Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

A Kaurna burial, Salisbury, South Australia

Further evidence for complex late Holocene Aboriginal social systems in the Adelaide region

Bibliographic Data

ID11955947
AuthorsTimothy Owens (0000-0001-5759-4012, Flinders University, corresponding author), Timothy Owen (Department of ArchaeologyFlinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, SA, Australia), F Donald Pate (0000-0002-0238-0217, Department of ArchaeologyFlinders University, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide, 5001, SA, Australia)
Year2014
Volume79
Issue1
Pages45-53
Publication date2014-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0312-2417 • E-ISSN: 2470-0363
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03122417.2014.11682018
OpenAlexW2342725541
LanguageEN
Citations received4

In 2011 a burial was disturbed during work in Salisbury, a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia (SA). Subsequent archaeological excavation revealed a male human interment in a deep alluvial context with a number of unusual characteristics, including a bone point and several ‘binding’ hearths. A sample of femoral bone was submitted for AMS radiocarbon dating and bone collagen stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Dating determined that the burial was relatively recent (380±30 BP), contemporary with proposed shifts in the Kaurna’s economic systems when ‘mound sites’ were inhabited, that is, over the past 1500 years. Stable isotope results indicated the individual consumed a distinct diet based on terrestrial foods, with an absence of marine protein. The location, mode and stratigraphic context of the burial, coupled with the stable isotope results, suggest this individual had a different diet to contemporary Kaurna men. The ethnographic record and knowledge provided by traditional owners suggested that his diet may have been connected to his status and position within Kaurna society as a ‘medicine man’ or ‘sorcerer’

Alluvium · Archaeology · Biology · Context (archaeology · Excavation · Geography · Hearth · Holocene · Human bone · Hunter-gatherer · Northern territory · Radiocarbon dating · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Geology · Paleontology

  • ‘Do dead men tell no tales?’ The geographic origin of a colonial period Anglican cemetery population in Adelaide, South Australia, determined by isotope analyses

    Christine Adams, Timothy Owens et al.•Australian Archaeology•2022

  • Analysis and contextualisation of a Holocene bone point from Murrawong (Glen Lossie), Lower Murray River Gorge, South Australia

    Christopher Wilson, Amy Roberts et al.•Australian Archaeology•2021

  • Establishing a typology for Australian pointed bone implements

    M C Langley•Australian Archaeology•2018

  • How Linguistic Data Can Inform Archaeological Investigations

    Open Access•Ian Ward, Maïa Ponsonnet et al.•Open Archaeology•2023

Unique citing works4
Citations per year0.5
Citation span2018 - 2023 (6)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 4

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae