Geoarchaeology of Aboriginal Landscapes in Semi-arid Australia

Author(s):  
Simon Holdaway ◽  
Patricia Fanning

This book provides readers with a unique understanding of the ways in which Aboriginal people interacted with their environment in the past at one particular location in western New South Wales. It also provides a statement showing how geoarchaeology should be conducted in a wide range of locations throughout Australia. One of the key difficulties faced by all those interested in the interaction between humans and their environment in the past is the complex array of processes acting over different spatial and temporal scales. The authors take account of this complexity by integrating three key areas of study – geomorphology, geochronology and archaeology – applied at a landscape scale, with the intention of understanding the record of how Australian Aboriginal people interacted with the environment through time and across space. This analysis is based on the results of archaeological research conducted at the University of New South Wales Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station between 1999 and 2002 as part of the Western New South Wales Archaeology Program. The interdisciplinary geoarchaeological program was targeted at expanding the potential offered by archaeological deposits in western New South Wales, Australia. The book contains six chapters: the first two introduce the study area, then three data analysis chapters deal in turn with the geomorphology, geochronology and archaeology of Fowlers Gap Station. A final chapter considers the results in relation to the history of Aboriginal occupation of Fowlers Gap Station, as well as the insights they provide into Aboriginal ways of life more generally. Analyses are well illustrated through the tabulation of results and the use of figures created through Geographic Information System software. Winner of the 2015 Australian Archaeology Association John Mulvaney Book Award

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith E. A. Leggett ◽  
Thanuri Welaratne ◽  
Michael Letnic ◽  
Steven McLeod ◽  
Terence Dawson

We report the rediscovery of the rare and endangered native rodent, the plains mouse (Pseudomys australis) in New South Wales (NSW). Two plains mice were trapped in the far west of the state at Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station and another in the NSW section of the Strzelecki Desert. Until these captures, the plains mouse was thought to have been extinct in NSW. Subfossil records indicate that these observations are within the pre-European settlement range of the species. It is uncertain whether these captures represent a range expansion from known populations in northern South Australia or reflect a local refuge population. Ensuring the conservation of P. australis in NSW requires further study to determine its distribution and the factors influencing its abundance.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Hannah Nicholas

Comprising the proceedings and plenary session of the forum ?Animals of arid Australia: out on their own?? held in Mosman, New South Wales in 2004, this publication consists of 17 papers that bring together a range of themes on the fauna and land use of Australia?s arid zone. The authors encompass various disciplines and backgrounds, and a wide range of skills.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgia J. Badgery ◽  
Jasmin C. Lawes ◽  
Keith E.A. Leggett

ABSTRACTEchidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus) are found Australian-wide and appear to be remarkably well-adapted to arid zones, yet, nearly all echidna research has been conducted in temperate, tropical and alpine zones. This study investigated the home range and movement of echidnas in western New South Wales. Radio telemetry tracking was used to locate the echidnas daily during the study period (March-May 2019 and August 2019); the home range was 1.47± 1.21 km2. This is over twice the reported home range of temperate environments (>0.65 km2) suggesting that echidnas exhibit larger home ranges in arid zones. This study provides insight into the movement and home range of echidnas in arid zones, revealing that desert echidnas have large home ranges, dependent on the availability of resources.


1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 241 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Anderson ◽  
E Shipp ◽  
JME Anderson ◽  
W Dobbie

For 3 years numbers and species of blowflies breeding in carcasses and on live merino sheep were studied at the University of New South Wales Arid Zone Research Station at Fowlers Gap, to determine which species initiated blowfly strike on sheep and how Lucilia cuprina (Wiedemann) maintained its population throughout the year; particularly whether it could complete its life cycle on carcasses. Larvae taken from struck sheep showed L. cuprina to be the dominant species in >87% of strikes. Native calliphorids, Calliphora nociva Hardy, Calliphora augur (Fabr.), and Calliphora stygia (Fabr.) were present in about 7% of strikes sampled, usually in association with L. cuprina. In a regularly inspected small mob (c. 70) of sheep, incidence of covert strike was higher than incidence of overt strike, supporting the view that a grazier's estimate of flystrike in the flock would almost always be an underestimate. On carcasses, the secondary strike native blowfly, Chrysomys rufijacies (Macquart), was produced in very large numbers. Some native primary strike Calliphora spp. were produced from some carcasses in the colder months, but no L. cuprina was produced from either small or large carcasses (sheep, kangaroos, rabbits) at any time. However, larvae of L. cuprina were recovered from live sheep at all times of the year, indicating that L. cuprina is an obligate parasite of live sheep in the arid zone.


2000 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
SJ Holdaway ◽  
PC Fanning ◽  
DC Witter

Recent erosion in arid regions of western NSW has exposed large areas that are scattered with stone artefacts manufactured by Aboriginal people in prehistory. These exposures offer an opportunity for archaeologists to study the artefacts abandoned by Aboriginal people through time and to compare those artefacts that accumulate in different parts of the landscape. To reconstruct the nature of prehistoric behaviour in the rangelands, two approaches are needed. First, the geomorphological context of the artefacts needs to be considered since exposure of the artefacts is a function of landscape history. Second, large areas (measured in thousands of square metres) and large numbers of artefacts need to be considered if patterns reflecting long-term abandonment behaviour by Aboriginal people are to be identified. This paper reports on the Western New South Wales Archaeological Program (WNSWAP) which was initiated in 1995 to study surface archaeology in the rangelands. Geomorphological studies are combined with artefact analysis using geographic information system software to investigate Aboriginal stone artefact scatters and associated features such as heat retainer hearths, in a landscape context. Results suggest that apparently random scatters of stone artefacts are in fact patterned in ways which inform on prehistoric Aboriginal settlement of the rangelands. Key words: Aboriginal stone artefacts; rangelands; landscape archaeology; geomorphology; GIs


1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-67
Author(s):  
Virginia Macleod

Warriewood is on Sydney's northern beaches, between Mona Vale and North Narrabeen, in the Pittwater local government area.This was once a 'wet' part of the coast. Lagoons and swamps were typical of the northern beaches and east coast of New South Wales. Narrabeen Creek flows through the middle of Warriewood, and Mullet Creek marks its southern boundary. Early nineteenth-century maps mark most of the land between the south-east corner of Pittwater across to Mona Vale Beach and south, including Warriewood Valley, as swamp. The local Guringai Aboriginal people would have found these swamps rich in food supplies – fish, birds, plants and naturally fresh water.


1978 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.W. Harris

It is uncertain when the last exclusion of children from a public school, merely for having some Aboriginal ancestry, actually occurred. In 1937, the Commonwealth and States’ conference on Aboriginal matters recommended assimilation as a general policy rather than protection, particularly with regard to the detribalized, part-caste Aboriginal people. In 1938, the New South Wales Public Service Board in its report on the Aborigines Protection Board, recommended the policy of assimilation be implemented in schools. In 1940, the Aborigines Protection Act was amended. The Aborigines Protection Board was renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board and restructured to include Aboriginal members. The complete responsibility for the education of all Aboriginal children was transferred to the New South Wales Department of Education. Almost overnight, the policy of segregation was changed to assimilation.


1963 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 114 ◽  
Author(s):  
JD Colwell

The effects of the different sowing rates of 20, 40, and 60 lb of seed an acre on the yield, bushel weight, composition, and response to fertilizers, of wheat grown on soils of high fertility has been studied in seven field experiments in the wheat-belt of southern New South Wales. Seasonal conditions ranged from drought to lush growing conditions and in addition one experiment was irrigated to reduce the effects of moisture stress on plant growth. Yields ranged from 10 to 70 bushels of wheat an acre and fertilizer treatments gave both positive and negative effects. For the wide range of growth conditions, variation in seeding rate had only small and non-significant effects on grain yields, with the exception of the irrigated experiment where a consistent trend indicated the need for higher seeding rates for maximum yield. Effects of the seeding rates on grain size and composition and fertilizer response, were negligible. Losses in potential grain yield, caused by the exhaustion of soil moisture reserves by excessive vegetative growth of high fertility soils before grain development has been completed, does not seem to be reduced appreciably by the use of low seeding rates.


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