The way it changes like the shoreline and the sea: The archaeology of the Sandalwood River, Mornington Island, southeast Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia
| Main Author: | The way it changes like the shoreline and the sea: The archaeology of the Sandalwood River, Mornington Island, southeast Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia |
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| Format: | info publication-thesis Journal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/6542332 |
Daftar Isi:
- Defining and understanding change as observed in the mid-to-late Holocene Australian archaeological record is the primary focus of this research. For this thesis I conducted a detailed local archaeological survey of a mid-to-late Holocene landscape to examine aspects of continuity and change in the coastal environments of the Sandalwood River in the Yiinkan Embayment, Mornington Island, southeast Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Focus is given to the theoretical and methodological problems emerging in coastal and island archaeology such as the importance of constructing reliable chronologies, interpreting the archaeological data in the context of local landscape and environmental development, and assessing the integrity of open tropical archaeological coastal sites. The Yiinkan Embayment is an ideal region to address these issues as it contains datasets that enable the development of refined local chronologies of land formation processes and palaeoenvironmental conditions. These datasets included numerous fixed biological indicators in the form of black-lipped oyster (Striostrea mytiloides) bioherms that are used to construct local sea-level models and infer palaeoenvironmental conditions. In addition, a series of transgressive parallel beach ridges, that have a deposition chronology mirroring that documented on the adjacent mainland, have been used to reconstruct palaeocoastlines and further refine the timing of local mid-to-late Holocene landform evolution. Extensive archaeological surveys were taken across c.27km2 at the Sandalwood River catchment. The study area was stratified into six survey zones based on broad geomorphological characteristics (e.g. stranded beach ridge of saltpan). Surveys recorded 164 cultural sites and 12 natural bioherms. Results of the survey and excavation of three shell mounds are presented. Differences in site structure, composition and chronology are interpreted to present a temporal and spatial pattern of variability in the use of a range of local environmental zones throughout the late Holocene. ...
- A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in June 2012 (303 p)