Caroline Spry
Biographic Data
| ID | 914606 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Caroline Spry |
| GIVEN NAMES | Caroline |
| FAMILY NAME | Spry |
| SIGNATURE | SPRY C |
| AFFILIATIONS | La Trobe University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8628-9348 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 36 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
A digital survey for earth rings using airborne LiDAR on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, Victoria
Archaeology as gulindji-bagruk (people), liwik (Ancestors) and biik (Country): A view from Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
Traditional cultural knowledge and functional analysis of a non-returning wangim (boomerang) from Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
Boomerangs are part of a suite of Australian throwing sticks, which are specialised wooden implements of purposeful design and aerodynamic properties that are used as projectiles. While throwing sticks are known to occur throughout Australia, they are less commonly found in buried contexts. In this paper, we report on a single, non-returning wooden wangim (boomerang) recovered from a reported burial mound at Yarra Junction, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung…
New braided knowledge understandings of an Aboriginal earth ring and biik wurrdha (Jacksons Creek, Sunbury) on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
Aboriginal rings are circular, earth (or rock) features that are preserved at increasingly fewer locations across eastern Australia today. While previous studies indicate these rings are sacred locations of ceremony, little is documented from cultural values and landscape perspectives–particularly in southeastern Australia. This study applies a braided knowledge approach to the study of an Aboriginal earth ring, and the broader biik wurrdha (Jack…
The future of knowledge sharing: Why #AncientApocalypse and #HomoNaledi are smashing it and we’re not
Investigating Wiradjuri marara (carved trees or dendroglyphs) and dhabuganha (burials) in the Central Tablelands, southeastern Australia
Marara (carved trees, dendroglyphs or tapholgyphs) are a distinct part of Wiradjuri Country in southeastern Australia. Each marara displays a unique muyalaang (tree carving) that a Wiradjuri person carved into the outer surface of a tree after removing bark. Marara mark the dhabuganha (burials) of Wiradjuri men of high standing, representing part of traditional cultural practices that extend into the deep past. Yet, the meaning of these sacred lo…
Revisiting the “Quartz Problem” in Lithic Studies: A Review and New, Open-access, Experimental Dataset
Quartz artefacts are common components of flaked stone assemblages worldwide. However, flaked quartz can appear similar to quartz fractured by natural and other (non-flaking) cultural processes. Despite attempts to address this “quartz problem”, the analysis and interpretation of flaked quartz assemblages remain problematic. Here we present a review of literature investigating the quartz problem, and a case study that examines an experimentally f…
When divisions can have value: Revisiting the term ‘contact’ in Australian First Peoples archaeology
When divisions can have value: Revisiting the term ‘contact’ in Australian First Peoples archaeology." Australian Archaeology, 88(1), pp. 106–107
Disentangling activity traces on Australian goldfields: An experimental study of quartz assemblages derived from knapping and gold prospecting
Archaeologists have long grappled with identifying quartz artefacts in the archaeological record. The particular fracture mechanics of quartz can complicate the distinction between knapped quartz, other types of deliberately broken quartz, and natural occurrences of this mineral. In Australia, the quartz ‘problem’ is compounded on goldfields, where quartz debris from knapping, gold mining and other processes has the potential to co-occur. This pa…
Wala-gaay Guwingal: A twentieth century Aboriginal culturally modified tree with an embedded stone tool
Aboriginal culturally modified trees are a distinctive feature of the Australian archaeological record, generating insights into Aboriginal interactions with wood and bark, which rarely survive in archaeological contexts. However, they are under-studied, in decline and typically presumed to pre-date the 20th century. Here we investigate the origin of a scar with a stone tool embedded in the scar overgrowth, located in the Central Tablelands, New …
Tool-use experiments to determine the function of an incised ground stone artefact with potential symbolic significance
Ground stone implements are found across most Australian landscapes and are often regarded as Aboriginal tools that were used for processing or modifying other items such as plant foods, plant fibres, resins, bone points, pigments and ground-stone axes and knives. Less common are ground stones modified for non-utilitarian, symbolic purposes; for example, polished and carved stone ornaments; ritual implements such as cylcons and tjuringa sacred st…
The role of oral history in archiving archaeology: A case study from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Warning Aboriginal and Torres Strait readers of this article are warned that it may contain images of ancestral remains. Compiling a history of archaeology is critical for evaluating, understanding and contextualising the current state of the discipline. While oral histories provide vivid accounts of people, events and decisions from sources with direct relationships to these moments in time, they have played a limited role in building historical…
Holocene and recent aeolian reactivation of the Willandra Lakes lunettes, semi-arid southeastern Australia
The Willandra Lakes in semi-arid southeastern Australia provide some of the most continuous combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records on the continent. These are best preserved within the transverse shoreline (lunette) dunes on their downwind margins. Following final lake retreat c. 15 ka avulsion of the dominant fluvial inflow eastwards, the Willandra lunettes periodically reactivated, experiencing erosion, aeolian redeposition and…
An unusual, incised ground stone artefact from southwestern Victoria, Australia: Its function and potential symbolic significance
An unusual, incised sandstone artefact recovered during an archaeological salvage program in Bannockburn, southwestern Victoria, has been uniformly ground and contains sets of regularly spaced, shallow grooves on either side. Microscopic study indicates that the grooves were incised with stone and used to sharpen or shape the edges of wooden implements. The wear outside the grooves indicates contact with soft wood or other plant material, possibl…
The Channel 4 Years: Working with Stuart Marshall, a conversation between Rebecca Dobbs and Caroline Spry
Establishing the integrity and stratigraphic origin of stone artefact scatters on the surface of the Lake Mungo lunette in south-eastern Australia
New braided knowledge understandings of an Aboriginal earth ring and biik wurrdha (Jacksons Creek, Sunbury) on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
Aboriginal rings are circular, earth (or rock) features that are preserved at increasingly fewer locations across eastern Australia today. While previous studies indicate these rings are sacred locations of ceremony, little is documented from cultural values and landscape perspectives–particularly in southeastern Australia. This study applies a braided knowledge approach to the study of an Aboriginal earth ring, and the broader biik wurrdha (Jack…
Investigating Wiradjuri marara (carved trees or dendroglyphs) and dhabuganha (burials) in the Central Tablelands, southeastern Australia
Marara (carved trees, dendroglyphs or tapholgyphs) are a distinct part of Wiradjuri Country in southeastern Australia. Each marara displays a unique muyalaang (tree carving) that a Wiradjuri person carved into the outer surface of a tree after removing bark. Marara mark the dhabuganha (burials) of Wiradjuri men of high standing, representing part of traditional cultural practices that extend into the deep past. Yet, the meaning of these sacred lo…
Wala-gaay Guwingal: A twentieth century Aboriginal culturally modified tree with an embedded stone tool
Aboriginal culturally modified trees are a distinctive feature of the Australian archaeological record, generating insights into Aboriginal interactions with wood and bark, which rarely survive in archaeological contexts. However, they are under-studied, in decline and typically presumed to pre-date the 20th century. Here we investigate the origin of a scar with a stone tool embedded in the scar overgrowth, located in the Central Tablelands, New …
Tool-use experiments to determine the function of an incised ground stone artefact with potential symbolic significance
Ground stone implements are found across most Australian landscapes and are often regarded as Aboriginal tools that were used for processing or modifying other items such as plant foods, plant fibres, resins, bone points, pigments and ground-stone axes and knives. Less common are ground stones modified for non-utilitarian, symbolic purposes; for example, polished and carved stone ornaments; ritual implements such as cylcons and tjuringa sacred st…
Establishing the integrity and stratigraphic origin of stone artefact scatters on the surface of the Lake Mungo lunette in south-eastern Australia
Holocene and recent aeolian reactivation of the Willandra Lakes lunettes, semi-arid southeastern Australia
The Willandra Lakes in semi-arid southeastern Australia provide some of the most continuous combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records on the continent. These are best preserved within the transverse shoreline (lunette) dunes on their downwind margins. Following final lake retreat c. 15 ka avulsion of the dominant fluvial inflow eastwards, the Willandra lunettes periodically reactivated, experiencing erosion, aeolian redeposition and…
Disentangling activity traces on Australian goldfields: An experimental study of quartz assemblages derived from knapping and gold prospecting
Archaeologists have long grappled with identifying quartz artefacts in the archaeological record. The particular fracture mechanics of quartz can complicate the distinction between knapped quartz, other types of deliberately broken quartz, and natural occurrences of this mineral. In Australia, the quartz ‘problem’ is compounded on goldfields, where quartz debris from knapping, gold mining and other processes has the potential to co-occur. This pa…
The role of oral history in archiving archaeology: A case study from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Warning Aboriginal and Torres Strait readers of this article are warned that it may contain images of ancestral remains. Compiling a history of archaeology is critical for evaluating, understanding and contextualising the current state of the discipline. While oral histories provide vivid accounts of people, events and decisions from sources with direct relationships to these moments in time, they have played a limited role in building historical…
Establishing the integrity and stratigraphic origin of stone artefact scatters on the surface of the Lake Mungo lunette in south-eastern Australia
Holocene and recent aeolian reactivation of the Willandra Lakes lunettes, semi-arid southeastern Australia
The Willandra Lakes in semi-arid southeastern Australia provide some of the most continuous combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records on the continent. These are best preserved within the transverse shoreline (lunette) dunes on their downwind margins. Following final lake retreat c. 15 ka avulsion of the dominant fluvial inflow eastwards, the Willandra lunettes periodically reactivated, experiencing erosion, aeolian redeposition and…
An unusual, incised ground stone artefact from southwestern Victoria, Australia: Its function and potential symbolic significance
An unusual, incised sandstone artefact recovered during an archaeological salvage program in Bannockburn, southwestern Victoria, has been uniformly ground and contains sets of regularly spaced, shallow grooves on either side. Microscopic study indicates that the grooves were incised with stone and used to sharpen or shape the edges of wooden implements. The wear outside the grooves indicates contact with soft wood or other plant material, possibl…
The Channel 4 Years: Working with Stuart Marshall, a conversation between Rebecca Dobbs and Caroline Spry
Wala-gaay Guwingal: A twentieth century Aboriginal culturally modified tree with an embedded stone tool
Aboriginal culturally modified trees are a distinctive feature of the Australian archaeological record, generating insights into Aboriginal interactions with wood and bark, which rarely survive in archaeological contexts. However, they are under-studied, in decline and typically presumed to pre-date the 20th century. Here we investigate the origin of a scar with a stone tool embedded in the scar overgrowth, located in the Central Tablelands, New …
Tool-use experiments to determine the function of an incised ground stone artefact with potential symbolic significance
Ground stone implements are found across most Australian landscapes and are often regarded as Aboriginal tools that were used for processing or modifying other items such as plant foods, plant fibres, resins, bone points, pigments and ground-stone axes and knives. Less common are ground stones modified for non-utilitarian, symbolic purposes; for example, polished and carved stone ornaments; ritual implements such as cylcons and tjuringa sacred st…
The role of oral history in archiving archaeology: A case study from La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Warning Aboriginal and Torres Strait readers of this article are warned that it may contain images of ancestral remains. Compiling a history of archaeology is critical for evaluating, understanding and contextualising the current state of the discipline. While oral histories provide vivid accounts of people, events and decisions from sources with direct relationships to these moments in time, they have played a limited role in building historical…
When divisions can have value: Revisiting the term ‘contact’ in Australian First Peoples archaeology
When divisions can have value: Revisiting the term ‘contact’ in Australian First Peoples archaeology." Australian Archaeology, 88(1), pp. 106–107
Disentangling activity traces on Australian goldfields: An experimental study of quartz assemblages derived from knapping and gold prospecting
Archaeologists have long grappled with identifying quartz artefacts in the archaeological record. The particular fracture mechanics of quartz can complicate the distinction between knapped quartz, other types of deliberately broken quartz, and natural occurrences of this mineral. In Australia, the quartz ‘problem’ is compounded on goldfields, where quartz debris from knapping, gold mining and other processes has the potential to co-occur. This pa…
Revisiting the “Quartz Problem” in Lithic Studies: A Review and New, Open-access, Experimental Dataset
Quartz artefacts are common components of flaked stone assemblages worldwide. However, flaked quartz can appear similar to quartz fractured by natural and other (non-flaking) cultural processes. Despite attempts to address this “quartz problem”, the analysis and interpretation of flaked quartz assemblages remain problematic. Here we present a review of literature investigating the quartz problem, and a case study that examines an experimentally f…
Investigating Wiradjuri marara (carved trees or dendroglyphs) and dhabuganha (burials) in the Central Tablelands, southeastern Australia
Marara (carved trees, dendroglyphs or tapholgyphs) are a distinct part of Wiradjuri Country in southeastern Australia. Each marara displays a unique muyalaang (tree carving) that a Wiradjuri person carved into the outer surface of a tree after removing bark. Marara mark the dhabuganha (burials) of Wiradjuri men of high standing, representing part of traditional cultural practices that extend into the deep past. Yet, the meaning of these sacred lo…
The future of knowledge sharing: Why #AncientApocalypse and #HomoNaledi are smashing it and we’re not
A digital survey for earth rings using airborne LiDAR on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, Victoria
Archaeology as gulindji-bagruk (people), liwik (Ancestors) and biik (Country): A view from Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
Traditional cultural knowledge and functional analysis of a non-returning wangim (boomerang) from Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
Boomerangs are part of a suite of Australian throwing sticks, which are specialised wooden implements of purposeful design and aerodynamic properties that are used as projectiles. While throwing sticks are known to occur throughout Australia, they are less commonly found in buried contexts. In this paper, we report on a single, non-returning wooden wangim (boomerang) recovered from a reported burial mound at Yarra Junction, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung…
New braided knowledge understandings of an Aboriginal earth ring and biik wurrdha (Jacksons Creek, Sunbury) on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, southeastern Australia
Aboriginal rings are circular, earth (or rock) features that are preserved at increasingly fewer locations across eastern Australia today. While previous studies indicate these rings are sacred locations of ceremony, little is documented from cultural values and landscape perspectives–particularly in southeastern Australia. This study applies a braided knowledge approach to the study of an Aboriginal earth ring, and the broader biik wurrdha (Jack…
Archaeology (10 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (10 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (10 works) · Geography (8 works) · Geology (6 works) · History (6 works) · History (6 works) · Project commissioning (6 works) · Publishing (6 works) · Sociology (6 works)