographic accounts of recent huntergatherer children and reconsidering archaeological patterns and assemblages in light of these data, we explore how the results of children's play can be-and likely have been-misinterpreted by archaeologists as evidence for adult ritual behavior in prehistoric contexts. Given that children were a significant component of past hunter-gatherer (and other) societies, the fact that the material components of their activities overlap tremendously with items used in adult rituals must be routinely considered by archaeologists if we are to reconstruct robust understandings of past peoples all over the globe.

Abstract:The colonisation of the Mariana Islands in Western Micronesia is likely to represent a long distance ocean dispersal of more than 2000 km, and establishing the date of human arrival in the archipelago is important for modelling Neolithic expansion in Island Southeast Asia and the Pacific. In 2010, Clark et al. published a paper discussing a number of radiocarbon dates from the Bapot-1 site on Saipan Island, but a disparity between charcoal and marine shell (Anadara sp.) results prevented the calculation of a definitive age for the site and left open the possibility that Bapot-1 was first settled as early as 3500 cal BP. Here we present new research using a combination of stable isotope (δ 13 C and δ 18 O) and 14 C information to demonstrate that A. antiquata from the lowest layers of Bapot-1 is affected by hardwaters. These new results indicate human arrival at Bapot-1 occurred around 3200-3080 cal. BP (1250-1130 BC). We recommend a similar isotopic evaluation for other sites in the Marianas that are dated by marine shell.

Subscriptions are available to individuals through membership of the Australian Archaeological Association Inc. or to organisations through institutional subscription. Subscription application/renewal forms are available at . Australian Archaeology is available through Informit and JSTOR. Design and Print: Openbook Howden Front Cover: Studying a Nautilus shell during midden sorting (Annette Oertle, entered in the AAA 2014 Photography Competition).

Depictions of firearms in Australian Aboriginal rock art provide a unique opportunity to archaeologically explore the roles that this type of material culture played in times of culture contact. From the earliest interactions with explorers to the buffalo shooting enterprises of the twentieth century-firearms played complex and shifting roles in western Arnhem Land Aboriginal societies. The site of Madjedbebe (sometimes referred to as Malakunanja II in earlier academic literature) in Jabiluka (Mirarr Country), offers the opportunity to explore these shifting roles over time with an unprecedented 16 paintings of firearms spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This rock art provides evidence for early firearms as objects of curiosity Int J Histor Archaeol (2017)

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Amongst other issues, the ‘History Wars’ raise the question as to whether or not sites of conflict on the Australian colonial frontier will be preserved in the archaeological record. We explore this question through a consideration of what the expected nature of any such evidence might be, based on general and specific historical accounts and an understanding of site formation processes. Although limited success has been achieved to date in locating definitive evidence for such sites in Australia, we conclude that there are some specific situations where archaeology could usefully be applied to give rise to a more multi‐dimensional understanding of the past.