A preliminary report on archaeological findings in Aurukun Shire, western Cape York

Abstract

The following is a preliminary report on archaeological work undertaken in September and October 1985 in conjunction with an ethnographic mapping project carried out by the South Australian Museum and Arukun Shire Council. The mapping project, which has continued in some form for the past 15 years, was set up by anthropologists Peter Sutton and John von Sturmer along with the traditional owners of clan estates. As this work, and similar work in eastern Cape York, has had as one of its primary aims the elucidation of traditional patterns of land tenure, it represents a major potential resource for archaeology (Chase 1980; Sutton 1978; von Sturmer 1978).

Niche production strategies and shell matrix site variability at Albatross Bay, Cape York Peninsula

“…Of these, around 80% ( n = 383) are shell mound sites and a further 16% ( n = 76) are shell scatters. Importantly, no shell mounds have been recorded in the region whose surface composition is considered to be anything other than primarily A. granosa , although it should be noted that unpublished survey work near Aurukun has identified shell mound sites whose dominant species appears to be M. hiantina (Cochrane ; see also Cribb ). However, no such sites have been identified within the Albatross Bay catchment despite extensive surveys.…”

Life on the Margins : An Archaeological Investigation of Late Holocene Economic Variability, Blue Mud Bay, Northern Australia

“…While not being the sole focus, many of the issues considered on the north Australian coastline have been dominated by the consideration of large mounded shell deposits. ose areas that have been a particular focus for research into shell mounds (see Figure 1.1) include the coastal Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia (O'Connor and Veth 1993;Veitch 1996Veitch , 1999aVeitch , 1999bO'Connor 1996O'Connor , 1999Clune 2002), Darwin Harbour (Burns 1994(Burns , 1999Hiscock 1997Hiscock , 2005Bourke 2000Bourke , 2002Bourke , 2005Hiscock andHughes 2001) andMilingimbi (McCarthy andSetzler 1960: 232-3, 244;Roberts 1991Roberts , 1994 on the Northern Territory coast, and Bayley Point (Robins et al 1998), Aurukun (Cribb 1986(Cribb , 1996, Weipa (Wright 1971;Bailey 1975aBailey , 1977Bailey , 1994Bailey et al 1994;Morrison 2000Morrison , 2003Morrison , 2010 and Princess Charlotte Bay (Beaton 1985(Beaton , 1986 in north Queensland. is fascination with what Bailey (1999:105) has referred to as the "mound phenomenon" has arisen partly out of their high visibility and clear dominance in many coastal areas across the north.…”

Flaked stone assemblage variability across the Weipa region of western Cape York Peninsula, Queensland

“…Bailey 1972;Cribb 1986;Morrison 2003) or relying on ethnographic and historical information to determine past landscape use (e.g. Sutton 1994Sutton , 2010.…”

“…These features have dominated archaeological investigation in the region for the last 40 years (Bailey 1975(Bailey , 1977(Bailey , 1999Cribb 1986;Holdaway et al 2017;Morrison 2003Morrison , 2010Shiner et al 2013;Wright 1971). In a landscape that does not contain rockshelters, the shell mounds offer the opportunity to investigate not only temporal patterns in coastal resource use, but also human responses to environmental change (e.g.…”