Rock Art Modification and its Ritualized and Relational Contexts

Australia has some of the most complex and extensive examples of modified rock art (e.g., superimposed, re-painted, re-drawn, re-pecked) in the world. Typically used to document style-based chronological sequences and address questions of meaning and intention, less well known are the relational networks within which these ritual modification practices are embedded. In this article we explore the ritual rock art modification relationship to further highlight the value of a ritual-based approach to access and enhance understanding of modified rock art. Central to this approach is the idea that modified motifs do not exist in isolation—their placement, the actions, rules, and structures linked to the modification process, along with the surrounding landscape, are all part of relational networks that extend across multiple social and cultural realms. By identifying key themes associated with this ritual practice, we explore relational qualities to further understand the ritual rock art relationship to broaden archaeological and ethnographic understanding of rock art.

Flaked Stone Tools of Holocene Sahul

This article reviews the Holocene records of flaked stone artefacts from the Sahul regions of New Guinea and northern Australia. Varied approaches to understanding the role of flaked stone tools in past societies have revealed novel insights into how humanity has adapted and thrived in this region, both ecologically and socially, in this period of immense environmental change and diversity. This review focuses on analytical approaches to convey how the latest Holocene technological organisation models are inferred from different flaked stone tool records. In doing so, it outlines a best-practice approach to understanding the underlying causes of flaked stone tool variability and revisits a contrast between Holocene hunter-gatherers and agriculturists.

Australian Indigenous Ochres

Aboriginal Australians use ochre in varied cultural practices. It is found in the earliest to most recent archaeological sites and geographically across the wide-ranging geological and climatic contexts of the continent. Ochre’s importance in Aboriginal societies, coupled with its availability across Australia and its long-term durability, has led to a ubiquitous archaeological presence with considerable potential to study past cultural landscapes and intergroup interactions, including long-distance trade and exchange. Concentrating on scientific sourcing analyses, this article highlights the benefits of archaeopigment research, defining key terms (ochre, provenience, and provenance) and the technicalities of sourcing studies before discussing theoretical frameworks used in interpretations of ochre distribution patterns. The article argues that as we move away from novel studies on ethnographically well-known source locations into applied research, exceptional Australian records are well placed to investigate territoriality, mobility, intergroup and human–landscape interactions, and to explore the catalysts driving cultural diversity.

Whaling and Sealing in Nineteenth-Century Australia

The colonial industries of whaling and sealing dominated the first decades of nineteenth-century Australia. This article considers the archaeology of these maritime industries, particularly Aboriginal employment and labour. Examining both historical and precontact archaeology, we argue that the involvement of Aboriginal men and women was an extension of traditional hunting and ritual engagements. Whales and seals were sought out for food, rituals and other uses, and their harvesting involved both men and women. Although archaeological research into whaling and sealing in Australia has been relatively limited, it will prove a fruitful and revealing area, promising a nuanced understanding of Indigenous agency and colonial maritime expansion.

Interactions with Megafauna

Megafauna were a prominent feature of the biodiversity of Sahul. They were still diverse when people reached Sahul but had largely disappeared by about 40,000 years ago. Several studies provide evidence that, before their extinction, megafaunal animals were exploited by people, but such evidence is rare. This rarity of evidence could indicate that interaction was infrequent or that evidence of significant interaction is missing because of weaknesses and biases in the palaeontological and archaeological records. The timing and pattern of disappearance of megafauna suggest that humans played a role in their extinction, but more research is needed to understand the nature of human impacts on megafauna and the synergistic or independent effects of climate.

Axe Quarrying, Production, and Exchange in Australia and New Guinea

Ground-edge artefacts (GEAs), also known as ground-edge axes, are an independent innovation that date to the earliest sites in Sahul (the continental landmass of Australia and New Guinea). During the Pleistocene, these tools were localized to the northern parts of the continent. Over time, significant changes took place in the distribution of GEAs, which became an almost continent-wide technology, with distinct regional variations in their form, production, and exchange patterns. This article explores the evolution of GEAs in Sahul, mapping the different trajectories in their production, use, and exchange, while also exploring the different roles that they may have played both socially and economically in their communities of use.

Murray River Societies in Australia through the Lens of Bioarchaeology

The Murray River Valley was one of the most densely occupied areas of inland Australia during the Holocene. Unlike other areas of Australia, the record of burials and human remains dominates archaeological narratives of this area’s Aboriginal experience. In this article, we review bioarchaeological evidence from the region. In addition to mortuary remains, also discussed in this article are evidence from human morphological variation, palaeopathology, and diet. While the valley is often treated as a single region, Aboriginal communities who lived along the Murray shared aspects of economic and cultural systems but also demonstrated diversity and local trajectories. Rather than a single grand narrative the valley’s bioarchaeological evidence shows variation which is the product of multiple local factors.

What Does DNA Tell Us about Past Connections and the Settlement of Sahul?

Archaeological evidence indicates that the continent of Sahul has been continuously settled for almost as long as modern humans have lived outside of Africa. The relative isolation of the continent, and the difficulty involved in getting there, have meant that the populations have not been subject to the large-scale population replacement seen in other parts of the world. Recent advances in DNA sequencing technology, including the ability to sequence full genomes in both ancient and modern populations, have revealed that the genomes of the Indigenous peoples of Australia and New Guinea, and the local fauna, can contribute significantly to our understanding of early human migrations from Africa, human impacts on environments, as well as human evolution more broadly. Given the power of genomic data, it is of the utmost importance that genomic research of ancient and modern samples is conducted ethically, with full community consultation and engagement at all stages.

Stone-Walled Fish traps of Australia and New Guinea as Expressions of Enhanced Sociality

Fishing was and remains an important subsistence activity of many coastal and inland Indigenous peoples of Australia and New Guinea. The range of ethnographically known fishing methods used to obtain freshwater and marine fishes is similar across the two regions. This ethnographic picture of diversity and complexity is not matched archaeologically, where stone-walled fish traps dominate. Archaeological research on stone-walled fish traps has focused on technical dimensions (e.g., mapping, classification, and dating) and social dimensions (e.g., gender, social complexity, and social organization). Stone-walled fish traps can transform the social and ecological landscape and, in an archaeological context, provide an opportunity to explore decision making and the sociocultural changes associated with the installation of these fixed-in-place facilities. Relevant social organizational changes with potential material correlates amenable to archaeological research include the restructuring of residential sites; interregional gatherings and exchange relationships; aquatic resource enhancement and regularization; and ownership and control of facilities and resources, including territorial partitioning of land- and seascapes.

Maritime Coastal and Island Societies of Australia and New Guinea

Coasts, islands, and marine resources played a central role in the dispersal of people into and across Sahul (the combined landmass of New Guinea and Australia). This vast area spans tropical and temperate latitudes, with changes in the abundance and distribution of coastal resources having greatly influenced how people used these landscapes. Little is known of early coastal and island occupation in the millennia after colonisation because sites of this antiquity are now under water, and most islands formed in the Holocene following the postglacial rise in sea level. Current evidence indicates that small, mobile populations harvested nearshore shellfish and fish by 44–42 ka, with long-distance sea voyaging and interisland trade apparent by 25–20 ka. Increasingly intensive coast and island use is evident by the Mid-Holocene, with specialised maritime economies emerging in tropical latitudes throughout the Late Holocene. Although large gaps remain in our understanding of coastally oriented lifeways, multidisciplinary studies are increasingly challenging global paradigms about the antiquity and importance of marine resources on human cultural development.