Michael Slack
Biographic Data
| ID | 127691 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Slack |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Slack |
| SIGNATURE | SLACK M |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Sydney |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8718-9189 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 92 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
First Record of Tasmanian Devils in the Pilbara: Late Quaternary Subfossils From Juukan Gorge, Puutu Kunti Kurrama Country, and Insights Into Human—Faunal Relationships and Extinction
This study presents the first unequivocal evidence for the presence of Tasmanian devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) in the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia, based on material recovered from archaeological excavations at Juukan Gorge on Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura country. Two diagnostic specimens are reported: a right dentary fragment preserving the first and second lower molars from Holocene sediments, and an incomplete lower first or …
On the need for cultural heritage practice to pivot to a new Australia
[Extract] Fifty years ago Australian archaeologists would have had no idea just how many of us there would be now and how a largely academic interest has become a profession employing hundreds of people throughout the country. In 1973, this would not have even been possible. Fieldwork in remote areas not serviced by airlines, rather by dirty old Landrovers and long-distance drives; maps and compasses rather than hand-held tablets and GIS programs…
Tending to tradition: Dating stone arrangement maintenance in northwest Australia using optical methods
Thoughts of a CHM generalist
Wallis provides a timely and challenging account of the state of archaeology c.2020. She clearly charts that the discipline has changed a great deal over the last 50 years since the publication of
The Story is in the Rocks: How Stone Artifact Scatters can Inform our Understanding of Ancient Aboriginal Stone Arrangement Functions
The Aboriginal stone arrangements of Australia’s northwest Pilbara region are cultural features of considerable interest to Australian scholars. Despite decades of investigation, the function and purpose of the stone constructions remain largely enigmatic. In the absence of physical evidence, most researchers contend that stone arrangements served a ceremonial and ritualistic function. This viewpoint is based largely on ethnographic literature fr…
Preanalytical processing of archaeological mammal enamel apatite carbonates for stable isotope investigations: A comparative analysis of the effect of acid treatment on samples from Northwest Australi…
Stable isotopic analysis of palaeontological and archaeological biogenic apatite carbonates from herbivorous mammalian species represents an important tool for worldwide palaeoecological research. Tooth enamel carbonates are more resistant to taphonomic processes than bone or dentine carbonates but are not invulnerable to diagenesis. As such, they require careful preanalytical processing that considers depositional environment and age. An establi…
Pleistocene settlement of the eastern Hamersley Plateau: A regional study of 22 rock‐shelter sites
Between 2013 and 2016, Scarp Archaeology developed and implemented an extensive excavation research program across the eastern Hamersley Plateau, an arid and mountainous physiographic region in the Pilbara biogeographical region of Western Australia. More than 100 rock shelters were excavated during the program, resulting in the documentation of 22 rock‐shelter sites with Pleistocene‐age Aboriginal archaeological deposits. This paper presents the…
Digital Terrain Analysis Reveals New Insights into the Topographic Context of Australian Aboriginal Stone Arrangements
Satellite‐derived surface elevation models are an important resource for landscape archaeological studies. Digital elevation data is useful for classifying land features, characterizing terrain morphology, and discriminating the geomorphic context of archaeological phenomena. This paper shows how remotely sensed elevation data obtained from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Advanced Land Observing Satellite was integrated with local land s…
Post-Last Glacial Maximum settlement of the West Angelas region in the inland Hamersley Plateau, Western Australia
An excavation and survey program at West Angelas, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, shows that the poorly watered interior area of the Hamersley Plateau was first occupied soon after the conclusion of the Last Glacial Maximum, and that significant use of this area probably only occurred during the mid to late Holocene. Although current archaeological research shows that Aboriginal groups have occupied areas of the Hamersley Plateau for …
Thesis Abstracts
Aboriginal Settlement during the LGM at Brockman, Pilbara Region, Western Australia
This paper describes the results and implications of recent excavations on the Hamersley Iron Brockman 4 tenement, near Tom Price, Western Australia. Results concentrate on two rock shelters with Aboriginal occupation starting at least 32,000 years ago and extending throughout the Last Glacial period. Preliminary observations are proposed concerning the nature of Aboriginal foraging patterns as displayed in the flaked stone and faunal records for…
Late Holocene Occupation At Bunnengalla 1, Musselbrook Creek, Northwest Queensland
Bunnengalla 1 is a sandstone rockshelter fronting onto a permanent waterhole on Musselbrook Creek located on the northern margin of Boodjamulla National Park in northwest Queensland. In July 2004 excavation of the rockshelter revealed a rich 1.5 m sequence of human occupation. A preliminary report of the radiocarbon ages and stratigraphic sequence is presented here. The site provides a record of Late Holocene occupation from at least 6000 years B…
New Pleistocene ages for backed artefact technology in Australia
Two recently excavated sites adjacent to the Gregory River at Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland have yielded backed artefacts from Pleistocene sediments. One backed artefact is from an 80 cm deep, dense shell midden near the Old Lilydale Homestead (OLH) and radiocarbon determinations on associated freshwater mussel Alathyria cf. pertexta returned Late Pleistocene ages. Two backed artefacts from the limestone rockshelter GRE8 were also recove…
The ‘plains of promise’ revisited: A reassessment of the frontier in North Western Queensland
(2002). The ‘plains of promise’ revisited: A reassessment of the frontier in North Western Queensland. Journal of Australian Studies: Vol. 26, Country, pp. 71-83
New Pleistocene ages for backed artefact technology in Australia
Two recently excavated sites adjacent to the Gregory River at Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland have yielded backed artefacts from Pleistocene sediments. One backed artefact is from an 80 cm deep, dense shell midden near the Old Lilydale Homestead (OLH) and radiocarbon determinations on associated freshwater mussel Alathyria cf. pertexta returned Late Pleistocene ages. Two backed artefacts from the limestone rockshelter GRE8 were also recove…
Aboriginal Settlement during the LGM at Brockman, Pilbara Region, Western Australia
This paper describes the results and implications of recent excavations on the Hamersley Iron Brockman 4 tenement, near Tom Price, Western Australia. Results concentrate on two rock shelters with Aboriginal occupation starting at least 32,000 years ago and extending throughout the Last Glacial period. Preliminary observations are proposed concerning the nature of Aboriginal foraging patterns as displayed in the flaked stone and faunal records for…
Pleistocene settlement of the eastern Hamersley Plateau: A regional study of 22 rock‐shelter sites
Between 2013 and 2016, Scarp Archaeology developed and implemented an extensive excavation research program across the eastern Hamersley Plateau, an arid and mountainous physiographic region in the Pilbara biogeographical region of Western Australia. More than 100 rock shelters were excavated during the program, resulting in the documentation of 22 rock‐shelter sites with Pleistocene‐age Aboriginal archaeological deposits. This paper presents the…
Digital Terrain Analysis Reveals New Insights into the Topographic Context of Australian Aboriginal Stone Arrangements
Satellite‐derived surface elevation models are an important resource for landscape archaeological studies. Digital elevation data is useful for classifying land features, characterizing terrain morphology, and discriminating the geomorphic context of archaeological phenomena. This paper shows how remotely sensed elevation data obtained from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Advanced Land Observing Satellite was integrated with local land s…
Post-Last Glacial Maximum settlement of the West Angelas region in the inland Hamersley Plateau, Western Australia
An excavation and survey program at West Angelas, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, shows that the poorly watered interior area of the Hamersley Plateau was first occupied soon after the conclusion of the Last Glacial Maximum, and that significant use of this area probably only occurred during the mid to late Holocene. Although current archaeological research shows that Aboriginal groups have occupied areas of the Hamersley Plateau for …
Tending to tradition: Dating stone arrangement maintenance in northwest Australia using optical methods
Preanalytical processing of archaeological mammal enamel apatite carbonates for stable isotope investigations: A comparative analysis of the effect of acid treatment on samples from Northwest Australi…
Stable isotopic analysis of palaeontological and archaeological biogenic apatite carbonates from herbivorous mammalian species represents an important tool for worldwide palaeoecological research. Tooth enamel carbonates are more resistant to taphonomic processes than bone or dentine carbonates but are not invulnerable to diagenesis. As such, they require careful preanalytical processing that considers depositional environment and age. An establi…
Late Holocene Occupation At Bunnengalla 1, Musselbrook Creek, Northwest Queensland
Bunnengalla 1 is a sandstone rockshelter fronting onto a permanent waterhole on Musselbrook Creek located on the northern margin of Boodjamulla National Park in northwest Queensland. In July 2004 excavation of the rockshelter revealed a rich 1.5 m sequence of human occupation. A preliminary report of the radiocarbon ages and stratigraphic sequence is presented here. The site provides a record of Late Holocene occupation from at least 6000 years B…
The ‘plains of promise’ revisited: A reassessment of the frontier in North Western Queensland
(2002). The ‘plains of promise’ revisited: A reassessment of the frontier in North Western Queensland. Journal of Australian Studies: Vol. 26, Country, pp. 71-83
New Pleistocene ages for backed artefact technology in Australia
Two recently excavated sites adjacent to the Gregory River at Riversleigh in northwestern Queensland have yielded backed artefacts from Pleistocene sediments. One backed artefact is from an 80 cm deep, dense shell midden near the Old Lilydale Homestead (OLH) and radiocarbon determinations on associated freshwater mussel Alathyria cf. pertexta returned Late Pleistocene ages. Two backed artefacts from the limestone rockshelter GRE8 were also recove…
Late Holocene Occupation At Bunnengalla 1, Musselbrook Creek, Northwest Queensland
Bunnengalla 1 is a sandstone rockshelter fronting onto a permanent waterhole on Musselbrook Creek located on the northern margin of Boodjamulla National Park in northwest Queensland. In July 2004 excavation of the rockshelter revealed a rich 1.5 m sequence of human occupation. A preliminary report of the radiocarbon ages and stratigraphic sequence is presented here. The site provides a record of Late Holocene occupation from at least 6000 years B…
Thesis Abstracts
Aboriginal Settlement during the LGM at Brockman, Pilbara Region, Western Australia
This paper describes the results and implications of recent excavations on the Hamersley Iron Brockman 4 tenement, near Tom Price, Western Australia. Results concentrate on two rock shelters with Aboriginal occupation starting at least 32,000 years ago and extending throughout the Last Glacial period. Preliminary observations are proposed concerning the nature of Aboriginal foraging patterns as displayed in the flaked stone and faunal records for…
Digital Terrain Analysis Reveals New Insights into the Topographic Context of Australian Aboriginal Stone Arrangements
Satellite‐derived surface elevation models are an important resource for landscape archaeological studies. Digital elevation data is useful for classifying land features, characterizing terrain morphology, and discriminating the geomorphic context of archaeological phenomena. This paper shows how remotely sensed elevation data obtained from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Advanced Land Observing Satellite was integrated with local land s…
Post-Last Glacial Maximum settlement of the West Angelas region in the inland Hamersley Plateau, Western Australia
An excavation and survey program at West Angelas, in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, shows that the poorly watered interior area of the Hamersley Plateau was first occupied soon after the conclusion of the Last Glacial Maximum, and that significant use of this area probably only occurred during the mid to late Holocene. Although current archaeological research shows that Aboriginal groups have occupied areas of the Hamersley Plateau for …
Pleistocene settlement of the eastern Hamersley Plateau: A regional study of 22 rock‐shelter sites
Between 2013 and 2016, Scarp Archaeology developed and implemented an extensive excavation research program across the eastern Hamersley Plateau, an arid and mountainous physiographic region in the Pilbara biogeographical region of Western Australia. More than 100 rock shelters were excavated during the program, resulting in the documentation of 22 rock‐shelter sites with Pleistocene‐age Aboriginal archaeological deposits. This paper presents the…
Preanalytical processing of archaeological mammal enamel apatite carbonates for stable isotope investigations: A comparative analysis of the effect of acid treatment on samples from Northwest Australi…
Stable isotopic analysis of palaeontological and archaeological biogenic apatite carbonates from herbivorous mammalian species represents an important tool for worldwide palaeoecological research. Tooth enamel carbonates are more resistant to taphonomic processes than bone or dentine carbonates but are not invulnerable to diagenesis. As such, they require careful preanalytical processing that considers depositional environment and age. An establi…
Thoughts of a CHM generalist
Wallis provides a timely and challenging account of the state of archaeology c.2020. She clearly charts that the discipline has changed a great deal over the last 50 years since the publication of
The Story is in the Rocks: How Stone Artifact Scatters can Inform our Understanding of Ancient Aboriginal Stone Arrangement Functions
The Aboriginal stone arrangements of Australia’s northwest Pilbara region are cultural features of considerable interest to Australian scholars. Despite decades of investigation, the function and purpose of the stone constructions remain largely enigmatic. In the absence of physical evidence, most researchers contend that stone arrangements served a ceremonial and ritualistic function. This viewpoint is based largely on ethnographic literature fr…
Tending to tradition: Dating stone arrangement maintenance in northwest Australia using optical methods
On the need for cultural heritage practice to pivot to a new Australia
[Extract] Fifty years ago Australian archaeologists would have had no idea just how many of us there would be now and how a largely academic interest has become a profession employing hundreds of people throughout the country. In 1973, this would not have even been possible. Fieldwork in remote areas not serviced by airlines, rather by dirty old Landrovers and long-distance drives; maps and compasses rather than hand-held tablets and GIS programs…
First Record of Tasmanian Devils in the Pilbara: Late Quaternary Subfossils From Juukan Gorge, Puutu Kunti Kurrama Country, and Insights Into Human—Faunal Relationships and Extinction
This study presents the first unequivocal evidence for the presence of Tasmanian devils ( Sarcophilus harrisii ) in the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia, based on material recovered from archaeological excavations at Juukan Gorge on Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura country. Two diagnostic specimens are reported: a right dentary fragment preserving the first and second lower molars from Holocene sediments, and an incomplete lower first or …
Archaeology (11 works) · Geography (10 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (9 works) · Geology (8 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (8 works) · Holocene (6 works) · Paleontology (5 works) · Engineering (4 works) · Excavation (4 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (4 works)