scholarly journals The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: stratigraphic and geomorphic context

2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Stephen P. Carey ◽  
John E. Sherwood ◽  
Megan Kay ◽  
Ian J. McNiven ◽  
James M. Bowler
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Human Influence ◽  
Calcareous Sand ◽  
South West ◽  
Coastal Marine ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Shell Deposit ◽  
Early Human

Shelly deposits at Moyjil (Point Ritchie, Warrnambool), Victoria, together with ages determined from a variety of techniques, have long excited interest in the possibility of a preserved early human influence in far south-eastern Australia. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the stratigraphy of the host Bridgewater Formation (Pleistocene) at Moyjil and provides the context to the shelly deposits, evidence of fire and geochronological sampling. We have identified five superposed calcarenite–palaeosol units in the Bridgewater Formation, together with two prominent erosional surfaces that may have hosted intensive human activity. Part of the sequence is overlain by the Tower Hill Tuff, previously dated as 35 ka. Coastal marine erosion during the Last Interglacial highstand created a horizontal surface on which deposits of stones and shells subsequently accumulated. Parts of the erosional surface and some of the stones are blackened, perhaps by fire. The main shell deposit was formed by probable mass flow, and additional shelly remains are dispersed in the calcareous sand that buried the surface.

scholarly journals The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: fire and environment in a 120,000-year coastal midden — nature or people?

2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim M. Bowler ◽  
David M. Price ◽  
John E. Sherwood ◽  
Stephen P. Carey
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Susceptibility ◽  
Strong Correlation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Thermal Alteration ◽  
South West ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Dark Staining ◽  
Mis 5E

At Moyjil (Point Ritchie), a cliffed site at the mouth of the Hopkins River at Warrnambool, south-eastern Australia, an erosional disconformity of Last Interglacial age on both a rock stack and the adjacent headland represents a surface of possible human occupation. Shells of edible marine molluscs occur on the disconformity, together with a distinctive population of transported stones derived from a calcrete of MIS 7 age and bearing variable dark grey to near-black colouration suggestive of fire. Experimental fire produced similar thermal alteration of calcrete. A strong correlation exists between intensity and depth of dark staining on one hand and increased magnetic susceptibility on the other. Thermal luminescence analyses of blackened stones provide ages in the MIS 5e range, 100–130 ka, consistent with independent stratigraphic evidence and contemporaneous with the age of the surface on which they lie. The distribution of fire-darkened stones is inconsistent with wildfire effects. Two hearth-like features closely associated with the disconformity provide further indications of potential human agency. The data are consistent with the suggestion of human presence at Warrnambool during the Last Interglacial.

scholarly journals The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: prologue — of people, birds, shell and fire

2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
John E. Sherwood
Keyword(s):  
Animal Origin ◽  
Human Origin ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
South West ◽  
Shell Deposit ◽  
Cultural Status ◽  
Recent Phase ◽  
Mis 5E ◽  
New Phase

Moyjil (also known as Point Ritchie) is the site of an unusual shell deposit in south-west Victoria showing many characteristics of a midden. Earlier research established an age of 60 ka or older for the shell deposit but could not establish whether humans or animals such as seabirds were responsible for its formation. This paper, the first of six in this special issue, summarises the most recent phase (~10 years) of investigations. The site’s age is now fixed as Last Interglacial and following the stage MIS 5e sea-level maximum (i.e. younger than 120–125 ka). Fragmentation and the limited size distribution of the dominant marine shellfish (Lunella undulata syn. Turbo undulatus) confirm the site as a midden. There is also evidence for fire (charcoal and discoloured and fractured stones) and two hearth-like features, one of which has been archaeologically excavated. None of the evidence collected is able to conclusively demonstrate a human versus animal origin for the site. Significantly, a human origin remains to be disproved. These papers provide the basis for a new phase of research into the possible cultural status of the Moyjil site.

scholarly journals The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: shells as evidence of the deposit’s origin

2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
John E. Sherwood ◽  
Ian J. McNiven ◽  
Laurie Laurenson
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Size Distributions ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
South West ◽  
Shell Deposit ◽  
Transport Effects ◽  
Western Victoria

Characteristics of marine shellfish and other species found in a Last Interglacial (LIG) shell deposit at Point Ritchie (Moyjil) at Warrnambool in south-western Victoria have been compared to those from modern and LIG natural beach deposits, Holocene Aboriginal middens and modern Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus) middens. The research was aimed at determining whether properties such as shell speciation, size or taphonomy could identify the mechanism responsible for formation of the Moyjil deposit. Marine species found in the Moyjil deposit resemble those found in both Aboriginal and Pacific Gull middens and are non-discriminatory for the two types. Taphonomic properties such as wear and breakage pattern of opercula of the dominant species, Lunella undulata (syn. Turbo undulatus), are non-diagnostic because of post-depositional erosion and transport effects in the available specimens. The size of L. undulata opercula show clear bias toward larger individuals, in common with Aboriginal and seabird middens, when compared to natural shell deposits. Statistical analysis (ANOVA) of the size distributions shows a greater similarity of the Moyjil deposit to the two seabird middens than the two Aboriginal middens. Small individuals (operculum L. undulata as well as smaller shellfish species are absent from the seabird middens studied, but they are present in Aboriginal middens and in the Moyjil deposit. Overall, we conclude that shell properties alone are not sufficient to distinguish which predator collected the shellfish occurring in the deposit.

Ecological change in fragile floodplain wetland ecosystems, natural vs human influence: The Macquarie Marshes of eastern Australia

2015 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 39-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lili Yu ◽  
Adriana García ◽  
Allan R. Chivas ◽  
John Tibby ◽  
Tsuyoshi Kobayashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Change ◽  
Human Influence ◽  
Floodplain Wetland ◽  
Wetland Ecosystems ◽  
Eastern Australia

The Roots of Human Ecology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
William R. Burch ◽  
Gary E. Machlis ◽  
Jo Ellen Force
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Plant Community ◽  
Human Activity ◽  
Human Ecology ◽  
Natural Areas ◽  
Ecological Principles ◽  
Literature Reviews ◽  
Biological Concepts ◽  
The University ◽  
Early Human

This chapter looks at how the roots of human ecology lie primarily in general ecology, sociology, geography, and anthropology, as documented by numerous literature reviews. The idea for the application of general ecological principles to human activity was sparked by sociologists at the University of Chicago in the 1920s and 1930s. Sociologists Robert E. Park and Ernest W. Burgess drew analogies between human and nonhuman communities, describing society’s symbiotic and competitive relationships as an organic web. Biological concepts such as competition, commensalism, succession, and equilibrium were freely borrowed, mirroring the biologists’ use of social science concepts. Borrowing from contemporary plant ecologists and their focus on plant community zones, early human ecologists moved from classrooms to city streets to map “natural areas” or zones of the urban metropolis.

Owl survey of the Peel–Harvey Estuary in south-western Australia

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham R. Fulton
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Oryctolagus Cuniculus ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Red Foxes ◽  
Black Rat ◽  
South West ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Ringtail Possum ◽  
Flying Fox

Little is known of owls in south-western Australia compared with the owls of southern and eastern Australia. Surveys of forest owls in the south-west are almost completely lacking. This study sought to determine the abundance and detectability of owls immediately around the Peel–Harvey Estuary in south-western Australia. The southern boobook (Ninox boobook) and the masked owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) were the only owls detected (n = 23 and n = 1 respectively), although the nocturnal tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) was detected from unelicited calls on three occasions. Southern boobooks were found to be common in this area though they are reported to be in decline in south-eastern and inland Australia. Their detectability was significantly greater in August (late winter) than at other times through unelicited calls; otherwise, there were no detections in winter. A variety of small mammals were detected during the surveys, including: a little red flying-fox (Pteropus scapulatus), a western ringtail possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis), 19 southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus), 4 common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula), 21 rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), a black rat (Rattus rattus), 2 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and 22 microbats.

Effects of Human Activity on the Structure of Coastal Marine Bird Assemblages in Central Chile

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1396-1404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cintia Cornelius ◽  
Sergio A. Navarrete ◽  
Pablo A. Marquet
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Central Chile ◽  
Marine Bird ◽  
Bird Assemblages ◽  
Coastal Marine

Mid Miocene–Last Interglacial Callitris (Cupressaceae) from south-eastern Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 263 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Rosemary Paull ◽  
Robert S. Hill ◽  
Gregory J. Jordan ◽  
J.M. Kale Sniderman
Keyword(s):  
Last Interglacial ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
South Eastern Australia

scholarly journals The Moyjil site, south-west Victoria, Australia: excavation of a Last Interglacial charcoal and and burnt stone feature — is it a hearth?

2018 ◽  
Vol 130 (2) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Ian J. McNiven ◽  
Joe Crouch ◽  
Jim M. Bowler ◽  
John E. Sherwood ◽  
Nic Dolby ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Evidence Base ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Natural Origin ◽  
Natural Feature ◽  
South West ◽  
Cultural Status ◽  
Tree Stump ◽  
Age Independent

Claims for a human presence in Australia beyond 60,000 years ago must have a strong evidence base associated with rigorous methodology and intense scrutiny. In this light we present excavation results for Charcoal and Burnt Stone Feature #1 (CBS1) located within coastal dune sediments at Moyjil (Point Ritchie), Warrnambool, that independent geomorphic and OSL dating indicates is of Last Interglacial age (~120,000 years ago). While on plausibility grounds the cultural status of a feature of such great antiquity in Australia is unlikely, a cultural origin for CBS1 is less easily dismissed if assessed with an age-independent methodology. A broad range of macroscale discrimination criteria has been used to assess whether CBS1 is either a cultural hearth or a natural feature such as a burnt tree stump. On balance, evidence marginally supports a cultural origin over a natural origin. However, the absence of associated stone artefacts and faunal remains and the presence of burnt root wood precludes definitive statements on the cultural status of the feature. Our case study is methodologically instructivein terms of the potential complexities and issues of equifinality involved in the archaeological identification of ancient hearths.

Patterns of Distribution of Acacia in Australia

1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 385 ◽  
Author(s):  
BR Maslin ◽  
L Pedley
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Arid Zone ◽  
Patterns Of Distribution ◽  
The North ◽  
Geographic Patterns ◽  
South West ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Semiarid Areas ◽  
The Tropics

Patterns of distribution are described for the three subgenera and nine sections that make up the Australian Acacia flora. Subgenus Phyllodineae (833 species) is widespread and contains 99% of the species; subgenus Acacia (six species) and subgenus Aculeiferum (one species) are poorly represented and virtually confined to the north of the continent. The geographic patterns of species-richness are strongly influenced by sections Phyllodineae (352 species), Juliflorae (219 species) and Plurinerves (178 species). Section Phyllodineae has centres of richness south of the Tropic of Capricorn in temperate and adjacent semiarid areas of eastern, south-eastern and south-western Australia. The section is poorly represented in the tropics. The closely related sections Juliflorae and Plurinerves predominate in the north of the continent, semiarid areas of the south-west, many rocky tablelands of the Arid Zone and along the Great Dividing Range and adjacent inland riverine lowland areas in eastern Australia. The remaining four sections contribute little to the overall patterns of species-richness. The principal speciespoor areas are sandy and fluvial lowland regions of the Arid Zone. In eastern Australia, sections Botrycephalae, Juliflorae, Phyllodineae and Plurinerves show discontinuous patterns of species-richness along the Great Dividing Range. All sections have species whose ranges terminate in the area of the McPherson-Macleay Overlap region.

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