Browsing by Author "Roberts, A"

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    Initial results and observations on a radiocarbon dating program in the Riverland region of South Australia
    (Taylor & Francis Group, 2020-07-14) Westell, C; Roberts, A; Morrison, M; Jacobsen, GE
    This paper presents a preliminary occupation chronology for the Riverland region of South Australia, based on 31 radiocarbon age determinations. This region has represented a significant geographic gap in understanding occupation chronologies for the broader Murray-Darling Basin. The dating forms part of an ongoing research program exploring the long-term engagements of Aboriginal people with the habitat mosaics of the central River Murray corridor. Dating targets were selected on the basis of their landscape context. Results relate occupation evidence to an evolving riverine landscape through the period extending from approximately 29 ka to the late Holocene. These results include the first pre-Last Glacial Maximum ages returned on the River Murray in South Australia and extend the known Aboriginal occupation of the Riverland by approximately 22,000 years. © 2020 Informa UK Limited
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    Morphological analysis and radiocarbon dating of non-returning boomerangs from Cooper Creek/Kinipapa (Northeast South Australia)
    (Taylor & Francis, 2021-11-03) Roberts, A; Freeman, S; Wesley, D; Levchenko, VA; Barry, LA; Bordes, L; Litherland, K; Litherland, J; Haynes, J; Paterson, A
    In this article we present the results of a morphological analysis of four mostly complete non-returning boomerangs and one shaped wooden fragment recovered in 2017 and 2018 from Cooper Creek near Innamincka in South Australia’s far northeast. This archaeological collection forms one of only six known/published wooden artefact assemblages in the country. We also detail the results of the direct accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) measurement of the artefacts which range from circa 275–175 BP (1650–1830 cal AD, median ages reported). Given that the age estimates obtained for the artefacts are from the recent period, we have complemented the morphological analysis by interpreting the assemblage within the context of ethnohistorical records and Traditional Owner knowledge. The assemblage reveals a variety of forms and functions representative of the diverse cultural activities and daily lives of the Aboriginal people who lived near significant waterholes in the Cooper Creek region during this period. The boomerangs also preserve manufacture and use-wear traces, providing insights into the life histories of each implement. In addition to their likely use as projectiles, our results indicate that the boomerangs were probably used for fighting, hunting, digging, fire management and possibly in ceremonies. Predictions for climate change in the region threaten to alter the conditions that allowed the preservation of these artefacts which may negatively affect the potential survival of other wooden objects that remain in the environment. © 2024 Informa UK Limited
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    Retention of hunter-gatherer economies among maritime foragers from Caleta Vitor, northern Chile, during the late holocene: evidence from stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of skeletal remains
    (Elsevier Science Ltd., 2013-05-01) Roberts, A; Donald Plate, F; Petruzzelli, B; Carter, C; Westaway, M; Santoro, CM; Swift, J; Maddern, T; Jacobsen, GE; Bertuch, F; Rothhammer, F
    On the basis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human remains, this paper provides evidence for the retention of hunter-gatherer economies among coastal inhabitants in northern Chile during the late Holocene - at the same time that inland populations were adopting agricultural economies. Coastal diets from the Caleta Vitor region of the Atacama Desert were dominated by marine-based foods, predominantly from upper trophic levels. The focus on reliable marine food resources is interpreted as a risk minimisation strategy in this marginal arid environment. Although these coastal hunter-gatherers adopted other goods and traditions from agricultural populations, their participation in this larger interregional exchange network did not affect their basic subsistence economies. On the basis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human remains, this paper provides evidence for the retention of hunter-gatherer economies among coastal inhabitants in northern Chile during the late Holocene - at the same time that inland populations were adopting agricultural economies. Coastal diets from the Caleta Vitor region of the Atacama Desert were dominated by marine-based foods, predominantly from upper trophic levels. The focus on reliable marine food resources is interpreted as a risk minimisation strategy in this marginal arid environment. Although these coastal hunter-gatherers adopted other goods and traditions from agricultural populations, their participation in this larger interregional exchange network did not affect their basic subsistence economies. Associated new radiocarbon dates from the site are also discussed. Skeletal remains and artefacts associated with the Caleta Vitor shell middens generally originate from sites with dates ranging from c. 9000-476 BP. However, the human remains that are the subject of this research cover the time period c. 4000-476 BP.© 2013, Elsevier Ltd.