Environmental and cultural change on the Mt Eccles lava-flow landscapes of southwest Victoria, Australia

Abstract

In this landscape, known to Gunditjmara as Budj Bim, archaeology documents physical remains, as opposed to cultural knowledge and memory, of the historical interconnectivity of the Gunditjmara with their environment. All the characteristics and attributes of the environment together form the ingredients for their particular economic, social and spiritual development. The challenge for science is how to extricate data from both the cultural remains and their ecological milieu in order to reveal anthropogenic influences and modifications to the natural landscape during its history. We know that the archaeology of the eel aquacultural system represents environmental manipulation and its subsequent management. What we are searching for, via multiproxy core analyses, is the signature of this occurrence and its possible relationship to climatic or other environmental stimuli.Questions arise as to the timing of the land modifications. Did they occur over the long or short term? Could part or all of this technology be a dynamic response to climate fluctuations? Could the technology be a response to regional social dynamics including the development of exchange systems (LourandosAbstract: The Gunditjmara people developed a socio-economic system based on the modification of wetland ecosystems associated with the Mt Eccles lava flow primarily for sustainable production and management of the highly nutritious shortfin eel (Anguilla australis). This paper examines the environmental history of these landscapes since their inception about 30 000 years ago, through palaeoecological analysis of sediment cores from associated lakes and swamps, in order to contribute to an understanding of the causes and timing of cultural transformation. Two records cover the whole of the 30 000 year history of the landscape while two others provide evidence of change within the Holocene. A great deal of variation within the landscape is revealed, both temporally and spatially, with opportunities for human exploitation through the whole recorded period. Although most features of the records can be explained by natural landscape development and climate change, some human modification can be suggested from around the Pleistocene-Holocene transition while more obvious indications of management relating to eel aquaculture are evident from about 4000 cal. yr BP that appear to include adaptations to the onset of a drier and more variable climate. The study has implications for the explanation of intensification of settlement in Australia more generally within the mid to late Holocene.

Climatic records over the past 30 ka from temperate Australia – a synthesis from the Oz-INTIMATE workgroup

“…increased representation of herbaceous taxa at the expense of arboreal taxa) (e.g. Dodson 1975;Harle 1997;Colhoun et al, 1999;Kershaw et al, 2007;Builth et al, 2008;Petherick et al, 2008). It should be noted that the colder, drier conditions of glacial stages means that there were complex feedbacks between climate, vegetation and atmospheric CO 2 levels (Levis et al, 1999).…”

“…(Dodson, 1975;Dodson, 1977;D'Costa et al, 1989;Edney et al, 1990;D'Costa et al, 1993;Van De Geer et al, 1994;Harle, 1997;Kershaw et al, 2007). An exception is the record from 30 ky Lake Surprise, southern Victoria, which although dominated by Asteraceae, shows a peak in Eucalyptus during the LGM (Builth et al, 2008). An open landscape is also inferred from Tasmanian pollen records, which are characterised by an increase in the importance of alpine/subalpine herbland/shrubland plant assemblages (Colhoun et al, 1982;Colhoun, 1985b;Colhoun et al, 1999).…”

Human-environment relationships in modern and postmodern geography

“…These emerging issues have constituted a real challenge for geography. In the past decades, due to Holocene research and new scientifi c methods, the investigation of human impact on natural environment became an important topic (Builth, H. et al 2008;Lépy, É. 2012).…”

“…They would like to understand how the individuals can manipulate their own situations in the ecological, structural and cultural framework, in which they live (Judkins, G. et al 2008). Despite the popularity of deterministic approach between laics and politicians, the scientific community investigates the human-environment relationships rather from an ecological point of view (Builth, H. et al 2008;Lépy, É. 2012;Raymond, C.M.…”

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

“…O'Connell and Allen 2007). Regional chronologies for Pleistocene or Holocene burning and vegetation change have been established for the Lake Condah region of southwestern Victoria (Builth et al 2008), Sydney Basin (Black et al 2008), Atherton Tablelands of northeastern Queensland (Kershaw et al 2007), Torres Strait (Rowe 2006a), and elsewhere. Additionally, high-resolution records have been used to understand climatic and anthropogenic drivers of environmental change over the last 1000 years (Haberle et al 2006).…”