Browsing by Author "Prideaux, GJ"

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    Chronology, stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of a Late Pleistocene to mid-Holocene cave accumulation on Kangaroo Island, South Australia
    (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013-10-01) McDowell, MC; Bestland, EA; Bertuch, F; Ayliffe, LK; Hellstrom, JC; Jacobsen, GE; Prideaux, GJ
    Chronological, sedimentological and geochemical analyses of a clastic infill from Kelly Hill Cave (5K1), Kangaroo Island, document a palaeoenvironmental record that spans from the Late Pleistocene to the middle Holocene. We AMS radiocarbon-dated bone collagen and U-Th-dated speleothem to determine that fossiliferous sediments were deposited between >20ka and 7ka ago. Most of the 15 sedimentary layers are dominated by sand- and silt-sized quartz that is physically and geochemically comparable with surface soils in the Kelly Hill area. Late Pleistocene and Last Glacial Maximum strata are represented primarily by homogeneous, poorly sorted quartz-rich sediments that contain little organic matter, but include a thin layer composed largely of silt-sized clay pellets that resemble sediments deflated from playa lakes. Microstructures observed in petrographic slides indicate that, with the exception of one layer, all sediments experienced little reworking once deposited in the cave. Some layers display pedogenic microstructures such as redeposited clays and opaline silica infilling that indicate postdepositional modification; that is, cave-floor soil development. Overlying Holocene-aged sediments also consist mainly of quartz but have much greater organic matter content. Some of these sediments have been strongly influenced by re-precipitated organic matter that appears to have been transported into the cave via vadose drip water. The presence of dissolved organic matter in soil/vadose waters suggests a high vegetation density and acidic soils, which are congruent with the more equitable climatic conditions characteristic of the Holocene. The sediments described here provide a valuable palaeoenvironmental record that will facilitate future interpretation of associated vertebrate fossils. © 2013, Wiley-Blackwell.
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    Cultural innovation and megafauna interaction in the early settlement of arid Australia
    (Springer, 2016-11-02) Hamm, G; Mitchell, P; Arnold, LJ; Prideaux, GJ; Questiaux, D; Spooner, NA; Levchenko, VA; Foley, EC; Worthy, TH; Stephenson, B; Coulthard, V; Coulthard, C; Wilton, S; Johnston, D
    Elucidating the material culture of early people in arid Australia and the nature of their environmental interactions is essential for understanding the adaptability of populations and the potential causes of megafaunal extinctions 50–40 thousand years ago (ka). Humans colonized the continent by 50 ka1, 2, but an apparent lack of cultural innovations compared to people in Europe and Africa3, 4 has been deemed a barrier to early settlement in the extensive arid zone2, 3. Here we present evidence from Warratyi rock shelter in the southern interior that shows that humans occupied arid Australia by around 49 ka, 10 thousand years (kyr) earlier than previously reported2. The site preserves the only reliably dated, stratified evidence of extinct Australian megafauna5, 6, including the giant marsupial Diprotodon optatum, alongside artefacts more than 46 kyr old. We also report on the earliest-known use of ochre in Australia and Southeast Asia (at or before 49–46 ka), gypsum pigment (40–33 ka), bone tools (40–38 ka), hafted tools (38–35 ka), and backed artefacts (30–24 ka), each up to 10 kyr older than any other known occurrence7, 8. Thus, our evidence shows that people not only settled in the arid interior within a few millennia of entering the continent9, but also developed key technologies much earlier than previously recorded for Australia and Southeast Asia. © 2016, Nature Publishing Group.