The Archaeology of Australia’s Desertsassets.cambridge.org/97805214/07458/frontmatter/... · 2013. 1. 21. · CAMBRIDGE WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY series editor NORMAN YOFFEE,University

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF AUSTRALIA’S DESERTS

This is the first book-length study of the archaeology of Australia’sdeserts, one of the world’s major habitats and the largest block of drylandsin the Southern Hemisphere. Over the last few decades, a wealth of newenvironmental and archaeological data about this fascinating region hasbecome available. Drawing on a wide range of sources, The Archaeologyof Australia’s Deserts explores the late Pleistocene settlement of Australia’sdeserts, the formation of distinctive desert societies and the origins anddevelopment of the hunter-gatherer societies documented in the classicnineteenth-century ethnographies of Spencer and Gillen. Written byone of Australia’s leading desert archaeologists, the book interweaves alively history of research with archaeological data in a masterly survey ofthe field and a profoundly interdisciplinary study that forces archaeologyinto conversations with history and anthropology, economy and ecology,and geography and earth sciences.

Mike Smith is the senior archaeologist at the National Museum ofAustralia. For more than 30 years, he has worked extensively across theAustralian arid zone, piecing together the archaeology of this immensecontinental region of dunefields, sandy rivers, salt lakes, and desertuplands. His previous appointments include field archaeologist at theNorthern Territory Museum in Darwin and Alice Springs, researchFellow in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Aus-tralian National University, and lecturer in archaeology for the Depart-ment of Archaeology and Anthropology at the Australian National Uni-versity. A Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and ofthe Society of Antiquaries (London), he was awarded the Rhys Jonesmedal by the Australian Archaeological Association in 2006 for ‘out-standing contributions to Australian Archaeology’. In 2010, he receivedthe Verco medal from the Royal Society of South Australia for hisresearch.

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THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF

AUSTRALIA’S DESERTS

mike smithNational Museum of Australia




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pages cm. – (Cambridge world archaeology)Includes bibliographical references and index.isbn 978-0-521-40745-8 (hardback)1. Deserts – Australia. 2. Environmental archaeology – Australia. 3. Archaeology –Australia. 4. Human ecology – Australia. I. Title.gb618.89.s65 2013994.01–dc23 2012031958

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For Ben,

Lost in the Strzelecki Desert as a 10-year-old

and tracked through the night.

And for Moshu,

born in Alice Springs

with hair the colour of red desert sands.




CONTENTS

Figures and Tables page xi

Preface xvii

Acknowledgements xxi

Note on Calibration of Radiocarbon Dates xxv

1 The Archaeology of Deserts: Australia in Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Deserts Past: A History of Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3 The Empty Desert: Inland Environments Prior to People . . . . . . . . 45

4 Foundations: Moving into the Deserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

5 Islands in the Interior: Last Glacial Aridity and Its Aftermath . . . . 109

6 The ‘Desert Culture’ Revisited: Assembling a Cultural System . . . 157

7 Rock Art and Place: Evolution of an Inscribed Landscape . . . . . . 212

8 The Chain of Connection: Trade and Exchange across theInterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

9 The Last Millennium: Archaeology and the ClassicEthnographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Glossary of Technical Terms 343

References 349

Index 391

ix




FIGURES AND TABLES

figures

1.1 The modern distribution of deserts. page 21.2 Australia is the driest of the six inhabited continents. 21.3 Global spread of modern humans into Australasia. 31.4 Map of the Australian arid zone. 51.5 Influence of the Australian monsoon on Australia’s deserts. 92.1 Baldwin Spencer with Arrernte elders, 1896. 192.2 ‘Native village in the Northern Interior’, 1845. 212.3 Herbert Basedow’s tracing of rock engravings, 1907. 252.4 Robert Keble’s 1947 map of climatic belts. 272.5 Jim Bowler’s 1971 map of the Willandra Lakes. 333.1 The 1893 dig at Lake Mulligan. 463.2 Distribution of Diprotodon optatum and Genyornis newtoni. 473.3 Climatic variability over the last 350 ka showing marine isotope

stages (MIS). 513.4 Bowler’s ‘hydrological threshold’ for Australian lakes. 533.5 The Lake Eyre basin during the last interglacial. 543.6 Lake-level curve for Lake Eyre. 553.7 Kocurek’s model of aeolian system response to climate change. 593.8 The distribution and diversity of late Quaternary megafauna. 624.1 Map showing archaeological sites dating more than 30 ka. 734.2 Map of the Willandra Lakes. 814.3 The excavation at Mungo B in 1976. 824.4 The Cuddie Springs bone bed. 854.5 Puritjarra rockshelter. 904.6 Excavations at Puritjarra rockshelter, 1988. 914.7 The Mungo 3 (WLH3) burial. 934.8 Artefacts from the 35 ka palaeosurface at Puritjarra. 975.1 Map of the continent during the last glacial maximum. 1115.2 Biotic and human responses during the last glacial maximum. 1125.3 The location of glacial refugia. 1135.4 The impact of peak glacial aridity upon land use. 123

xi




xii Figures and Tables

5.5 Plot of radiocarbon dates, showing the impact of the last glacialmaximum. 124

5.6 Different types of stratigraphic or occupation hiatus. 1315.7 Map of western Central Australia. 1345.8 Stratigraphic section, Kulpi Mara excavations. 1355.9 Large flake implements from the late Pleistocene unit at Puritjarra. 1375.10 Map of the Pilbara. 1395.11 Temporal distribution of stone artefacts at Djadjiling. 1405.12 Temporal distribution of stone artefacts at Serpents Glen. 1475.13 The sinkhole at Koonalda Cave. 1515.14 Fossil human footprint dating to 23–19 ka, Willandra Lakes region. 1556.1 Excavations at Puntutjarpa rockshelter in 1969–70. 1596.2 Summed probability plot for all radiocarbon ages from

archaeological sites in Australian drylands. 1616.3 Summed probability plot showing radiocarbon dates on Terebralia

and Anadara shell middens. 1716.4 Excavations at the Skew Valley midden, 1975–76. 1736.5 Stratigraphy of the Skew Valley midden. 1736.6 Stratigraphic section for Allens Cave. 1776.7 Small-tool phase artefacts from Puritjarra rockshelter. 1866.8 The spatial and temporal distribution of geometric microliths. 1876.9 The distribution of tula adzes, pirri points and millstones. 1906.10 Unifacial pirri points from the Lake Eyre basin. 1916.11 Seed-grinders from Central Australia. 1996.12 The distribution of Australian language families. 2037.1 Panaramitee-style rock engravings at Florina station, Olary region. 2137.2 The distribution of graphic and religious systems across Australia. 2157.3 Denis Ebaterinja drawing the honey ant ‘dreaming’. 2187.4 Large striped totemic designs at Emily Gap, Central Australia. 2217.5 Desert-style provinces for mid-Holocene rock engravings. 2297.6 Panaramitee-style rock engravings at Puritjarra. 2307.7 Wanga East rockshelter, showing engraved rock slabs and location of

dated samples. 2377.8 Excavation of engraved boulders at Puritjarra. 2397.9 Early petroglyph assemblages in the Dampier–Burrup area. 2427.10 The ‘climbing men’ motif. 2437.11 Archaic face engravings. 2457.12 The Burrup rock art sequence. 2497.13 The sequences of changes in Central Australian rock art. 2557.14 The long painted frieze at Puritjarra. 2567.15 Hand stencils and hand prints. 2577.16 State-and-transition model applied to Panaramitee-style rock art. 2658.1 The ethnographic exchange system in relation to major pituri

groves and quarries for red ochre. millstones and stone axes. 2678.2 Map showing the southern sector of the Lake Eyre basin. 2688.3 Map showing major quarries and mines mentioned in the text. 2698.4 Pearl-shell pendant with interlocking key design. 275




Figures and Tables xiii

8.5 The Wilgie Mia red ochre mine in about 1910. 2788.6 The structure of the Wilgie Mia mine. 2798.7 Survey plan of Narcoonowie grindstone quarry. 2858.8 Australian stone axe or hatchet, 1861. 2888.9 The chronological distribution of ground-edge axes. 2898.10 Hafted stone knife with Melaleuca ‘paperbark’ sheath. 2958.11 Model showing number of exchange contacts available to

hunter-gatherer groups with increasing population density. 2978.12 Mound of kopi mourning caps on a grave, Eyre Creek, central

Australia. 2999.1 A fire drive to hunt maala wallabies, Musgrave Ranges, 1933. 3039.2 Time-series distribution of radiocarbon dates over the last

5,000 years. 3119.3 Map of Central Australia. 3149.4 Schematic diagram illustrating different site histories. 3159.5 Stratigraphic profile for Tjungkupu 1, Central Australia. 3159.6 Stratigraphy in Trench 1, Intirtekwerle rockshelter, Central

Australia. 3179.7 Principal components analyses of site inventories in Central

Australia. 3199.8 Excavations at Glen Thirsty 1, Central Australia, in 2004. 3219.9 Changing foraging patterns, comparing the early and late Holocene. 3289.10 Geographic distribution of the Western Desert language (Wati). 3359.11 Syd Coulthard at Glen Thirsty, with rock paintings described

by E Giles in 1872 as ‘Roman numerals’. 337

tables

3.1 Lake Eyre, comparing the size of the last interglacial lake and thelargest historical filling 55

3.2 List of taxa, Upper Katapiri fauna (MIS4–MIS6), CooperCreek–Lake Eyre region 63

3.3 Comparison of middle Pleistocene herbivore dietary guilds acrossAustralia 64

3.4 List of fossil fauna from Lake Callabonna 644.1 Archaeological sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating

30–50 ka (chronology and distribution) 794.2 Archaeological sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating

30–50 ka (assemblages and site inventories) 954.3 Archaeological sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating

30–50 ka (subsistence remains from levels >30 ka) 1005.1 Relative importance of dryland ranges and gorge systems as

biological refugia 1185.2 Archaeological sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating

30–12 ka 125




xiv Figures and Tables

5.3 Key archaeological sites where there is substantive evidence for(a) a stratigraphic or occupational hiatus during the last glacialmaximum, or (b) for continuing occupation in this period 132

5.4 Changes in intensity of occupation at Puritjarra 1385.5 Comparative data on the size and diversity of selected assemblages,

dated to the last glacial maximum 1426.1 Archaeological sites in Australian deserts and drylands dating

12–4 ka 1666.2 The Puntutjarpa sequence 1806.3 Comparative data on the size and diversity of selected assemblages,

contrasting mid-Holocene (8–6 ka) and late Holocene levels(

Figures and Tables xv

9.1 List of excavated late Holocene archaeological sites in CentralAustralia 313

9.2 Excavated assemblages at Tjungkupu 1, comparing the major lateHolocene occupation unit and underlying levels 316

9.3 Changes in number and distribution of rock art sites in CentralAustralia 319

9.4 Habitat mosaic created under different fire regimes in the WesternDesert, 2002 325

9.5 Types of plant food in Central Australia, showing the number ofspecies promoted by fire 325

9.6 Index of fragmentation values (IOF) for faunal bone assemblagesfrom archaeological sites in the Western Desert and CentralAustralia 327

9.7 Changes in hunting patterns shown in faunal assemblages atPuntutjarpa rockshelter, Western Desert 328

9.8 Excavated grindstone assemblage from Intirtekwerle (James RangeEast), Central Australia 329

9.9 Diyari drought terminology 333




PREFACE

Whatever else it may be, a desert landscape is a historical document preservinga complex record of the interaction of past climates, geomorphic processesand cultural systems. I like to think of these landscapes as a palimpsest ofdifferent deserts. Stratified in time, stacked one above another, each has its ownclimate, physical landscapes and environments; each its own social landscapesand people, places of association and belonging, territories, resources anditineraries. Some features of earlier deserts project through these layers tobecome part of the fabric and cultural geography of later deserts. Structuralfeatures and processes are held in common: wind and water shape landforms;the basin and range topography provides the formwork of the landscape.No one desert is erased entirely by succeeding deserts – a fact that makesarchaeology possible. This monograph – the first book-length archaeologicalstudy of Australia’s deserts – is an attempt to map out these histories.

The past four decades of fieldwork in Australia’s deserts and drylands hasbeen an intense period of discovery, and a synthetic work that brings togetherthe results of this research is sorely needed. This period has seen the duration ofhuman settlement extended from 10,000 years to more than 40 millennia. Atthe same time, there has been a quantum growth in our understanding of theQuaternary history of arid Australia, fuelled in part by the availability of newdating techniques – such as thermoluminescence (TL), optically stimulatedluminescence (OSL), electron spin resonance (ESR), amino acid racemisation(AAR), and accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating methods (AMS14C) often in conjunction with acid–base oxidation (ABOX) pretreatment.(For a description of the various dating techniques, and an explanation ofterminology and abbreviations, see the Glossary.) There has also been anexponential increase in knowledge about the last 1–2 millennia of hunter-gatherer settlement and society; for the first time, this has provided a solid basisfor examining the prehistory of the classic desert hunter-gatherer societies,well known in the nineteenth-century ethnographies of Baldwin Spencer andFJ Gillen.

xvii




xviii Preface

At the outset, I should explain that this book is primarily a work of historicalreview and synthesis; it revisits basic questions about the deep history ofAustralia’s deserts, their Ice Age settlement and the development of Aboriginalsocieties in these regions. For me, the ‘big picture’ still has an importantrole in archaeological narrative. Theory and methodology are intrinsic tothis book but are not my main concern here. I prefer, as historian JohnFerry once said, ‘to be nudged by theory rather than dominated by it’ (1999:14). In any case, methodological issues are more properly part of the internaldialogue of the discipline, best fought out in the journals. I draw on rangelandsecology, hunter-gatherer theory and mathematical modelling where it helpsme understand archaeological data and have taken into account argumentsabout the structure and biases in the archaeological record, without makingthese discussions ends in themselves. However, a broad review – such as this –necessarily conflates vast stretches of time, unavoidably glossing over someof the procedural difficulties presented by the uncertainties of radiocarboncalibration, questions of site formation processes and issues of taphonomy. Norhave I structured this book as a catalogue of old battles about specific modelsand hypotheses. I think it is important (occasionally) to step back and ask howthe data might fit together as a natural and cultural prehistory of Australia’sdeserts. I will be delighted if this book gives impetus to fresh research. Partof its job is to frame new questions about desert prehistory that can be testedin the field, to point to frustrating gaps in basic fieldwork, to identify targetsfor critical application of theory or methodology and to encourage others tocomplete the crucial excavation and site studies that make up the buildingblocks of our field. I hope this book does all of these things and (after a politeinterval) is dismantled by new thinking and finer-grained data.

Any review is limited by the extent of previous work. I have found thatfor some questions, the data simply do not exist (I would have liked, forexample, to say more about the interactions between desert people and thesocieties surrounding the arid zone). For others, the data exist but are yet tobe collated (most regions have abundant traces of late Holocene occupation,but fine-grained regional reviews are few, limiting my ability to approach thedesert as a mosaic of different histories). Where it seemed that loose endscould be easily tidied up through new fieldwork or additional radiocarbondates, I have gone and done this (for example, the potential harvest ratesin the Mulligan River pituri groves and the additional radiocarbon dates forKulpi Mara). Working through excavation reports, I have been consciousof the need to stay as close to the excavator’s interpretation of chronology,sedimentary history and stratigraphy as I dare. But where I found basic errors,I have run with my own interpretation. Some published reports do not answerbasic questions about the character of an occupation, artefact assemblages andsite inventories, or provide workable site chronologies. In these cases, I mademy own assessment (here, I am grateful for the generosity of colleagues who




Preface xix

answered requests for unpublished field data). Many studies use only basicage-depth plots to establish a chronological framework for a site. I have stayedclose to the published version, unless I felt the evidence contradicted it.

I need to add a word on the structure of this book. The chapters representa chronological series, but their coverage in space and time shrinks. LatePleistocene deserts were larger than those today – and my review follows thecontracting drylands. It will be no surprise to learn that we have a muchfiner-grained record of the last millennium (Chapters 7–9) than we do for theimmense period from 45 ka to 24 ka (Chapter 4), so later chapters necessarilydeal with narrower time slices. Chapter 2 explores the various ways that thepast of these desert landscapes and desert societies has been interpreted sincecolonial explorers and scientists first encountered them, and points to recurringthemes that are picked up in later chapters. Individual chapters each explore amajor issue in desert research: the changing nature of the desert environment,the timing of initial human settlement, the impact of the last glacial maximumon desert settlement, postglacial adaptations, rock art and religion, prehistorictrade and exchange and the social history of classic ethnographic societies. Eachchapter opens with a key moment in desert research (such as the discovery ofthe Lake Callabonna Diprotodon fossils); collectively, these vignettes build toprovide a pen portrait of the region and its people. Each chapter also beginswith a review of issues and ideas, presented as a framework for exploring thearchaeological evidence.

Structure and agency are important concepts for me: throughout the book,I focus on how changes in palaeoenvironment affected the structure of thelandscape in which these hunter-gatherer groups operated – and how humanactions in turn modified these environments. I am drawn to the idea of landesquecapital, proposed by economic historian HC Brookfield, because it forces usto think about long-lived economic infrastructure, in this case, the wells,soakages, plant transpositions, fire mosaics and also (in a way) rock art thatimprove the amenity of a hunter-gatherer landscape. One of my aims has beento explore as far as possible changes in the political and social structure ofthese societies – and this book goes some way towards describing a prehistorythat contains more than just economy and environment. I am not blindlycommitted to the idea that population growth is the primary determinant ofall social change, but I do find the evidence to be more consistent with theview that the structure of these hunter-gatherer societies and their capacity tomobilise resources and actors are emergent properties of their demography. Inthis regard, I see economy as architecture and social life as agency.

Throughout the book, I explicitly draw on ethnography, linguistics andAboriginal history wherever they complement an ‘archaeology of place’. Pre-historic societies were not cast in an ethnographic mould, but ‘tracking back’is one method that can help establish when they took on something approach-ing their classic forms. The wealth of ethnographic data deserves wider critical




xx Preface

attention by archaeologists, and I think this can be done without archaeol-ogy necessarily becoming ‘ethnography with a shovel’. I deliberately threadan Aboriginal ‘voice’ throughout the book. It is important, I think, to retaina feeling for the contemporary cultural landscape that swirls around theseprehistoric sites.

Finally, I must say that the idea for this book began on a bush trip withClive Gamble to Puritjarra rockshelter in 2001. With his wonderful book, ThePalaeolithic Societies of Europe (1999), rolled up in my swag, I wondered thenwhether something similar might yet be done in Australia.

Centre for Historical ResearchNational Museum of Australia, CanberraFebruary 2012




ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The National Museum of Australia is a remarkable institution, a gem of aplace to work. I am grateful for the time and intellectual space to tackle thisbook and the unobtrusive support of past and present directors: Dawn Casey,Craddock Morton and Andrew Sayers. I am fortunate to have a lively base inthe Museum’s Centre for Historical Research (CHR). I thank CHR DirectorPeter Stanley for his support and Libby Robin, who in many ways mentoredthis project. An affiliation with the Fenner School of Environment and Society(where I am adjunct professor) gave me crucial access to the e-library resourcesof the Australian National University. Staff at the Museum’s own library alsotracked down many obscure journal articles – with characteristic élan andefficiency.

The process of writing this book was an adventure in step with further fieldsurveys, excavations, 4WD expeditions and some marvellous desert traverseswith a string of pack camels – all of which helped plug gaps in individualchapters. Sitting in my study in the expectant hours before dawn, when ideasseem to flow best, I found it a revelation to re-read all the primary researchpapers, student theses and consultancy reports. But ‘full immersion’ made forslow writing, and this book took far longer than I had imagined. And soI thank Norman Yoffee and Beatrice Rehl at Cambridge University Pressfor their patience. Some sections of the text were initially written for otherpublications. I use them here (in a modified form) because they still best reflectmy thinking on an issue.

Synthetic books always rely on the goodwill of colleagues. I wish tothank my ‘republic of letters’, those who sent me unpublished data; copiesof theses or hard-to-get publications; took me to sites; gave me directions;shared the dust, flies and fatigue of fieldwork; took aerial photographs forme; or simply answered queries and shared ideas as this book took shape:Kim Akerman, Max Aubert, Alex Baynes, Claire Bowern, Jim Bowler, DavidBrooks, Adam Brumm, Brian Codding, Tim Cohen, Syd Coulthard, BrunoDavid, Iain Davidson, Nick Evans, Pat Faulkner, Judith Field, Dick Gould,

xxi




xxii Acknowledgements

Richard (Dizzy) Gillespie, RG (ben) Gunn, Giles Hamm, Luise Hercus, PaulHesse, Peter Hiscock, Tiger Morris Japaljarri, Diana James, Ken Johnson,Philip Jones, Luke Keogh, Dick Kimber, Roger Luebbers, John Magee, BenMarwick, Isabel McBryde, Scott McConnell, Pat McConvell, Jo McDonald,John McEntee, Gifford Miller, Mark Moore, Kate Morse, Ken Mulvaney,Warren Murgatroyd, Gerald Nanson, Lewis Kyle Napton, David Nash, ColinPardoe, Sheila van Holst Pellekaan, Brad Pillans, Gavin Prideaux, RichardRobins, André Rosenfeld, June Ross, Don Rowlands, Jen Silcock, MoyaSmith, Mark Stafford Smith, David Taylor, Peter Thorley, Douglas MultaTjakamarra, Sean Ulm, Peter Veth, Glenda Wardle, Alan Watchman, EsmeeWebb, Steve Webb, Rod Wells, Bernhard Weninger, Allan Whiting, John Wis-chusen, Alan Williams, Elizabeth Williams, Martin Williams, Trevor Worthy,Boyd Wright and Andrew Harper and the cameleers and travellers with Aus-tralian Desert Expeditions. I especially thank Barry Cundy, June Ross, AlanWilliams and Manik Datar for sharing the sheer adventure of the enterprise.

The grey literature contains a wealth of information, and the followinggenerously made consultancy reports or student theses available to me: Eliza-beth Bradshaw; ben Gunn; Fiona Hook; Phil Hughes; Ken Mulvaney; RioTinto Australia; Birgitta Stephenson; Lynda Strawbridge; the Department ofArchaeology and Palaeoanthropology, University of New England; and theDepartment of Archaeology, University of Western Australia. The artefactdistribution maps in Chapter 6 are more detailed than usual because they drawon field diaries from my 30 years as a field archaeologist in the arid zone – andon Kim Akerman’s unparalleled knowledge of these things.

I appreciate the help of colleagues who read and commented on themanuscript: David Brooks, Sarah Dunlop, Guy Fitzhardinge, Marg Friedel,Tom Griffiths, Paul Hesse, Dick Kimber, John Kinahan, Isabel McBryde,Steve Morton, John Mulvaney, Jim O’Connell, and Libby Robin and myfeisty, iconoclastic Manik – her love of the craft of writing augmented my owninterest in words.

It takes a surprising amount of work to turn a manuscript into a book.In Canberra, Robert Nichols expertly edited the manuscript and DeniseSutherland created the index. Kay Dancey (ANU Cartography) drew themajor base maps, and Alan Williams produced the time-series radiocarbonplots. Most other figures are from my own hand. At the National Museum,Anne Faris and Almaz Berhe helped clear copyright in the photographs.For permission to reproduce photographs in this book, I thank Peter Eve(Monsoon Studio), Museum Victoria (Spencer and Gillen collection), theSouth Australian Museum (EC Stirling collection), Wilfred Shawcross, RobertEdwards, Richard Robins, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Studies (BJ Wright collection), Michel Lorblanchet, June Ross,the Western Australian Museum (Wilgie Mia collection) and the Northern




Acknowledgements xxiii

Territory Archives – Alice Springs (HH Finlayson collection). Darwin pho-tographer, Peter Eve, graciously allowed me to use one of his striking desertimages on the cover of this book.

Finally, I must thank Mike and Jan Sexton for their ‘philanthropy withoutstrings’; their generosity allowed me to chase ideas rather than money.




NOTE ON CALIBRATION OF

RADIOCARBON DATES

Almost all archaeological research in Australia’s deserts has relied on anuncorrected radiocarbon chronology. However, calibration of the radiocar-bon timescale is now unavoidable, if archaeological records are to be fullyintegrated with palaeoenvironmental and climate data, or with global marineisotope stages (MIS). Few archaeologists today would be unaware that fluxesin atmospheric 14C have distorted the radiocarbon timescale, so that radio-carbon years are not calendar ages. However, calibration programs to convertradiocarbon ages (years BP) to sidereal years (years cal. BP) over the full spanof the last 50,000 years have only recently become available.

In this book, I have attempted to put everything on a common timescaleby working primarily with calibrated ages (quoted as ‘ka’ or ‘years cal. BP’).Ages were calibrated using OxCal 4.1 and the INTCAL09 dataset. Marine09has been used for shell dates, applying a marine reservoir correction of 450 ±35 years, plus a regional offset delta-R correction 70 ± 70 for samples youngerthan 8 ka. For samples older than 8–7 ka, shifts in sea levels and currentsmay have affected rates of mixing, so the delta-R correction is effectivelyunknown. For these samples, I rely on the base correction of 450 ± 35 years,widely used in reporting Pleistocene shell dates from archaeological sites. TheSHCal04 data set and calibration curve allows for a Southern Hemisphere offsetof 55–58 years back to 11,000 BP. A full listing of the original radiocarbonages for Australian desert sites is available in the AustArch1 database, at http://palaeoworks.anu.edu.au/databases.html.

For most archaeological use, a centre-point age estimate is more convenientthan the unwieldy, non-normalised, 2SD age ranges routinely generated bycalibration programs (even if these are technically more correct). FollowingTelford et al. (2004), I use the median of the calibrated age-distribution (medianIntCal09 age ± 1SD), which is more robust than mode or intercept methodsand not as sensitive to small changes in the calibration curve. Throughout thisbook, calendar ages are quoted as ‘ka’ (thousands of years ago) and roundedup, to avoid implying more chronological precision than the context allows.

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The Archaeology of Australia’s Desertsassets.cambridge.org/97805214/07458/frontmatter/... · 2013. 1. 21. · CAMBRIDGE WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY series editor NORMAN YOFFEE,University