Browsing by Author "Lowe, KM"
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- ItemHuman occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago(Springer Nature, 2017-07-20) Clarkson, C; Jacobs, Z; Marwick, B; Fullager, R; Wallis, LA; Smith, MA; Roberts, RG; Hayes, E; Lowe, KM; Carah, X; Florin, SA; McNeil, J; Cox, D; Arnold, LJ; Hua, Q; Huntley, J; Brand, HEA; Manne, T; Fairbairn, AS; Shulmeister, J; Lyle, L; Salinas, M; Page, M; Connell, K; Park, GY; Norman, K; Murphy, T; Pardoe, CThe time of arrival of people in Australia is an unresolved question. It is relevant to debates about when modern humans first dispersed out of Africa and when their descendants incorporated genetic material from Neanderthals, Denisovans and possibly other hominins. Humans have also been implicated in the extinction of Australia’s megafauna. Here we report the results of new excavations conducted at Madjedbebe, a rock shelter in northern Australia. Artefacts in primary depositional context are concentrated in three dense bands, with the stratigraphic integrity of the deposit demonstrated by artefact refits and by optical dating and other analyses of the sediments. Human occupation began around 65,000 years ago, with a distinctive stone tool assemblage including grinding stones, ground ochres, reflective additives and ground-edge hatchet heads. This evidence sets a new minimum age for the arrival of humans in Australia, the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa, and the subsequent interactions of modern humans with Neanderthals and Denisovans. © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature.
- ItemOchre through the late Quaternary at Gledswood Shelter 1, northwest Queensland(Australasian Quaternary Association Inc, 2014-06-29) Wallis, LA; Lowe, KM; Popelka-Filcoff, RS; Bennett, JW; St George, C; Watson, C; Fitzsimmons, KE; Wight, C; Watchman, A; Lenehan, CE; Matthews, JGledswood Shelter 1 (GS1) is a sandstone rockshelter located in northwest Queensland containing archaeological evidence for human occupation dating from at least 35 ka to the recent past. Considerable quantities of ochre fragments (many with striations caused by grinding) have been recovered from the 2.5 m deep cultural sequence, particularly in the pre-LGM levels. The abundance of ochre varies through time, in line with recovered stone artefacts, suggesting that these materials reflect different periods and intensities of site use. This evidence possibly indicates that the production of painted or stencilled art in this region may be earlier than previous evidence suggests (ca 9,000 years ago). The GS1 ochre samples were initially characterised according to visual characteristics including colour, texture and inclusions using low powered microscopy. This work suggests there are several groups of pigment present, including fragments that would more normally be referred to as ironstone and not considered as an 'ochre', but that have anthropogenic ground surfaces indicating their use as a source of pigment. In this paper we present the initial characterisation and preliminary neutron activation analysis results of the GS1 ochres, and consider their implications for the human history of the northwest Queensland region.