Absence of evidence or evidence of absence? Understanding the chronology of Indigenous occupation of western New South Wales, Australia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6180394
AutoresSimon Holdaway (0000-0002-9948-3182, Department of Anthropology; University of Auckland; Private Bag 92109 Auckland New Zealand), Patricia Fanning (0000-0003-3113-1444, Graduate School of the Environment; Macquarie University; NSW 2109 Australia), Justin Shiner (0000-0002-9467-5361, University of Auckland)
Año2005
Volumen40
Número2
Páginas33-49
Fecha de publicación2005-07-01
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.1834-4453.2005.tb00584.x
OpenAlexW2068869879
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas35
Referencias citadas27

Radiocarbon determinations obtained from heat retainer hearths in four sampling locations in western New South Wales, Australia are reported, with age estimates ranging from the mid Holocene until the last few centuries BP. Hearths are first considered in their geomorphic setting to determine the likely age of the surfaces into which they were dug and the reasons why they are still extant today. Second, the radiocarbon determinations are analysed not to date single events in the past, but to construct a regional chronology of Indigenous Australian occupation. In this chronology, periods when hearths were not constructed are as important as periods when radiocarbon determinations indicate sustained hearth formation. Third, comparisons are made among the four sampling locations to determine regional patterns. Results suggest both regional and local patterns of occupation and abandonment, or at least very much reduced hearth construction, over the last two millennia. The increasing frequency of radiocarbon determination results from hearths as one approaches the present is likely to be a result of the relative abundance of well preserved recent surfaces in the locations we have studied and the consequent lack of relatively ancient surfaces

Archaeological evidence · Archaeology · Biology · Chronology · Ethnology · Geography · Indigenous · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology