The archaeology of the Port Hedland coastal plain and implications for understanding the prehistory of shell mounds and middens in northwestern Australia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6038176
AutoresR Harrison (0000-0002-5030-0525, The Open University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2009
Volumen44
NúmeroS1
Páginas81-98
Fecha de publicación2009-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaArchaeology in Oceania/Archæology & physical anthropology in Oceania (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0728-4896 • E-ISSN: 1834-4453
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/j.1834-4453.2009.tb00070.x
OpenAlexW2136722846
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas16

This paper reports the archaeological salvage, radiocarbon dating and analysis of seven shell midden sites located south of Port Hedland, and makes observations regarding the archaeology of the Port Hedland region and the Abydos coastal plain. The excavations revealed an almost continuous sequence of archaeological sites dating between 5250calBP and 50calBP years. These include some of the earliest and latest radiocarbon ages associated with Anadara granosa dominated middens, shell mounds and earth mounds from northwestern Australia. Where earlier researchers had suggested that Anadara exploitation in northwestern Australia, and particularly on the Abydos plain and Burrup Peninsula, was limited to between 4200 and 1600 BP, these excavations demonstrate that the exploitation of Anadara shell in the Port Hedland region was continuous from at least 4400calBP (and possibly as early as 5350calBP) until the early twentieth century. Based on a consideration of their contents and ages, it is suggested that the various forms of shell accumulations in the study area, including shell mounds, earth mounds, surface scatters and stratified lenses of shell midden, are likely to vary more as a result of site formation processes than Aboriginal people's past gathering practices. This finding has broader implications for understanding the place of Anadara shell mounds and middens in the prehistoric regional economy of northwestern Australia

Archaeology · Coastal plain · Excavation · Geography · Midden · Peninsula · Prehistory · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Geology · Paleontology