A reassessment of technological change models for the Australian high country
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6038703 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fenja Theden‐ringl (Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific Australian National University), Fenja Theden-Ringl (Australian National University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 52 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 81-97 |
| Publication date | 2017-07-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Archaeology in Oceania/Archæology & physical anthropology in Oceania (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0728-4896 • E-ISSN: 1834-4453 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/arco.5105 |
| OpenAlex | W2489217180 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 31 |
Lithic assemblages from five Aboriginal rock shelters in the Namadgi Ranges – including the first with cultural material dating to the early to mid‐Holocene – provide new perspectives on our understanding of Holocene lithic technology for this region of the south‐east Australian high country. They reveal a steady continuation of quartz predominance and bipolar knapping technique through time. Formal tools are rare, as is other evidence of retouch, but quantitative analyses reveal that raw material variation diversifies and artefact size decreases from the mid‐Holocene towards the past millennium, with some associated evidence of a shift in reduction intensity. Re‐analysis of the lithic assemblage from the nearby Birrigai rock shelter and information from other dated Namadgi sites provide further context for interpretation. This study finds a lack of evidence for Flood's proposed regional model of late Holocene technological transition from chert‐dominated backed artefact to bipolar quartz industry. There is also no evidence for a cultural change associated with a backed artefact proliferation beginning around 4500 to 3500 years BP, as proposed by Hiscock and others for south‐east Australia more generally. In fact, the technological shifts observed in the Namadgi high country – morphometric decline, raw material diversity and the appearance of backed artefacts – culminate in the past millennium
Archaeology · Context (archaeology · Geography · Holocene · Knapping · Lithic technology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
The mulla-mullung ’s Bulk
Below the Sky, above the Clouds
Millukmungee 1
Was Aboriginal population recovery delayed after the Last Glacial Maximum? A synthesis of a terminal Pleistocene deposit from the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia
At the margins of the high country
Aboriginal presence in the high country
Tracking an exotic raw material
Core Concept
Archaeology of Ancient Australia
Australian flaked stone tools
The Archaeology of the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia
Excavations at Nursery Swamp 2, Gudgenby Nature Reserve, Australian Capital Territory
The Construction of Morphological Diversity
Lithics ‘Down Under’
Australia’s Eastern Regional Sequence Revisited
The geoarchaeology of a Holocene site on the Woolshed Embankment, Lake George, New South Wales
The Formation of Flakes
The changing abundance of backed artefacts in south-eastern Australia
Middle paleolithic scraper reduction
Mobility and technology in the Kakadu coastal wetlands
Burrill Lake and Currarong
Aboriginal presence in the high country
What attributes are important for the measurement of assemblage reduction intensity? Results from an experimental stone artefact assemblage with relevance to the Hoabinhian of mainland Southeast Asia
Platform Variability and Flake Morphology
Lithics in the Land of the Lightning Brothers
Quantifying the Size of Artefact Assemblages
Experimental evaluation of Kuhn's geometric index of reduction and the flat-flake problem
A geometric index of reduction for unifacial stone tools
An Index of Invasiveness for the Measurement of Unifacial and Bifacial Retouch
SHCal13 Southern Hemisphere Calibration, 0–50,000 Years cal BP
Bayesian Analysis of Radiocarbon Dates
Technological responses to risk in Holocene Australia
Birrigai
Pattern and Context in the Holocene Proliferation of Backed Artifacts in Australia
Generalization, inference and the quantification of lithic reduction
Technological organization and settlement in southwest Tasmania after the glacial maximum
The Formation of Flakes
| Citations per year | 0.8 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2016 - 2025 (10) |
| Highly cited | No |