The homestead as fortress: Fact or folklore?

Invasion, retaliation, concealment and silences at Dead Man’s Flat, South Australia: A consideration of the historical, archaeological and geophysical evidence of frontier conflict

“…For Nettelbeck and Foster (2010), the potential for frontier conflict events to be preserved faithfully within local and regional oral histories should not be ignored, although there are also sufficient alternative studies questioning the veracity of such narratives, meaning that they cannot automatically be accepted at face value (e.g. Burke et al, 2017;Roberts, 2008;Wiltshire et al, 2018). In light of the lack of any corroborating evidence for a reprisal massacre at Dead Man's Flat in the wake of Young's death, and the unknown genealogy of the claim made on the plaque, this situation cannot be resolved by the written record.7 However, for RMMAC members, the interpretation of these multiple historical versions as a whole serves to reveal a history of invasion, killings and massacre, theft, deceit and cover-up -Dead Man's Flat is, therefore, a place to be approached with deep respect in order to honour the experiences of their ancestors.…”