Establishing the integrity and stratigraphic origin of stone artefact scatters on the surface of the Lake Mungo lunette in south-eastern Australia

Foley, Elizabeth; Spry, Caroline; Stern, Nicola

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.05.002

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Rather, we emphasize the integration of geomorphological processes with behavior as these are intertwined in the formation of the record itself (Binford 1981a). In some instances, the geomorphological context is so interrelated with the behaviors that those behaviors are hardly understandable independently of the depositional settings and the formational history of the record (Foley et al 2017;.…”

Section: Conventional Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aggregates, Formational Emergence, and the Focus on Practice in Stone Artifact Archaeology

Režek

Holdaway

Olszewski

et al. 2020

J Archaeol Method Theory

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The stone artifact record has been one of the major grounds for investigating our evolution. With the predominant focus on their morphological attributes and technological aspects of manufacture, stone artifacts and their assemblages have been analyzed as explicit measures of past behaviors, adaptations, and population histories. This analytical focus on technological and morphological appearance is one of the characteristics of the conventional approach for constructing inferences from this record. An equally persistent routine involves ascribing the emerged patterns and variability within the archaeological deposits directly to long-term central tendencies in human actions and cultural transmission. Here we re-evaluate this conventional approach. By invoking some of the known concerns and concepts about the formation of archaeological record, we introduce notions of aggregates and formational emergence to expand on the understanding of how artifacts accumulate, what these accumulations represent, and how the patterns and variability among them emerge. To infer behavior that could inform on past lifeways, we further promote a shift in the focus of analysis from the technological and morphological appearance of artifacts and assemblages to the practice of stone use. We argue for a more rigorous and multi-level inferential procedure in modeling behavioral adaptation and evolution.

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Section: Conventional Focusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aggregates, Formational Emergence, and the Focus on Practice in Stone Artifact Archaeology

Režek

Holdaway

Olszewski

et al. 2020

J Archaeol Method Theory

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show abstract

“…This is not to say, however, that the assemblage can yield no behavioral data. Refitting of flakes and cores from the site would further understand the integrity of the artifact assemblage, essential for assessing the constraints and potential for further lithic analyses at the locality (E. Foley, Spry, & Stern, ). Already one refitted prepared core and flake has been identified, and a more extensive refitting of prepared flakes and cores is planned (Sinclair, Inglis, Shuttleworth, Foulds, Bailey, & Alsharekh ()).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleolithic artifact deposits at Wadi Dabsa, Saudi Arabia: A multiscalar geoarchaeological approach to building an interpretative framework

et al. 2019

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Surface artifacts dominate the archaeological record of arid landscapes, particularly the Saharo‐Arabian belt, a pivotal region in dispersals out of Africa. Discarded by hominins, these artifacts are key to understanding past landscape use and dispersals, yet behavioral interpretation of present‐day artifact distributions cannot be carried out without understanding how geomorphological processes have controlled, and continue to control, artifact preservation, exposure and visibility at multiple scales. We employ a geoarchaeological approach to unraveling the formation of a surface assemblage of 2,970 Palaeolithic and later lithic artifacts at Wadi Dabsa, Saudi Arabia, the richest locality recorded to date in the southwestern Red Sea coastal region. Wadi Dabsa basin, within the volcanic Harrat Al Birk, contains extensive tufa deposits formed during wetter conditions. We employ regional landscape mapping and automatic classification of surface conditions using satellite imagery, field observations, local landform mapping, archaeological survey, excavation, and sedimentological analyses to develop a multiscalar model of landscape evolution and geomorphological controls acting on artifact distributions in the basin. The main artifact assemblage is identified as a palimpsest of activity, actively forming on a deflating surface, a model with significant implications for future study and interpretation of this, and other, surface artifact assemblages.

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“…The content and context of all traces of past human activity which were at least partially embedded in the sediment were documented during systematic foot survey (for further information, see Supplementary material, available online). In addition, discrete clusters of surface artefacts were included when their stratigraphic origin could be inferred, as well as the presence of refitting artefacts, and artefacts struck from the same block of raw material (Foley et al, 2017). In addition, information was recorded about the types of hearths encountered, including any associated food remains or tools (Stern, 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Holocene and recent aeolian reactivation of the Willandra Lakes lunettes, semi-arid southeastern Australia

2019

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The Willandra Lakes in semi-arid southeastern Australia provide some of the most continuous combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records on the continent. These are best preserved within the transverse shoreline (lunette) dunes on their downwind margins. Following final lake retreat c. 15 ka avulsion of the dominant fluvial inflow eastwards, the Willandra lunettes periodically reactivated, experiencing erosion, aeolian redeposition and alluvial sheetwash. These reworked sedimentary archives reflect regional climatic conditions rather than those of the entire catchment. Yet the focus of most study in the region to date has remained on the late Pleistocene. The general paucity of Holocene data has contributed to a perception that people largely abandoned the area in favour of the perennial Murray and Darling Rivers to the south and west. Our study reconstructs past geomorphological conditions and patterns of human mobility in adjacent Lakes Mungo and Durthong over the last c. 15 ka subsequent to final lake retreat, including the most recent 150 years since Europeans established pastoralism in the region. Our data show that Indigenous people did not abandon the area as previously assumed, but developed effective strategies for responding to the changed environmental conditions. Final lake retreat transitioned into a phase of aeolian accumulation c. 15-12 ka, indicating locally dry conditions. Subsequent aeolian reactivation peaked during arid phases experiencing less rainfall in the early Holocene and twice in the most recent 1000 years prior to European settlement in the area. Alluvial sheetwash was deposited onto lake floors during the mid-Holocene, and again in the early decades of European settlement. Aeolian reactivation, likely driven by European pastoral activities, increases in the most recent 150 years. Our study underscores the necessity of integrating geomorphological and archaeological investigations over landscape scales in order to optimise our understanding of interactions between people and their environment through time.

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Establishing the integrity and stratigraphic origin of stone artefact scatters on the surface of the Lake Mungo lunette in south-eastern Australia

Cited by 8 publications

References 33 publications

Aggregates, Formational Emergence, and the Focus on Practice in Stone Artifact Archaeology

Aggregates, Formational Emergence, and the Focus on Practice in Stone Artifact Archaeology

Paleolithic artifact deposits at Wadi Dabsa, Saudi Arabia: A multiscalar geoarchaeological approach to building an interpretative framework

Holocene and recent aeolian reactivation of the Willandra Lakes lunettes, semi-arid southeastern Australia

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