Sea-level change and demography during the last glacial termination and early Holocene across the Australian continent

Williams, Alan N.; Ulm, Sean; Sapienza, Tom; Lewis, Stephen E.; Turney, Chris

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.11.030

Cited by 83 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 75 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…data are needed regarding physical processes, sedimentary context (e.g., Ward, Merigot, & McInnes, 2017) and biogeography (Wilson, 2013) to help refine the visualizations for key periods in the past and to permit the best interpretation of the archaeological data. We contend that this conclusion also applies to other coastlines of the world, where archaeological evidence also implies major changes in coastal environments and resource use (e.g., d'Alpoim Guedes et al, 2016;Gilbertson et al, 2017;Williams et al, 2018). Ultimately, however, such visualizations are still subjective and should not be taken to be any more inherently accurate than any other archaeological ideas, no matter how much detail or quantification they might contain (Whitley, 2017, p. 11).…”

Section: 23mentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Case Study: the Shelf Off Modern Barrow Island Western Austmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…), proxies for rainfall, temperatures, and so on, as well as archaeological and associated data. The same suite of needs is also required to improve confidence in ongoing retrodictive reconstructions of coastal change, biomes and associated interpretations of demography during the LGM and early Holocene (e.g., d'AlpoimGuedes et al, 2016;Williams, Ulm, Sapienza, Lewis, & Turney, 2018).While high-resolution LIDAR data may not necessarily clarify things because it implicitly assumes that the present sea-floor represents that of the past, it may usefully illustrate features of past and present sediment transport regimes, such as incised rivers, indurated or cemented coastal dunes and scour. Further, some relevant aspects may never be…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physical sedimentary controls on subtropical coastal and shelf sedimentary systems: Initial application in conceptual models and computer visualizations to support archaeology

Larcombe¹,

Ward

Whitley

2018

Geoarchaeology

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Advances in digital spatial analysis and 3D photorealistic modeling offer the potential to create virtual interpretations of the now inundated landscapes of NW Australia. While this provides a useful template for potential late Pleistocene and early Holocene coastal occupation on the shelf, we stress the importance of understanding sediment dynamics as a primary control for terrain modelling, particularly at the scale of human ecosystem dynamics. We briefly review six major drivers of change upon tropical and semi‐tropical continental shelves and coastlines, and some of the typical coastal geomorphologies associated with each. We then hypothesize how these drivers might have varied on the NW Shelf of Australia since 65 ka, and then apply the logic to the Barrow Island region, to form some “end‐member” visualizations of coastal change in the early Holocene. The visualizations indicate a high degree of variability in coastal morphology, particularly through the post‐glacial period, which is likely to have radically changed the capacity of the coastline to provide resources for human use during that period. Hence, rather than considering any single visualization as being absolute, end‐member visualizations should be used to generate testable hypotheses that are reviewed repeatedly in the light of new physical, environmental, and archaeological information.

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Section: 23mentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Case Study: the Shelf Off Modern Barrow Island Western Austmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Physical sedimentary controls on subtropical coastal and shelf sedimentary systems: Initial application in conceptual models and computer visualizations to support archaeology

Larcombe¹,

Ward

Whitley

2018

Geoarchaeology

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“…Or was the progressive abandonment of former territory slow enough to be accommodated by orderly retreat without major dislocation of existing social and economic arrangements? Some progress towards answering these questions could be achieved by simulations based on simple demographic assumptions and assessments of land area lost with progressive sea-level rise (see, for example, Williams et al 2018 for an analysis of a similar set of changes around the Australian coastline).…”

Section: Research Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Great Britain: The Intertidal and Underwater Archaeology of Britain’s Submerged Landscapes

Bailey

Momber

Bell

et al. 2020

Coastal Research Library

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The submerged landscapes around Great Britain are extensive and would have offered productive territory for hunting, gathering, exploitation of aquatic and marine resources, and-in the final stages of postglacial sealevel rise-opportunities for agriculture. They would also have provided land connections to continental Europe and opportunities for communication by sea travel along now-submerged palaeocoastlines and river estuaries. Most of the archaeological material has been discovered in intertidal or shallow water conditions, but there are also discoveries in deeper water, with dates ranging from earliest human presence nearly one million years ago up to the establishment of modern sea level. Some later material is present where coastlines have continued to sink in more recent millennia. Intertidal sites are especially well represented

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“…Sahul consisted of up to 10.6 million km 2 during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea‐levels dropped to c.125 m lower than today (Williams et al . 2018). Here, as elsewhere in the world, the vast majority of megafaunal extinctions are attributed to either climate‐related factors, or that some or even all, were the direct result of human hunting and/or human impact on their habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Re‐analysis of the “engraved” Diprotodon tooth from Spring Creek, Victoria, Australia

Langley

2020

Archaeology in Oceania

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Despite at least 20,000 years of coexistence -and the ubiquity of bone technology across the Australian continent -direct evidence for the use of megafaunal materials (skin, bone, teeth, etc.) remains as elusive as evidence for these creatures having been hunted. Amongst the slim evidence for human-megafauna interaction currently available, one of the most often cited cases is the "engraved" incisor from the giant wombat-like Diprotodon optatum recovered from Spring Creek located in Eastern Maar country in south-eastern Australia. Despite comments in the literature that the marks observed on this tooth are unlikely to have been made by lithic tools (as originally proposed), this item has never been re-analysed in order to resolve the question: Which actor made these marks? Here, the results of a new analysis of this specimen are presented. Through microscopic examination of each mark alongside zooarchaeological and ecological data, it is demonstrated that the incisions were indeed not made by human hands, but instead by a small (2-5 kg) mammal, most likely a scavenging spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus). RÉSUMÉMalgré au moins 20 000 ans de coexistence -et l'omnipresence de la technologie des os sur le continent Australien -les preuves directes de l'utilisation de matériaux megafauna (peau, os, dents, etc.) reste comme preuve insaisissables qu'ils ontété tués par des humains. L'un des cas les plus souvent cités est l'incisive <> du Diprotodon optatum géant ressemblantà un wombat, récupérée dans le Spring Creek situé dans la partie orientale du territoire du peuple Maar, dans le sud-est de l'Australie. Malgré les commentaires dans la littérature selon lesquels il est peu probably que les traces observées sur cette dent aientété faites avec des outils lithiques (tels que proposésà l'origine), cet element n'a jamaisété reanalysé afin de résoudre la question: quel acteur a fabriqué ces traces? Ici, les résultats d'une nouvelle analyse de ce specimen sont présentés. L'examen microscopique de chaque marque, associe a des données zooarchéologiques etécologiques, montre que les incisions n'ont pasété faites de manière humaine, mais par un petit mammifère (2à 5 kg), très probablement un quoll a queue tachetée (Dasyurus maculatus).

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Sea-level change and demography during the last glacial termination and early Holocene across the Australian continent

Cited by 83 publications

References 75 publications

Physical sedimentary controls on subtropical coastal and shelf sedimentary systems: Initial application in conceptual models and computer visualizations to support archaeology

Physical sedimentary controls on subtropical coastal and shelf sedimentary systems: Initial application in conceptual models and computer visualizations to support archaeology

Great Britain: The Intertidal and Underwater Archaeology of Britain’s Submerged Landscapes

Re‐analysis of the “engraved” Diprotodon tooth from Spring Creek, Victoria, Australia

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